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Life in Colonial East Texas
by Archie
P. McDonald, PhD
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Television for entertainment,
weather reports, and news, cellular telephones to remain in contact with business
associates and friends, automobiles for rapid transit from home to work to play--are
wonders of the modern world that we take for granted. For our Texas colonial ancestors,
life was much different.
Most walked to Texas because that was their
only way of getting here or because they would not occupy space in a wagon needed
for supplies required for survival. Some rode horseback, perhaps led a pack horse
or two, and some arrived on the coast via packet boat. The method of arrival determined
how many resources could be brought to a new life in colonial East Texas. Food
was available for those with skill and knowledge -- "skill" in hunting and fishing,
for East Texas forests and streams hosted abundant wildlife; "knowledge," because
some of nature's bounty was toxic unless harvested or prepared properly. Staples
such as salt and sugar were brought along if colonists had the means to do so.
Otherwise, they did without until such commodities could be produced in Texas.
Meanwhile, they gathered berries and nuts in season and the brave robbed beehives
for honey to use as a sweetener or preservative.
Clothing made of wool
or cotton was common, but many colonists found that softened deerskin worked well
in the forests. Such garments were long lasting and warm in winter -- and also
in summer.
A first shelter might be in or under a wagon until something
more permanent could be constructed, likely a one-room log cabin. All "special"
rooms of modern housing had a place in this cabin: kitchen--in the fire place
(except in summer, when an outdoor fire was used to leave the cabin as cool as
possible); bedroom -- likely the bare ground until planed boards were available
for flooring, with perhaps ticking stuffed with moss or shucks for a mattress;
dining room--homemade table, perhaps with cross sections of tree trunks turned
on end for stools; "bath" room--for bathing, this likely meant a nearby creek
or lake not often visited, and if for elimination, an "outhouse" located as far
from the water well as possible.
Furnishings were functional rather
than fancy and manufactured by the colonists themselves. Gourds could be cut for
use as bowls and drinking vessels, cane sections whittled to resemble forks, and
hickory saplings harvested for hoe or axe handles.
A Colonist's health
was precarious, partly because diets were monotonous. Meat was preserved primarily
with salt and vegetables by dehydration, and settlers enjoyed green vegetables
only during their growing season. If ill or injured, they probably faired better
with folk cures--spiderweb poultices to stop bleeding, for example -- than the
ministrations of the ill-educated "doctors" mostly available on the frontier.
A review of how our elders lived ought to make us especially appreciative
of our air conditioning, indoor plumbing, and electrical service. Our lives are
rich compared to those who lived not so long ago.
All
Things Historical
January 6-12, 2002
Published with permission
(Archie
P. McDonald is Director of the East Texas Historical Association and author or
editor of over 20 books on Texas) |
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