LIFE ON THE BLACKLAND PRAIRIE

I produced this piece for the docents at the Rockwall County Historical Museum located at Harry Myers Park in Rockwall, Texas. The purpose was to give the docents a script they could use for guided tours of the exterior components of the museum. I've added pictures to show what the docents would be describing at stops along the tour. I don't know if they ever adopted the material for use.

I want you to dream with me.  Close your eyes and imagine you are standing on the shore of a vast ocean; an ocean that stretches from Canada in the north to Texas in the south and Kansas in the east to the Rocky Mountains in the west. But instead of water, this ocean is an ocean of grass, with waves as tall as ten feet undulating across the plains.

At your feet is Little Bluestem which, along with other grasses such as Indiangrass, Eastern Gama Grass, and Sideoats Grama, dominates the landscape and make up the bulk of the plant life. Below the grasses the prairie is alive with color as wildflowers bloom throughout the spring, summer, and fall.

Circling high above you will see hawks and vultures searching for a meal. Listen carefully and you will hear the sounds of prairie chickens drumming on hillocks to attract a mate and the yelp of prairie dog sentries calling out their warning. Tens of millions of bison wander across the land; driven by inner calendars that guide them throughout the year. Perhaps you catch a hint of smoke in the air as a fire rages across the prairie far away. Packs of wolves, groups of native hunters, and the occasional mountain lion follow the herds in their eternal quest for food.

The Blackland Prairie

In front of you lies a reconstruction of the Blackland Prairie, so named for the deep, rich, black soils that lie underfoot. The Blackland Prairie ecosystem extends from North Texas to San Antonio, encompassing some 11,500,000 acres of land.

Fire and Bison herds played a critical role in maintaining the prairie ecosystem. Historians believe that, on average, any given part of the prairie burned every seven years. Frequent fire prevented woody plant species from becoming established while deep roots protected the grasses from permanent damage. Fire also released key nutrients back to the soil, resulting in a fresh bloom of protein-rich grasses for the Bison to eat. The Bison feasted on the new growth while their uniquely shaped hooves churned the prairie; mixing nutrients with the soil beneath.

The prairies have been home to humans for millennia, drawn by abundant wildlife and rich soils. Historians and archeologists place the native Caddo people in the area as early as 4,000 years ago. The Caddo were a farming people and took advantage of the many natural meadows in fertile bottomlands to grow their crops. The first permanent European settlers picked up where the Caddo left off; first farming the patches of open meadow that the Caddo had maintained for centuries, then expanding their farms until virtually all the native prairie was converted to human purpose. 

Today less that 1/10 of one percent of the original Blackland Prairie remains; confined to small remnants scattered across Texas. The vast majority of the prairie was converted to farms, cities, and roads long ago. The two acres before you represent a small piece of reconstructed prairie for you to enjoy.

The first European settlers arrived in this area in 1840s.  Charles Finton Mercer, a Princeton graduate born in Virginia, arrived at what was then Peter’s Colony near Dallas in 1843. He requested and was granted the right to bring in 100 families to his new colony, called Mercer Colony, over 3 years.   However, he was only able to attract 108 people during that time.

Did you know that this area was not always Rockwall County?  First it was part of Nacogdoches County, then Henderson County, and finally a part of Kaufman County.  However, many of the residents in the northern part of the County complained that the county seat of Kaufman was too far for them to travel to conduct business at the courthouse.  Remember that people either walked or traveled via horses back then and a successful trip to the courthouse could take days.  They petitioned for a new county and the state of Texas chartered Rockwall County in 1873.  Both the county and the city of Rockwall are named for a unique underground rock formation that crosses the area.  It is the smallest county in Texas. The City of Rockwall was plated in 1854.

The Manson-La Moreaux-Hartman House

This building is called the Manson-La Moreaux-Hartman House after the people who lived here the longest.  We believe that the house, built by W.B. Bowles around 1850, is the oldest structure in Rockwall.  The first two rooms were built in a dogtrot style set on four Bois d’ Arc tree posts.  A dogtrot meant that the house was made up of two separate rooms with high ceilings and with a breezeway connecting them.  

Typically one room was for cooking and one was for living and sleeping.  This was to help keep the house cooler in the Texas heat and was popular in early Texas before fans and air conditioners.  The other rooms you see were added over the years as the house was sold to other people with bigger families.         The house was not originally at what is now Harry Myers Park but was located at.106 w. Washington Street.  In 1983 the house was sold, its contents auctioned, and the house given to Rockwall County Historical Foundation who moved it to this location.

Some interesting people have lived in this house over the years.  Mr. Henry (Hal) Walker Manson was born in Tennesee on February 12 of 1843 and served as a soldier in the 7th Tennessee regiment of the CSA.  After the war he came to Texas where he practiced as a physician and published the Rockwall Success (1883-1905), the first local newspaper. He went on to represent Rockwall and Dallas counties in the Texas State Legislature. 

Jessie Estelle Castle LaMoreaux was born in Michigan on July 30, 1866 and moved to Texas May 1898.  She graduated from the University Michigan Dental College in 1896 and was the first woman with formal dentistry training to practice in Texas.  Inside the house you will be able to look at some of her actual dental equipment from this period and discover what a trip to the dentist meant in the late 1880s.

The remainder of the grounds contain structures typical of a working farm in the late 1800s/early 1900s.  Farmers raised their own meat and vegetables so they didn’t need to buy much other than sugar and coffee from the store in town. Every farm would have had a garden consisting of potatoes, onions, asparagus, beans, dewberries.    The barn and corral would have held farm equipment and livestock.  The corn crib would have held feed corn for the livestock.  The windmill provided water for the livestock.  The well on the property was a deep water well and produced water even during droughts.  Neighbors came to collect water when their wells ran dry during dry spells.  The house did not have internal plumbing so the family would have used an outside pump for fresh water and the outhouse as a bathroom.  When it was cold or during the night the family would have used “chamber pots” kept in their bedrooms rather than make the long walk to the outhouse.

Farming on the Blackland Prairie

A typical day on the farm would be to rise early, by 5:00 am.  The men would milk the cow and feed the livestock while the women fixed a hardy breakfast of ham, scrambled eggs, biscuits and syrup.  After breakfast, it was to work in the fields.  Most of the land in this area was farmed for cotton due to the good climate and rich soils.  Cotton farmers often hired workers to help them with the cotton crop.  Workers were paid to both “chop” and pick cotton.  Chopping meant hoeing between the rows to eliminate weeds and thinning cotton plants.  A typical worker would be paid $2 a day for chopping cotton.  Pickers would hang a 6 foot long fabric bad over their shoulder and walk the rows putting cotton balls into the bag.  A typical sack held between 100 and 120 pounds of cotton. Pickers were paid about a penny a pound for their harvest.

Property owners had many options for farming their land.  If their family was large enough the family would perform all of the necessary tasks.  When they needed help they would either hire choppers and pickers or allow others to work their land through tenant farming or sharecropping.  Both are similar systems.  Neither tenant farmers nor sharecroppers owned their own land but tenant farmers owned their own equipment while sharecroppers did not. 

The land owner would provide a place for the farmer and his family to live and the tenant farmer would supply the labor and materials to plant and produce crops. When the crops were harvested, the tenant farmer would pay a portion of what he made to the land owner; usually ¼ to 1/3 of the crop. This was a mutually beneficial arrangement and in Rockwall County, it was not uncommon for the tenant farmer to remain on the same land for 28 to 33 years.

Louise Royse Pickens was born in a tenant farm cabin much like this one on January 19, 1921.  Listen to her own words tell us about life as a tenant farmer in North Texas.

The cabin only had two rooms.  One was the kitchen and living area.  The other room, with the fireplace, was where the family slept so they could keep warm.  The furnishings were simple.  Many farmers built their own furniture.  It was nice, but not extra-ordinary.  There was no electricity.  Kerosene lamps were used for light.  There was an ice box that required a big, square chunk of ice to keep everything cool.  Radios were very rare (because there was no electricity.)  Magazines and a couple of books may be the only reading material in the farmer’s home.  Books were read over and over again.   

A number of things were required for these tenant farmers.  A team of horses was needed to pull the plows and pull the wagon.  Wagons were used to haul grain and supplies or take the family to Church. 

A stock pond provided water for the livestock and a water well was the source of water for the family.  Farmers worked together to help one another dig their stock tanks and wells.  A water well would be 20 or 30 feet deep.  It would be lined with bricks or Bois-d’arc logs to keep the walls from caving in.  There was an old gentleman who was called a “diviner” that would help the farmers locate where to dig their well.  He would walk across the land holding a stick shaped like a wishbone in his hands and when the stick began to point downward, that’s where the well was dug! 

The main crop was cotton but a garden was necessary to grow vegetables for the family to eat.  Corn, cabbage, potatoes, beans and tomatoes were grown in the garden.  Many farmers planted peach, pear and apple trees so that their family would have fresh fruit as well.  Much of this produce would be “canned” or “preserved” in jars to be used later.  Then the jars of food were stored either under the house or in the storm cellar.  Sometimes the tomatoes would “explode” in their jars and make a loud noise like a firecracker going off!  Sometimes cabbage would be preserved by burying it in a hole in the ground, lined with corn husks and more corn husks placed on top of the cabbage before covering it all up with dirt. 

Of course, a cow was necessary for milk.  Chickens provided eggs.  Hogs were raised for meat.  Cats were important to have to keep the rats from eating the stored corn or grain.  Terrier dogs were also useful members of the farm family.  The dogs were able to sniff out where the rats had burrowed up under the ground, dig up their hiding places and then the cats would catch them!  Most farmers had bee hives to provide honey and to pollinate the crops.  Sometimes when a farmer had an empty hive, he could attract a swarm of bees by banging two pie pans together while standing near the empty hive.  The bees were attracted to the noise and would come “move in” the empty hive. 

Farming was hard work!  The tenant farmer could not afford to “hire” help.  All the children had chores to do.  Older children would milk the cow, help plow long rows for the cotton using a horse and help gather the crops or pick cotton.  The men would have to use the “middle buster” plow themselves at the end of the season to plow under the cotton stubble or corn stalks because it was such a hard job.  When working out in the fields, it could be a long way from the house.  A white cloth or cup towel was tied to the porch to signal that lunch was ready.  It was a simple life and no one had much money, but everyone was happy.  No one complained.    

The Future of the Prairie

This rich, dark land has sustained people for thousands of years.  For the Native Americans the land provided everything they needed to live and the relationship with the land was deeply spiritual.  Farmers were deeply connected to the land as well but in a slightly different way, the land provided the means to grow or acquire everything they needed to live.   But the farmers also brought a Judeo-Christian perspective to this relationship that placed the people separate from and above the land and made it into something to conquer and subdue.  The land was not as much valued in and of itself, as was the case with the Native peoples.  Its value lied in what could be extracted from it.  The notion of separateness extends down through history to us today.  

If you walk across the road and up to the top of the hill looking west, you will see the beginnings of the Dallas Fort Worth Metroplex, a megacity with millions of people living and working in thousands of homes and buildings.  The prairie has been replaced by manicured lawns which cannot survive in the native Texas climate.  The farms have been paved over with concrete roads and buildings.  Our water arrives in our homes from reservoirs far away.  Our food is shipped to us from locations around the world.  And our waste products are whisked away from our doorsteps, almost by magic.  Most of the people who live here derive nothing of value from the land itself other than its ability to support a home slab. 

So the future of the land is uncertain.  In our eternal and uniquely American quest for progress prime agricultural lands like this are paved over every year to support the needs of our growing communities.  Once lost, these lands can never be reclaimed, at least not in time measured by human lifetimes.  So as you continue your walk through the park, try to imagine the sea of grass and wildflowers and farms that once would have surrounded you; and remember what we have lost.