Meixner Family History #20 - Epilogue Part 3

By the late 1800s the railroads were snaking their way west, facilitating the westward movement of the U.S. population.  People in the East were moving west to Texas.  People in East Texas were moving west to Central and West Texas.

Train in Texas. (1)

Cattle ranchers moved large herds of cattle into areas of open range land in Texas to freely pasture their cattle.  Eventually any Indians in the area would be driven out, then the smaller ranchers and farmers would move in, put up fences and put down roots.  This was the process that occurred in Concho County and this pattern was repeated in several other areas of Texas.  In 1895 the Texas Legislature lowered the price of it's public land for sale and made available loans for 40 years at 3 percent interest.  This combination of lower prices and easier and cheaper financing helped fuel the migration of farmers to new areas of Texas.

The first decade of the twentieth century was a period of growth in most of the counties to the west.  Concho County recorded the fastest growth in it's entire history.  The 1900 U.S. Census showed a population of 1427.  This number exploded to 6,654 in 1910, almost 5 times the 1900 number.  The Meixners and Armisteads were a part of this growth.  Similar growth was experienced in nearby counties such as Runnels County (4 times it's 1900 population) and Tom green County (2 1/2 times it's 1900 population) as well as many other counties across the state.  After Concho County was organized as a county and Paint Rock was established as the county seat in 1879, other towns started to spring up.  Eden was established about 20 miles south of Paint Rock in 1882.  Eola, Lowake, and Millersview were all in existence by 1910.

After he moved to Concho County in 1901, my granddad Harmon Meixner "...worked at a variety of jobs, such as riding wild horses, breaking young horses to work for purposes of pulling wagons, buggies, hacks, and plowing.  Of course there were cattle to look after and fences to repair and build.  The cowboys worked large herds of cattle.  Often they would drive them at night" (2)  In the early years he worked for ranchers in the area such as D.E. Sims and Sam Henderson.  Both were pioneer ranchers in Concho County.

 Cowboys in Texas (3)   

Only a short post today.  Just a tease to get you to come back in a few weeks.  I am planning a trip to Concho County to do a little research so I will wait to write about these ranchers after I return.  Hopefully I will have more facts and maybe a few photographs to share in my next post when I continue talking about Harmon Meixner in Concho County.

If any of the family would like to join me please let me know.  I've talked to a couple of you about going so we'll see what happens.

References:

(1) American Lumberman. [Texas South-Eastern Railroad Engine 4 - Broadside], Photograph, 1907; digital image, (http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth204445/ark:/67531/metapth204445/ : accessed January 29, 2013), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, http://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting The History Center, Diboll, Texas.
(2) Memoirs of Robert Harmon Meixner, Sr., July 10, 1910 - June 13, 1994.
(3) Crews Ranch Cowboys, Early 1900's], Photograph, n.d.; digital image, (http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth34628/ : accessed January 29, 2013), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, http://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Childress County Heritage Museum, Childress, Texas.  Picture of cowboys early 1900s