|
|
Denison
in 1874
Excerpts
from
Texas 1874: An Eyewitness account
of conditions in Post-Reconstruction Texas
by
Edward King and J. Wells Champney,
Cordovan
Press, 1978 |
|
|
A
Street Scene in Denison
in 1908
TE Postcard Archives |
"In the primitive
hotels where the luckless passengers from the MKT railway awaited
a transfer by stage to Sherman,
and where they were packed 3 or 4 together in a thinly-boarded room,
through whose cracks rain might fall and dust might blow, they were
as safe from robbery as any first class house."
"Rough men abounded, and would, without doubt, knocked anyone upon
the head who would find himself alone, unarmed, and late at night
in their clutches. But the carrying of concealed weapons is so expressly
forbidden by the laws of Texas, that cases of shooting rarely occurred
and there was no more danger to the life or limb of the traveler than
may be met with on Broadway."
"The businessmen of Denton
are a stern, self-reliant, confident company. They have a thorough
belief in North
Texas. The Kansas, Missouri, Illinois and West New York character
crops up everywhere in Denison
and is the chief reliance of the town.
The aboriginal Texan looks on and admires the energy displayed, but
he takes care not to mix in the fray too much himself. There is something
sublimely impudent, charmingly provoking in the manner in which he
disappears from work and the street when a "Norther" comes on; in
the cool, defiant way in which he forces others to work for him and
the utter surprise he manifests when he is accused of droning."
|
|
|
