Any time is a great time to start or even renew a special project. And that’s what I plan to do. I had to slow down and then put down my blog, but it and I are ready to go again. Several years ago, a dear friend encouraged me to save all of the historical stuff in my head and put them in papers or books on shelves. I have notebooks from graduate school, and stories my families told me before television around Wichita Falls. Older people I know shared their memories with me, things my husband hears at his work, and anything in the world about the northern part of Texas.
I was born in Ft. Worth; how much more Texan is that? After all, Fort Worth is known called “Where the West Begins.†All four of my grandparents lived nearby and had something unique to show or teach me. After all I was the only grandchild. The most unusual part of my childhood was when my grandfather who was a cattle man would swing me on his leg while telling me poems about horses and riders. One of the grandmothers helped me cut out pictures in the catalogs to play paper dolls with. The rural mail carrier let me hold a magazine with a horse on the cover. When we stopped at the mailbox, I really didn’t want to turnover that picture. But I did with the offer of an ice cream cone in town. The other grandmother taught me to go to church on Sunday, play the piano and act like a young lady.
I learned ranching and mail carrying as well as sewing and cooking. I developed a love for school, especially reading and writing. It’s still with me.
My husband grew up in the big town of Merit, here in Hunt County. Many of the residents were related to him in some way or another. When we married, we decided we needed to live in a big city. Shortly afterward he was offered a job and still has it, but now he is the boss. He is considered a strong community leader. Somehow, I got the moniker of History Lady. Maybe it’s because I have been active in the Hunt County Historical Commission for over forty years.
My first blog series covered only Hunt County, but this time we are going to meander along the Red River, starting out at the edge of the Main Red River in New Mexico. From there the Red flows over the Caprock Escarpment, the High Plains, Rolling Plains, Cross Timber, and Prairies, Blackland Prairies, and Post Oak Savannah. Red River meanders over Indian Territory (now Oklahoma), Louisiana, New Mexico.
But it’s not just the geology, the events that have happened in the region over a long period of time. Some of the explorers like Cabaza de Vaca (my very favorite), the great stories of the Republic of Texas, Civil War, and Reconstruction. In early 20th century there are tragic stories with World War I and II, the Depression, Prohibition, and anything else that’s interesting. I try to keep the 19th century out, but I started a biography of Morris Sheppard who did a terrific assistance for the people of North Texas. I was just buzzing along until I stumbled on the fact that he was a very instrumental in banking. While I can write checks as good as any woman, the banking system is confusing for me. Poor old Senator Morris Sheppard is in the background now.
Yet I really want to finish it because he was such an important U. S. Senator from his election for Congress from North Texas until his death in the spring of 1941.
I’m excited about the new project. Feel Free to contact me at [email protected]. I love to read your comments, suggestions, stories, and anything
about Texas along the Red River.
By the way, don’t try to jump in the Red in a white swim suit. I tried it once while I was in school at Midwestern University. I should have known since the water was awfully red. When I got back to the dorm, my bathing suit was no longer white, but as red as the Red River.
