The
years haven't changed the culture of this old town...
Several
years ago I received a complimentary copy of a new book, Raw
Frontier (Volume Two), written by Keith Guthrie. His book is
sort of an assortment of historical facts about the area that made
up Green DeWitt's Colony during the birth of Texas.
Guthrie's
Raw Frontier is a 16-county area in south central and the coastal
bend region of Texas. He traveled extensively in this portion of
the state and visited with various descendants of pioneer families
who settled there. One
portion of the book that I found to be especially interesting was
his observations about the early pioneers who settled in
Hallettsville and Lavaca County. Information in the Raw
Frontier explains that one of the first settlers in the area
was John Hallet. He had received a land grant from Stephen F.
Austin in 1831. Hallet
died in 1836 and his wife, Margaret, donated the land for the town
site. In 1842, old La Baca County was formed and Hallettsville was
chosen as the county seat. However, historical records indicate
that the county was later abolished. When Texas became a state in
1846, Lavaca County was created once again. According
to the Handbook of Texas, two cities were competing for the
county seat. Hallettsville and Petersburg were evidently at great
odds with one another over who should be awarded the seat of
county government. An election was held on June 14, 1852, with
Hallettsville receiving the majority of votes. Petersburg
hotly contested the election claiming that there was election
fraud and other illegal things going on. After years of legal
maneuvering and some armed confrontations, the courts finally
determined in 1860 that Hallettsville would indeed be the county
seat. The unique old courthouse that is the hub of the downtown
square was built in 1897. It is listed in the National Register of
Historic Places. Folks in Lavaca County experienced some exciting times as did most people living on the frontier in early Texas. Included in Guthrie's book, is an account of life in Hallettsville in 1845. It was written by Mrs. Ellen McKinney Arnold and tells of her life as a child in the John McKinney family. Her recollections have been passed down through the family for generations.
Following
are excerpts of her observations of old Hallettsville: "There
were only three houses there, one was a blacksmith shop run by Ira
McDaniel and the other was a store run by Callart Ballard. He sold
powder, lead, flint rifles and groceries.... The first barrel of
flour that I saw, father gave him [Ballard] $35 worth of deer
hides for it. "We
wore out our shoes the first year and never had any more for
years. Father tanned hides and made us moccasins, which I think
are better than shoes.... The prairie was covered with mustang
ponies and wild cattle, game of all kinds was plentiful. Father
could stand in the door of his tent and shoot deer and wild
turkey...there were lots of bear. Father's favorite sport was
hunting Mexican lions. He killed enough to cover the tent
floor." Mrs.
Ellen McKinney Arnold was 87 years old when she recorded her
memories and this information can be found in the public library
at Hallettsville. What a place Texas must have been in those days! One thing is certain, folks should have never starved to death
back then. There were
worse ways to die — the Indians saw to that, and Lavaca County
had its share of problems with the hostiles. In
one account from the Raw Frontier, the Indians were
attacking and killing the settlers during what has become known as
the "Runaway Scrape." After the fall of the Alamo, the
Texas Army was at Gonzales and Gen. Sam Houston ordered the town
(Gonzales) to be destroyed by fire. The army retreated toward the
coast and passed through an area that would later become part of
Lavaca County. Families
from all around the area were also on the run in fear of the
advancing Mexican army. The Indians took advantage of the turmoil
and made their move as the following excerpt from the Raw
Frontier indicates: "The families of O'Dougherty and
Douglass, on Clark Creek, were getting ready to join the exodus
fleeing the Mexicans when Indians killed all of them, except
Augustine and Thadeus Douglass, ages 15 and 12, who had been sent
into the timber to find and bring the oxen to draw sleds. "As
they were returning they saw that their cabins were on fire and
could hear the war whoops and the screams of their kin and
neighbors. The boys watched powerless from hiding places. At night
they approached their home site and found the scalped bodies of
their father, mother, sister, and little brother, and of the
O'Doughertys, his son and two daughters lying naked in the
yard." It is a tribute to the resilience of those settlers of early Texas that they would endure such horrible events and still return to carve out a home in the wilderness.
All Texans
should be very
proud of their heritage. Many
immigrants from Czechoslovakia and Germany settled Hallettsville,
Texas, in the late nineteenth century. It has a rich legacy and
reputation for productive farms and friendly people. My parents
and younger brother, although not natives of Hallettsville, have
lived there for over 20 years — they are quick to say that they
wouldn't want to live anyplace else.
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