USA > Texas > Bexar County > San Antonio > San Antonio de Bexar; a guide and history > Part 9
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These articles on the Head of the River and the Water Works are inserted in this work in the belief that, whether the vote goes for or against the purchase, the historical matter they contain will be of more than mere passing interest.
San Antonio as a Health Resort.
"If a man wants to die there he must go somewhere else."
-GEO. WILKINS KENDALL, 1843.
To those that are affected with throat and lung troubles, San Antonio and its vicinity undoubtedly stand pre-eminent in interest at the head of the list of the health resorts of this continent; its pure and dry air, and the facilities its neighborhood affords for obtaining varied temperatures, in the high lands North, or the low lands South to suit the subject or case, are advantages which speak for themselves.
The editor of this Guide was anxious to obtain what he felt to be a disinter- ested estimate of these advantages, and found it when least expecting it; he gives an old opinion, but he feels it to be the better for the thirty years during which it has been put to the proof. It stands as just to-day as when it was written, and has everything to recommend it to health-seekers. It is to be regretted that it does not touch upon one important item, the northers. Our northers have been much noised about, and the rapid changes that these boisterous visitors cause during our short winter, have been much objected to. The writer's eight years of experience has taught him that their bark is far worse than their bite; that in the severest stress it is never quite so cold as it seems; the wind is cer- tainly trying as long as it lasts, but out of the wind, and you are out of the Norther. They are easily avoided if an invalid desires to do so, all one has to do is to keep indoors, they are invariably of short duration, lasting three or four days at most at a time: they come very suddenly, it is true, but they as sudddenly leave, and it should be remembered by visitors that they always come from a northerly direction, necessarily therefore, from a much colder climate than our own Sunny South. The longer one lives in Texas the better he likes the North- ers; they are to a Texan an impersonation almost of everything that is bracing and invigorating, and they are oftener welcomed with a leap and a whistle than met with complainings.
The extracts that follow further on, are from a letter written many years ago by an invalid who had sought San Antonio as a health resort, and who appar- ently found relief. The letter was published as far back as 1858 in the New Orleans Crescent. It furnishes, an unbiased and independent opinion by one who had had much experience, of the restorative qualities of the climate of San Antonio, all the more unbiased and telling if it is considered that the climate was at that time passing through its probationary period, and that to-day, more than thirty years after, San Antonio stands unchallenged as a resort, unequalled for restorative qualities for lung and throat troubles. The letter is given almost as it stands in the old file, only such paragraphs are eliminated as speak dispar- agingly of certain malarial districts of Southeast Texas, of the stages, "which are
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SAN ANTONIO AS A HEALTH RESORT.
running daily and weekly" [and which have long ago given place to the iron horse,] and of the "white lime dust that is confined entirely to the business por- tion of San Antonio, and which does not affect the outskirts, which present within an area of six miles the best situation which I have seen for the enjoyment of pure air, and cool and refreshing breezes." This "white lime dust" has never existed to the younger generation in San Antonio, and is an utter impossibility in the business portions of a now important city, which are paved, some, with mes- quite blocks, some, macadamized, and all kept thoroughly well sprinkled.
The writer is spoken of as being "a citizen of Mobile, and has no other interest in the subject matter than to disseminate truth for the general benefit."
"JULY 25th, 1858.
EDITORS OF THE CRESCENT:
The superiority of the climate of Western Texas over that of other sections, which have heretofore been resorted to for the cure of pulmonary diseases is certainly very great. To me it is the most important feature which Texas pre- sents. I have experienced to a limited extent its curative influence; and, from what I have seen, felt, and heard of it, I am induced to believe that if fully understood and appreciated by the country at large, Western Texas would speed- ily become the most favored resort on the Continent for persons affiicted with diseases of the throat and lungs.
As far back as I can remember the Medical Faculty of the United States have been in the habit of recommending patients affiicted with pulmonary disease to cross the ocean, or take a trip on the sea-to visit Cuba, or take up their resi- dence in Florida, or some other Southern state. The discovery of Gold in California led to the discovery of the beneficial effects of the rarified atmosphere of the plains on pulmonary diseases. Many cases of laryngitis, bronchitis and of confirmed consumption were said to have been entirely cured by crossing the Continent to California. The facts sustained by reports received since from the interior of Asia, have roused the Medical Faculty, and the result is that the most intelligent of them now believe that sea breezes and humid atmosphere are very injurious in cases of pulmonary disease, and that the best localities for them are those where rarified atmosphere prevails.
Such localities are not to be found near the Atlantic or Gulf coasts. The atmosphere there is necessarily humid and of course too heavy for the weak lungs of a consumptive to respire with ease. It is also impregnated with salt which is extremely irritating to the throat and lungs. It is said that in the interior of Cuba and of Florida, this irritating atmosphere does not exist. This may be cor- rect, but in its stead is a malarious atmosphere which keeps the consumptive in continual fever and thus accelerates his disease. Humidity, too, in both Cuba and Florida, cannot be otherwise than great. The water which surrounds them and is held in their soils and on their surfaces is sufficient to prove this. In fact, there is no place in the Gulf or Carribbean sea, nor within one thousand miles of our Atlantic coast, that presents so favorable a climate for those who are afflicted with pulmonary disease as Western Texas. I know this to be true. I speak from experience.
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SAN ANTONIO DE BEXAR.
For three years before my arrival in Western Texas, I was afflicted with laryngitis. During that period I tried various localities on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, and in the interior of Florida and other states, and I found that the farther I removed from the sea, and from lakes, ponds, swamps, and rich cultivated soils, the better I felt. When exposed to winds which blew over swamps, river bottoms, or still bodies of water, I invariably experienced a choking sensation. At all times and in all places I suffered in proportion to the humidity of the sur- rounding atmosphere. So sensitive was my throat to dampness that I could tell the approach of rain, even before there was any apparent indication of it in the heavens. When the atmosphere was dense and heavy with moisture, my throat was clogged with mucus; but when it was dry, the mucus did not cling with such tenacity to the membrane, and there was less of it. This, together with my experience in medical remedies, induced me to believe that nothing but a dry, rarified atmosphere would restore the mucous membrane of the larynx to healthy action. Unfortunately for me, I was not governed by that discovery until the disease had reached iny lungs. After being confined to my bed three months, on the coast, I set out for San Antonio. On my arrival there I was very weak and feeble, suffered much from pain in my lungs, and was not able to do anything which required any physical strength.
I am now, after a lapse of two months, able to walk two miles without being fatigued, and can write about three hours each day. This improvement I attribute to the purer, dry, light atmosphere which prevails here the greater part of the time. My improvement, however, has not been so rapid as that of many others of whom I have heard. This may be in consequence of difference in the natural * * strength of constitution. * * * * *
That the atmosphere is usually dry and light there can be 110 doubt. The intense, piercing heat of the sun, the quick changes of rain clouds from black to white, and their sudden expansion as they pass over the land towards the West, together with many other things, such as the impossibility of producing mildew, * * * * etc., prove it. * * *
If the atmosphere here should not prove to be dry enough for particular cases, excellent facilities are afforded for removal westwardly where the rarefac- tion increases in proportation to the distance traveled towards the "Colorado Desert," which affords the lightest and driest atmosphere on the Continent. If the temperature should be too high for other cases a lower temperature can be found by proceeding northwardly to the mountainous country. At a distance of seventy iniles is Fredericksburg, which, according to its elevation above and dis- tance from San Antonio, is, in temperature, equal to seven and two-thirds degrees further north. And there are many other places of much greater altitude within one hundred and fifty miles of San Antonio. * * * * *
It is not change of temperature which the consumptive needs, but a light, dry atmosphere, free from irritating and feverish influences." * *
Remarking upon this letter, Dr. Cupples said: "That is, I think, a pretty fair estimate of the case, for a layman. He did not know enough about the sub- ject to speak quite correctly, for instance, salt is not irritating to the throat and lungs in such a form, that is to say, naturally in the air, and it corrects the
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SOME OF THE RESOURCES OF WESTERN TEXAS.
humidity, which is an advantage. I believe the summer heat is somewhat inju- rious, not so much on account of its intensity, but the duration of it-it becomes wearisome to an invalid. The northers need not be considered-they are not really so cold as they seem, and as you say, they are invigorating and bracing, especially to those acclimated. San Antonio is a desirable winter resort for invalids. The winter climate is good. As to northers, if anyone is afraid of them-there being always a warning before a norther-it is easy to avoid them by staying indoors. The advantages of our climate are, freedom from colds, and the fact that all of our houses are freely and naturally ventilated, the average weather permitting all of our windows and doors to be left constantly open, insuring pure air."
Some of the Resources of Western Texas.
In presenting any remarks on the subject of this title, in a work of the present character, it is important to avoid injudicious exploiting and rash state- ments.
The following observations aim simply to describe the face of the country as it actually is, and not to draw immature bills on the future or to anticipate, by one jot, the prosperity it is destined to enjoy. Many statistics have been pur- posely avoided, and the reader is presented with an idea of the country, which is the fruit of ten years' journeyings throughout its length and breadth.
This article must be confined to some of the Resources of Western Texas. The title is both vast and vague. For the Resources are but partially known and still less developed, whilst the region itself is a somewhat indeterminate Geographical expression.
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SAN ANTONIO DE BEXAR.
As a fair generalization we will discuss the country lying west of the Colo- rado. By a glance at the map, this will be seen to be a great plain, sloping from the northwest to the southeast, and drained by the following principal rivers, flowing-with the exception of the tributaries of the Rio Grande-in the direc- tion indicated. They are the Colorado, Concho, San Saba, Llano and Per- denalis, Guadalupe and San Marcos, the San Antonio and Medina, the Frio, Sabinal, Nueces, Los Moras, San Felipe, Devil's River, the Pecos and Rio Grande.
Nearly all these streams head in bold springs of the clearest water, whose banks are of great natural beauty and whose volume never varies.
In the lower counties, the Frio, Sabinal and Nueces sometimes disappear from the surface in extremely dry weather. They, however, continue to flow underground and always maintain abundant pools for stock and other purposes. These valleys are agricultural-more especially the eastern ones-and with occasional irrigation, such as is practiced at San Antonio and some points on the Rio Grande, might become the granary of the continent.
The intervening prairies are given up mostly to stock-raising, and are the finest breeding grounds of the world.
All of this immense territory has more or less intimate relations with the City of San Antonio de Bexar, which has ever been the nursing mother of its phenomenal growth.
So true a parent has San Antonio been to this region, that, even within the past ten years, happenings and belongings anywhere within its borders have always had a local savor in the streets of "Santone." Was it a cattle trade or a round-up ? a death or a wedding? all the way from here to El Paso or eke the coast or the Lower Rio Grande, the parties and incidents were discussed with quite a personal interest and knowledge. And so it is to some extent to-day.
The evolution of this broad land has been somewhat after this manner : Twenty years ago the country was a rolling prairie, with occasional islands of timber giving in places a park-like appearance to the landscape, and under these clumps of Live Oak, Hackberry or Mesquite, the stock of many owners gathered for shade and rumination. The valleys and cañons which we have already described were filled with a thicker growth of Pecan, Elm, Cypress and Cedar, the trees festooned with wild grapes and other vines. There are, too, great belts of Post Oak.
The roads were prairie trails of immense width, crossing the streams at fords which, sometimes, were not fordable. These roads led by stage stands, frontier posts and villages and to the small ports on the coast. There were daily stages North, South, East and West, and endless wagon trains, drawn by many oxen and mules and driven by picturesque Mexicans armed to the teeth, with a view to Indians.
The outgoings and incomings of these wayfayers made neighbors of the whole province of their travels, even far into Mexico, whose trade with Texas has always been extensive.
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SOME OF THE RESOURCES OF WESTERN TEXAS.
After a while came the stoppage of the prairie fires, from the increased value of the nutritious mesquite grass, and the consequent rapid growth of the mesquite underbrush, which now nearly covers the middle portion of the district, affording more protection for stock and an edible bean for both cattle and horses. The various kinds of cacti also became much more luxuriant.
In the seventies, fencing began in the South, but this revolution of the stock interests from the primitive "round-up" only fairly set in during the eighties, and at the present time it is almost complete in the more desirable pasture lands.
With the barbed-wire fence came the railway and the hoe, the agents of a still newer revolution now going rapidly forward.
Formerly the Colorado was thought to mark the western limit of farming in Texas. Undoubtedly the seasons have improved with the country, and vice versa, for farming is now carried on, even without irrigation, throughout the ter- ritory under discussion, cotton, corn, wheat, oats, millet, sorghum and sugar cane being raised in more or less abundance .* With irrigation the agricultural wealth of this country would be incalculable, and at a very conservative estimate would maintain in affluence and humble comfort 20,000,000 people. The present population of this section is certainly not one-twentieth of that number.
Let us see how this future may be provided for by glancing at our present resources.
The general character of the country is still pastoral and the staples are cattle, sheep, horses, wool and hides. On the coast are extensive oyster and other fisheries, particularly the delicate red fish, a dainty denizen of the lagoons.
The increasing growth of Cotton is enormous and although not a staple of Western Texas proper, it is rapidly becoming so.
Below are some figures for 1889 for the market of San Antonio only :
Horses, 70,000 head ; cattle, 84,000 head; sheep, 160,000 head ; wool, 7,000,000 pounds ;; hides, 2,000,000 pounds ; cotton, 12,000 bales.}
With such an abundance of raw material at our doors, it is natural to con- sider the question of power for their manufacture.
The City of Austin is engaged in a gigantic scheme for a dam on the Colo- rado, estimated to cost nearly $1,500,000. There is a fine site at Columbus, on the same River.
On the Guadalupe are innumerable opportunities to establish power, especially at New Braunfels and Seguin. A fine power is already established at San Marcos, and also at Marble Falls.
* To produce such crops implies a varied soil, limestone hills, alluvial valleys, wide stretches of sandy loam and "black waxy," deep river bottoms and in the Post Oaks and Black Jacks some sandy and gravelly lands, These are the soils of Western Texas.
+ WOOL-1875, 300,000 pounds ; 1876, 400,000 pounds ; 1877, it suddenly sprang to 2,287,241 pounds. This in- crease was probably owing to the increase of flocks and to the new railroad facilities of San Antonio. The ship- ments have steadily grown year by year to the present large market of 1889.
#12,000 bales local wagon receipts, including country consignments by rail would probably amount to 20,000 bales, and the amount of cotton handled by San Antonio merchants, by order and otherwise, would not be less, say, than a total of 120,000 bales. The Mexican cotton trade was almost the only cotton business here for the years previous to 1881. In this year the Mexican market was 5000 bales and the next season shows the first nota- ble increase in the San Antonio market, on account, probably, of new railroad facilities.
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SAN ANTONIO DE BEXAR.
The San Antonio has many mills on its banks, and its capacity for water- power is everything that could be desired.
Coal-mines are being extensively worked at Eagle Pass and Laredo, on the frontier, and in the vicinity of San Antonio. There is also a fine seam in the Eagle Spring Mountains, near the junction of the Southern and Texas Pacific Railways.
Iron ore of great purity and inexhaustible quantity is found at Llano with a fine Lime-stone flux immediately adjacent. In the same · neighborhood and sur- rounding counties are many beautiful marbles and granite of the hardest texture. Good clay of various colors is abundant and brick-making is extensively carried on in Laredo, Eagle Pass, San Antonio and vicinity and many other places.
In Uvalde county are deposits of guano and kaolin ; asphaltum has been found in many localities, and lately while boring for artesian water in San An- tonio and its neighborhood, both natural gas and oil have been found.
Of the precious metals, Silver is being worked in paying quantities in the Chinati mountains. This Range, as well as the Chisos and Diabolo abound in Galena ore, rich in Lead and Silver.
There are also strong indications of Copper, Iron and Coal in this moun- tainous country of the extreme West, but from inaccessability and lack of trans- portation, the subject has not received adequate attention. A geological survey of the state is now being made under the direction of Prof. Dumble, of Austin, from which much additional light is hoped.
Of the Fruits of Texas, the most successful are the Fig, Vine, Peach and Mulberry. Melons of all sorts and varieties grow to perfection, together with the usual vegetables-maturing early, and, in fact, with care, a garden may be main- tained all the year around.
This brings us to say a few words about the climate :- There are perhaps twenty days in the year, on an average, that a man cannot work out of doors. The heat of summer is tempered by a breeze from the Gulf which fans the whole country by 3 o'clock in the afternoon, an hour which would otherwise be the hot- test part of the day. The nights are always cool, and at an elevation of 1,500 feet a blanket is needed the summer through. The official mean temperature, Post of San Antonio is :- Summer, 82.43º ; Winter, 51.67º ; Rainfall, 24 to 36 inches.
In the Winter the northers are disagreeable while they last, as their duration is generally not longer than forty-eight hours, the objection is slight.
The climate is a good one, and in conjunction with the country we have been briefly describing, will in a few years rear a people which will have the controlling voice in all our dealings with our neighbors to the South, and, grow- ing as it must, in culture as in material wealth, it will be a people of ideas, and yet not lose that resourceful Western character which disposes of obstacles by destroying them and dissolves difficulties in a solution of success.
As for those who come to the land and grumble that everything is not achieved, let them remember, that, in that event, there would be nothing left for them to do.
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65
LIST OF CHARTERS OF THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO.
Moreover, the generation passing away, has done all the hard work. Pioneer heroism has finished its self appointed task. The battle of barbarism and law- lessness has been fought. The Indian and the outlaw are almost extinct and the institutions of our fathers are established.
We may enter upon our inheritance in peace, and, in its literal sense, the dweller in Western Texas may sit under his own Vine and Fig-tree, fanned by the cool Gulf breeze, and thankfully murmur to the Goddess of plenty.
O DULCE DOMUM.
List of Charters and Amendments to the Same of the City of San Antonio.
FIRST. Charter granted by King of Spain in 1733 or 1734.
SECOND. An act to incorporate the town of Nacogdoches and other towns herein named, by the Republic of Texas, January 5, 1837.
THIRD. Act of Incorporation, December 14, 1837.
FOURTH. Act Supplementary, January 26, 1839.
FIFTH. Act of Incorporation, January 14, 1842.
SIXTH. Act to incorporate the City of San Antonio, January 24, 1852.
SEVENTH. An act to amend the act of January 14, 1842, November 26, 1855.
EIGHTH Act of Incorporation, July 17, 1856.
NINTH. Act of Incorporation, August 13, 1870.
TENTH. Amendments to Sections 5, 6, 24, 33, 46, 131, 135, 189, 230, made by the people at an election held December 15, 1874.
ELEVENTH. Amendments to Sections 5, 24, 43, 45, April 18, 1879, by Sixteenth Legislature.
TWELFTH. Amendments of March 4, 1885.
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SAN ANTONIO DE BEXAR. List of Mayors of the City of San Antonio.
FROM ITS INCORPORATION, JUNE, 1837, TO JANUARY, 1890.
September 19, 1837, to March 9, 1838-Mayor, John W. Smith (all the aldermen and city officers are Mexicans).
March 9, 1838, to July 20, 1838-Mayor, William H. Dangerfield.
July 20, 1838, to January 8, 1839-Mayor pro tem, Antonio Menchaca.
January 8, 1839, to January 8, 1840-Mayor, S. A. Maverick.
January 8, 1840, to January 9, 1841-Mayor, John W. Smith.
January 9, 1841, to April 18, 1842-Mayor, Juan N. Seguin (died September, 1890, at New Laredo. From August 17, 1841, to September 7, 1841, Francis Guilbeau, Mayor pro tem.).
April 18, 1842, to March 30, 1844-Mayor, John W. Smith.
March 30, 1844, to February 18, 1845-Mayor, Edward Dwyer.
February 18, 1845, to January 1, 1846-Mayor, Edward Dwyer.
January 1, 1846, to January 1, 1847-Mayor, Bryan Callaghan (C. F. King, pro tem).
January 1, 1847, to January 1, 1848-Mayor, Charles F. King, (and from Jan- uary 27, 1847, to January 1, 1848, S. S. Smith, pro tem).
January 1, 1848 to January 1, 1849-Mayor, Chas. F. King, (and from April 3, 1848 to January 1, 1849, S. S. Smith, pro tem.)
January 1, 1849, to January 1, 1850-Mayor, J. M. Devine.
January 1, 1850, to January 1, 1851-Mayor, J. M. Devine.
January 1, 1851 to January 1, 1852-Mayor, J. S. McDonald.
January 1, 1852, to January 1, 1853-Mayor, C. F. King.
January 1, 1853, to January 1, 1854-Mayor, J. M. Devine.
January 1, 1854, to January 1, 1855-Mayor, John M. Carolan.
January 1, 1855, to January 1, 1856-Mayor, James R. Sweet.
January 1. 1856, to the first Monday of January, 1857- Mayor, J. M. Devine. January 1, 1857, to June 30, 1857-Mayor, J. M. Devine.
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