OUR HERITAGE

Our ancestors came to this area in ox-drawn wagons, horse back, by boat, 
and some even came by foot. 

This area is also in the extreme Northern part of what was know as the Bad 
Lands of Texas, Neutral Grounds, or even Red Land, because of the blood 
shed in this disputed strip. The area was about 100 miles wide and 200 miles 
long. It was also called No Man's Land. 

The dispute went back as far as the French being in Louisiana and the Spanish
 in Mexico and Texas. There was a misunderstanding when the United States 
made the Louisiana Purchase. This dispute continued on through the Texas 
Revolution, The Republic of Texas, War with the United States and Mexico, 
and was finally settled in 1845, when Texas entered the Union as a state. 
These courageous people came and homesteaded or bought land at a very 
cheap price. Most of them bought many acres. 

The early homes were built of logs, cut fresh from the virgin pines of East Texas 
and Arkansas. Most of them contained only one large room. They usually chinked 
the cracks between the logs with mud and grass to keep out the cold and rain. 
Later many of them built the "dog trot" style house, which was two rooms with 
an open hall between the rooms. Some of them had a room separate from the main 
house for the "cook room and eating room." Fireplaces were built of native rock, 
and were usually large because the family meals were cooked in them. 

Most of the people who settled here came from Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, 
Kentucky, and the Carolinas. The majority of them headed for this area had to 
travel very slowly, making their way across this new land. Quite frequently they 
stopped at different places on the way for one or two years. Some were share 
croppers, others found other types of work to earn money for food, or they 
raised food to help them reach their new homes. 

After they had settled in their new homes, and had cleared enough land to begin 
farming, they enjoyed this wild, new country. They helped each other clear land, 
had log rollings, butchered hogs, and had corn huskings. The women had quilting 
bees in their homes. The women loaded the table with good old-fashioned cooking 
at every gathering. After the people began producing good crops, they still had to 
go to market, which was all the way to Jefferson, Texas. They went at least twice a 
year - Fall and Spring. They brought back barrels of sugar, flour, and large amounts 
of any supplies they might need for the year. Cotton was carried to market, it was 
sold or exchanged for food and clothing the family would need. Spring was the time 
for buying seeds or farming implements and a supply of staples to make a new crop, 
most of the food was raised at home. 

There was a road to Jefferson and the Trammell Trace road that people traveled 
in those days. Many of the Arkansas people carried their cotton to Shreveport 
on barges. The Olive Branch area went to Shreveport, La. to do their exchange 
marketing. 

Submitted by:GVRichards@aol.com
*****************************************************************
USGENWEB ARCHIVES NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be 
reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization 
or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain 
the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, 
and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. 
***************************************************************