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By Manford Eugene Jones
A thesis submitted
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of
Arts in History.
University of New
Mexico, 1939
Texas
A&M University History Professor Dale Baum purchased a copy of this
thesis from the university's library and contributed it to this
site. It is used with permission of Manford
Allen Jones, son of the author Manford Eugene Jones. These
electronic pages may not be reproduced in any
format by other organizations or individuals. Persons or organizations
desiring to use this material must obtain
the written consent of Manford Allen Jones or contact
Jane
Keppler, Robertson
County TXGenWeb coordinator.
CHAPTER VIII: CONCLUSION
The
story of cotton along the central Brazos River is inextricably bound up
with the glamorous history of Texas. From a time prior to the
Civil War until the present, this region has seen a continuous struggle
between man and the forces of nature.
To the
pioneer, as usual, fell the hardest struggle, in which a veritable
jungle was cleared and an outlet made to the seacoast market. The
earliest planters did not have to contend with the Indian, as the
cattlemen had come before them and had driven him westward.
Although
the Civil War did not devastate the cotton farms of Texas as much as it
did those in Georgia and other states, it left them in a chaotic and
disorganized condition. The chief obstacle to progress prior to
this time had been the lack of transportation facilities to move the
cotton to market. By 1860, the Houston & Texas Central
Railroad had been built from Houston north to Millican near the present
Brazos bottom town of Bryan, Texas. In the years immediately
following 1865, this railroad was extended north through the Brazos
valley towns of Bryan, Hearne, and Calvert. The railroad veered
east from the river at Calvert and thence to the prairie region of
Texas. Each of these towns served as a northern terminus for the
road for a brief period, at which time cotton would be freighted there
from many miles and the town would have all the characteristics of a
boom center. From 1870 until well past 1900 (excepting the panic
of 1897) was the golden era in cotton production along the
Brazos. Labor was cheap and plentiful, living expenses were low,
and the price of cotton was relatively high. So, with the
exception of the flood years, the Bottom farmers garnered substantial
profits in cotton.
The
very fertility of the bottom land has been a hindrance to such modern
farm developments as the tractor, diversification, and soil
conservation. There are many traditions here that will have to be
swept aside before these improvements are secured.
The
future for the Brazos bottom cotton farmer is full of promise in the
following ways: flood control through a series of dams seems
assured with the next decade; insect control is well established;
cooperative marketing is on its way; and improved living conditions for
the tenant and the day laborer are slowly but surely emerging.
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