Junction High School - Golden Eagle Yearbook (Junction, TX)

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From the putt-putt and pedal- propelled vehicles of yesterday to today's streamlined cargo carriers, transportation has taken a leap from the past. Mfmc- , the whistle - B oWVN ? mong the first daring men to map trails through Texas were cattle drivers. The cattle drive era ended with the introduction of railroads, oil wells and fences. In 1866, an estimated 260,000 cattle were started on these trails for Sedalia and other railroad heads in Missouri from which cows would be shipped to profitable Northeastern markets. The best known cattle trail was the Chisholm Trail. It was opened in 1867 by Jesse Chisholm, a Cherokee Indian trader. The trail began in South Texas, ran by Austin and Lampasas, passed between Fort Worth and Weatherford, crossed the Red River and snaked through Indian territory to Caldwell, Kansas. Westward movement by farmers and ranchers forced the cattlemen to seek new trails. By the 1880s, every large division of West Texas had secured a railroad, and from 1870 to 1930 the economic transformation of Texas assumed great proportions — largely because of railroads. By 1904, Texas contained more miles of railroad track than any other state. Although subsistence farming did not disappear, most farmers turned to the cash crop — cotton. Commercial agriculture continued to provide a living for the majority of Texans until the beginning of oil production at Spindletop. By the 1920s, the value of industrial production exceeded that of agricultural production. With the rise of cities and the decline of the agrarian state, industrialization had come to roost in Texas. To Texans of the late 19th century, railroads were the key to progress and prosperity. When a railroad bypassed a community, it was certain to become a ghost town. Many railroads were courted by citizens and sometimes railroads received gifts of free state land in exchange for placing their tracks by certain towns. The greatest beneficiary was the Texas and Pacific Railroad, which was given 5,167,360 acres. Approximately 32,150,000 acres of state land were awarded to railroad companies, an area as large as the entire state of Alabama. Construction of the bulk of the state's major railroads occurred during two decades. By the close of the 1890s, the state had 8,710 miles of railroad track. The Texas and Pacific Railway reached Fort Worth in 1876 and met the eastbound Southern Pacific at Sierra Blanca. Here the famous agreement between C.P. Huntington of the Southern Pacific and Jay Gould of the Texas and Pacific was reached. The two agreed to share rail lines from Sierra Blanca to El Paso. Among the major railroad companies that built in Texas during this era were the Houston and Texas

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number of farms declined from 501,014 to 186,000 as the rural population fell from 59 to 17 percent. Scientific irrigation methods and the need for modern farm equipment transformed the farming trade into a large, profitable industry. While there are fewer farmers today, the average size of a Texas farm between 1930 and 1980 grew from 275 to 744 acres. Cotton remains king and today nets the Texas economy more than $1 billion annually. Texas continues to grow more cotton than any other state in the nation. Cotton was spun and woven into cloth. Within a year, one Texan wrote in his diary he made a wheel, a coffin, a churn, a cradle, a pump auger, an ox yoke and a pair of shoes. By the turn-of-the- century, ready-made goods were rapidly replacing homemade materials and life on the early Texas farm slowly evolved into a sophisticated, late 20th century industry. LIFE ON THE FARMS: A PIONEER LEGEND Agrarian efforts of the Spaniards in the 18th century laid the foundation for the formal organization of farming and ranching in Texas. Missionaries adopted a life of farming for their own survival. The first settlers, those who followed Stephen F. Austin, were lured by cheap land. In 1821, for only a filing fee, a family would be granted a labor of land (177 acres) for farming and a league of land (4,428 acres) for grazing. The farm population boom occurred with the passage of the Homestead Act of 1854. This act gave 160 acres of land to anyone who resided on the land for more than three years. Homestead life was austere. The double log cabin was the most popular form of housing. It consisted of two rooms under a continuous roof. Usually, a front porch extended the length of the cabin. Chimneys were commonly made of sticks covered with mud. Floors were optional. Spaces between the logs were filled with clay or mortar. The Germans in Texas built better houses than other settlers, frequently using stone, but most Texas frontier homes were best described by the future President of the United States, Rutherford B. Hayes. He said settlers' homes had walls you could throw a cat through at random. For a state that could have produced fruits, vegetables and cereals and one where cattle were abundant, the diet of most early Texans was strangely monotonous. The most common vegetable was the sweet potato. People rarely ate meat, and many didn’t have milk and butter. The early Texas farm was almost self-sufficient. Candles or lard-burning lamps provided light. Below: Texas cotton production reaps tl billion annually. More cotton is grown in Texas than any other state. Far Below: A taste for freedom and a thirst for land to call their own led pioneer farmers to Texas.

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Central, the Gulf, the Colorado and Santa Fe, the Fort Worth, the Denver City, the Texas and Pacific, the Southern Pacific and the International and Great Northern. The railroad industry suffered during the Great Depression and World War II. Railways fought a losing battle against automobiles, airplanes and the change to new transportation systems. Texas, however, remains number one in terms of railroad mileage and is served by seven class-one rail carriers. The primary rail tonnage originating in the state includes non-metallic mineral, chemical, farm, petroleum, wood and lumber products. The Texas highway system ranks among the nation’s best. Federal interstates, state highways and rural roads link the regions of West and East Texas to the Panhandle, and all of South Texas to the Rio Grande River. The vastness of Texas demands a reliable network of roads. With a trip from El Paso to Orange being 860 miles, a New Englander could see several states traveling the same distance on the East Coast. As early as 1883, a project was begun to deepen the channel of Galveston's port. But in the annals of artificial ports, no story is more impressive than that of Houston’s. In 1908, Houston citizens inaugurated a movement to secure a deep water channel By 1925, with $10.6 million of federal and local funding, the channel was extended 55 miles from the Houston harbor to the outer harbor and deepened to 35 feet. Houston is now the leading port in Texas and one of the largest in the nation. Dominating developments in transportation during the postwar years were automobiles and airplanes. Motor vehicle registration rose from 2,192,654 in 1946 to 11,297,938 in 1978. Only California has more automobiles on the highway than Texas. Commercial air passenger service in Texas began in 1928. Growth was modest during World War II, but rapidly increased in the postwar years. Between 1965 and 1978, the number of people traveling by air in Texas tripled. first to operate in Texas in 18)2. It was called the General Sherman.”