Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XV.djvu/700

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670 TEXAS son (4,190). Other important places are Bas- trop, Bonham, Brazoria, Bremond, Brenham, Columbus, Corpus Christi, Dallas, Eagle Pass, Fairfield, Fredericksburg, Gonzales, Hender- son, Huntsville, Independence, Iiidianola, La Grange, Laredo, Lavaca, Marshall, Nacog- doches, Navasota, New Braunfels, Richmond, San Marcos, Seguin, Sherman, Sulphur Springs, Victoria, Waco, and Waxahachie. The popu- lation of Texas in 1806 has been estimated at 7,000 ; in 1834, at 21,000 ; in 1836, at 38,500 ; and in 1845, at 150,000. The results of the three federal censuses are as follows : YEARS. Whites. Free colored. Slaves. Total. Gain per cent. Rank. 1860... 154,034 897 58,161 212,592 25 1860... 1870... 420,891 564,100 355 253,475 182,566 604,215 818,579 184-20 85-48 23 19 The total for 1860 includes 403 Indians, and that for 1870 379 Indians and 25 Chinese. There are very few inhabitants W. of the 100th meridian, except along the Rio Grande. In the vicinity of San Antonio there is a large population of German origin. Of the total population in 1870, 423,557 were males and 395,022 females, 756,168 native and 62,411 foreign born. Of the natives, 388,510 were born in the state, 62,224 in Alabama, 51,435 in Tennessee, 42,537 in Mississippi, 41,206 in Georgia, 27,290 in Louisiana, 23,357 in Ar- kansas, 22,165 in Virginia and West Virginia, 18,655 in North Carolina, 18,419 in Missouri, 17,813 in Kentucky, 17,717 in South Carolina, 5,854 in Illinois, 2,873 in New York, 2,783 in Indiana, 2,385 in Maryland, 2,052 in Ohio, 1,934 in Florida, and 1,877 in Pennsylvania. Of the foreigners, 23,985 were natives of Ger- many, 23,020 of Mexico, 6,762 of the British isles (including 2,037 English and 4,031 Irish), 2,232 of France, and 1,748 of Austria (proper). 6f the colored population, 225,658 were blacks and 27,817 mulattoes. There were 145,184 males and 139,667 females between 5 and 18 years of age, 158,765 males from 18 to 45, and 184,094 males 21 and upward, of whom 169,- 258 were citizens of the United States and 14,736 unnaturalized foreigners. The number of families was 154,483, with an average of 5-3 persons to each; of dwellings, 141,685, with an average of 5*78 to each. Of persons 10 years old and upward, 189,423 could not read, and 221,703 could not write; of the lat- ter 203,334 were natives and 18,369 foreigners, 110,562 males and 111,141 females, 70,895 whites, 150,617 colored, and 191 Indians; 47,636 were between 10 and 15 years of age, 41,768 between 15 and 21, and 132,299 21 and upward, of whom 64,819 were males. There were 404 blind persons, 232 deaf and dumb, 270 insane, and 451 idiotic. Of the 237,126 persons 10 years old and upward returned as engaged in all occupations, there were em- ployed in agriculture 166,753, including 81,123 agricultural laborers, 79,015 farmers and plant- ers, 3,338 stock raisers, and 2,049 stock herd- ers ; in professional and personal services, 40,- 882, including 831 clergymen, 13,692 domestic servants, 14,371 laborers, 1,027 lawyers, 1,9U6 physicians and surgeons, and 1,709 teachers; in trade and transportation, 13,612 ; and in manufactures and mining, 15,879. Texas may be divided into four sections, eastern, central or middle, western, and northern Texas. East- ern Texas embraces the territory between the Sabine and Trinity rivers, and is the great timber region of the state, there being only a few prairies confined to the gulf coast. The southern portion is low and level, the northern rolling and elevated, but not mountainous. The greater portion of central Texas, between the Trinity and Colorado rivers, is prairie, but there is considerable timber along the streams. Northern Texas, including two or three tiers of counties from Red river, is about equally divided between prairie and forest. Western Texas embraces the region between the Colo- rado and Rio Grande rivers. Prairies cover about four fifths of its surface ; with the ex- ception of occasional districts covered with post oak or the mezquite tree, timber is con- fined almost entirely to the valleys of the streams, which are densely wooded. The N. W. extremity of the state, between Indian ter- ritory and New Mexico, is known as the u pan- handle." In general, the S. and S. E. portion, along the coast, is level and of little elevation ; N. of this the country is undulating ; the W. and N. W. region is mostly an elevated table land; while the district between the Pecos and Rio Grande is mountainous. The table land includes a large portion of the Llano Estacado, and has been but imperfectly ex- plored ; it is said to vary from 2,000 to 4,000 ft. in height. The Llano Estacado or Staked Plain (so named from the great abundance of yucca stems, resembling stakes) extends from the Rio Pecos in New Mexico on the west to the head waters of the Colorado, Brazos, and Red rivers on the east, and from the valley of the Canadian on the north to the Pecos on the south. Its surface is gently undulating ; vege- tation is scanty, owing to the dryness of the climate and the lack of streams. The princi- pal ranges between the Pecos and Rio Grande are the Guadalupe, Sierra Hueca, Eagle, Sierra Blanca, and Apache mountains, attaining in places an elevation of between 5,000 and 6,000 ft. Between the upper waters of the Colorado and Brazos is a large tract of timbered land known as the "mezquite timber," and be- tween the upper Brazos and Trinity a long tract from 5 to 30 m. in width, extending from Johnson co. to the Canadian river in Indian territory, and called the Cross Timbers. The coast of Texas, which extends along the gulf of Mexico about 400 m., is bordered with a chain of low sand islands, between which and the mainland lie a series of bays, sounds, and lagoons; the most important of these, begin- ning at the northeast, are Galveston, Matagor-