Vol. 2 No. 2
May 31, 2012
EDITORIAL
Hineston and its surrounding area has an interesting history and I am convinced that much of its history is untapped. Tapping into the obscure and hidden events is the task of all who know and love the area and its history. I have learned that that which seems the most obscure is likely to be of interest to someone and they often lead to discovery of other interesting history.
So lets give some though and attention to uncovering and reviving those events. If you need assistance in presenting it in writing let us know and help will be available. In the meantime the Chronicles will republish some old accounts and bring stories from outside the area such as the ones presented by Mr. Carrico on the Sabine River and east Texas.
Don C. Marler
REMEMBER THESE?
ACROSS THE SAVAGE SABINE
Phil Carrico
PREFACE
This is a fictional peek into early East Texas, at a time when Spain was trying desperately to hang onto the possession. By the mid 1700’s Spain had too little in the way of material and manpower to sustain adequate troops in this area. The men sent to patrol this eastern border, through necessity, became savage in handling encroachment of Frenchmen from Louisiana who illegally crossed the Sabine River.
The story line involves an interesting Texas phenomenon, the wild mustang, and showcases those fascinating characters that caught them – the Mustangers.
*****
Captain Juan Quinteria sat ramrod straight on the black stallion. Although his shoulders were square and he appeared the prototype of Spain’s military class, his face revealed a far different story. Quinteria was having black thoughts again as he watched his inept soldiers stumble through the evening formation.
These particular troops arrived in east Texas along the Sabine River in 1721 with the Marquis de Aquayo expedition. They were the guards for the fort and missions to be built in the area and also a deterrent to French encroachment from across the Sabine River. The soldiers were the dregs of Mexico’s prison system, mostly mix-bloods with a sprinkling of pure Spaniards, some of whom were more vicious than the mix-bloods. Quinteria’s second in command, Lt. Jose De La Rosa, was a mix-blood himself. De La Rosa had gained a battlefield commission for heroic action on a number of occasions. The scared old veteran was a throwback to the time of the conquistadors and was a savage fighting machine. In fact, De La Rosa’s reputation and ferocity was the fearful factor that held this ragtag unit to any form of discipline.
The King’s treasury had been bled white by sustaining a standing army on this wild frontier. The bulk of gold from the conquered Aztec and Inca nations had long since been squandered. Now, what little treasure made it’s way back to Spain came from the mines, scratched out by slave labor of border country Indians who were captured and sent to the mines for that purpose. A little turquoise was found in the wastes of New Mexico, however, the true treasure ships to Spain were a thing of the past. And the coffers of the King simply could not support the kind of military establishment that was needed.
Quinteria was aware that this ragtag unit was the only thing keeping back the flood of French into Spanish Texas from across the Sabine. Although illiterate, uncouth and unprincipled, these lancers were killers, every one. They were well versed in exotic methods of killing, and many had learned their trade in the back alleys of Mexico City as paid assassins.
The bloodthirsty reputation of his troops was the one bright spot to Quinteria, because he was a kindred soul in blood lust. He had learned to be this way because he was feeling wasted, forgotten and abandoned by his King. After all, the Quinteria family held an old and honored position in Spain. He had come to the New World seeking adventure and had found it to full measure. Now, in his mind, his usefulness was over and he was feeling wasted.
“THE FIRST SEVENTEEN” is the term used for the first cavalry horses to be landed on the American continent. Hernando Cortes, a Spanish hidalgo from Estremedura, brought the animals for use in his conquest of Mexico, (landed at Vera Cruz in 1519).
In the thinking of many anthropologist however, the event was just a “homecoming.” The plains of America is said to be the original home of the horse. After many horses migrated across the Aleutian Chain the horse completely died out in the Americas. After many years and going through startling physical changes, the horse had returned home with Cortes.
The horse was reintroduced to the American continent in Mexico in the early 15th century. They were first brought to Texas in the mid 16th century and were running wild by the thousands from the Rio Grand to the borders of Canada by the close of the 17th century.
Mustang is the term used for these wild horses north of Mexico. The word has been Americanized from the original Spanish, MESTENO. The Arabian/Barb bloodline made the Spanish horse. They are lightweight, quick, intelligent, tough and tireless. This bloodline made up the American mustang that were direct descendants of the early Spanish horses brought from Spain, who escaped and ran wild.
By the late 16th century these animals had found a heaven in the belly deep salt grass which extended for miles along the gulf coast of Texas east of the Trinity River. (Also, the area patrolled by captain Quinteria’s lancers).
This was the area where the mustang stallion, Starface, ruled supreme. The stallion stood 15 hands high and weighed 1000 pounds. This was exceptionally large for an Arabian/Barb mustang and Starface needed every pound to defend his harem and territory against pretenders. The stallion’s glossy blackness offset the startling white of the perfect star on his face. The horse was so unusual in his size, his beauty and grace, that to look upon him was to see perfection in motion. Once seen, a man could never forget him, and to catch and tame such an animal became the driving force in all who saw him.
In a very short time on this coast, Starface become a legend. Awestruck mustangers from as far east as New Orleans and south into the depths of Sonora spread tales of his magnificence. Many men traveled hundreds of miles to be disappointed in their efforts to catch him. All the methods devised over the years by the best of the mustangers came to naught. The hidden traps, the relay rundown and even creasing (minor gunshot wound) had proven ineffective.
Captain Quinteria had tried to catch the stallion for the past two years. He had begun to think of the wild beauty as his personal property and raved to high heaven when finding young Frenchmen from across the Sabine chasing him. The deadly game was played for many years between the Spanish lancers patrolling the border and French encroachers from across the Sabine. The Frenchmen had a ready market for all the horses they could bring back into Louisiana from Texas. And to bring back such an animal as Starface not only meant money in his pocket but fame and recognition for catching a legend.
The young Frenchmen knew well the risk of crossing the border. Over the years, many young men had taken the risk and had never been heard from again. However, the Frenchmen still came. The game now had evolved into something other than monetary reward; young rakes were crossing the border whose lust for risk and high adventure was a direct challenge to Captain Quinteria.
Quinteria took no prisoners, his lancers, mounted on fast horses, chased down many encroachers over the past months. Each was shot on the spot without benefit of legal process. Recently, in his frustration, the Captain began turning captured illegals over to his vicious troopers. The sadistic butchery carried out by these men was terrible to behold. As tales of their savagery spread over the area, the name Quinteria became synonymous with the devil.
Yesterday, the long awaited supply caravan arrived on the Sabine at Quinteria’s base camp. To his surprise, the Captain’s replacement was with the party. Captain Quinteria was ordered back to Mexico City. Quinteria’s head was spinning. As he looked into himself, he didn’t like what he had become over the past months. Was his thinking so bogged down in the savagery on this frontier that there was no return? He realized that a return to civilized society would require a total change of gears in his thinking. He was wondering if he could do it.
Captain Quinteria wanted to make one more attempt at catching Starface before he left the area. At daybreak the next day, he left camp accompanied by a score of troopers. When arriving at the edge of the salt grass, Quinteria’s party pulled up beside him. They looked upon a sea of waist high waving grass that was one of the true wonders of this great continent. Usually from this location one would see hundreds of wild horses. Today not a solitary horse could be seen. It was in Quintrria’s mind that the young French horse catchers from across the Sabine were active again. As he was having these thoughts, a distant disturbance in the grass caught his eye. As he watched, he saw a band of horses approaching led by the magnificent Starface. As they came closer he could see two riders crowding them closely. One was a girl on a big white horse.
Now, very close to where the Spanish soldiers watched, the girl raced alongside Starface. The second rider, a young man, crowded Starface from the other side so he could not move away. Suddenly, when her position was right, she reached over, grabbed Starface’s mane, and slipped neatly from her seat onto the wild one’s back. All she took with her when she made the glide was a hair rope about 5 feet long. As Starface raced on at full speed, she threw a little loop over his head, tightened it, and then threw two half hitches around his nose. With this noseband to guide the runaway, she passed from sight. Immediately after she changed horses, her companion caught the reins of the white mount and led him over to where the Spanish sat in astonishment.
Quinteria had seen mustangers catch wild horses for years but he had never seen this method, and by a snip of a girl, if he had not seen it with his own eyes, he would not believe it. As the young man approached, the Captain could tell by his clothing that the boy was not French but Spanish. He asked, as the boy pulled up, “How is the girl going to stop that horse?” “She’ll be ok, and will be back pretty soon,” he replied. He was her brother, as it turned out.
In about half an hour the girl was back, still astride Starface, who was now well winded. Using the hair rope she had checked him, gradually brought him around, and was now guiding him. She was maybe 14 years old, small and wiry, weighing about 70 pounds.
In later conversation, Captain Quinteria found these two youngsters were part of a MASTENERO (horse-catcher) family. They had been coming out of Mexico for years catching mustangs in this fashion as their only means of livelihood. Both Father and Mother had been “gliders” and also the brother who was now too heavy. Two younger sisters were awaiting their chance.
After the horses were well rested, the youngsters said, “Adios,” and leading the beautiful Starface, headed for their camp on the gulf.
Quinteria could have taken Starface by force, but after the pair had provided so much entertainment and shown so much skill, he could not bring himself to do so.
As the troop turned toward their camp, Quinteria was grinning. He had just released something he wanted very badly. A week ago he would have had the horse even if it required killing both youngsters. “Thank God,” he was on his way back to civilization….
THE FLIP PAL MACHINE (MOBILE SCANNING)
Carolyn Dyess Bales
I am not selling this machine; nor have I been asked to promote it. I am just mentioning it because I have purchased it and used it at two recent family reunions. It is a great tool for me for family reunions and also for crafts, scarp booking, etc.
The Flip-Pal is a mini, battery-powered scanner that you can take anywhere. It comes pre-loaded with batteries and a 2GB SD memory card. All you have to do to start scanning is take it out of its packaging. You don’t need to hook it up to a computer or plug it in; just switch it on, and press the scanning button! Magic!
As I mentioned, the Flip-Pal is a portable scanner designed to scan photographs. It fits easily into a briefcase or a ladies’ medium-sized purse or into some overcoat pockets. The Flip–Pal is 10.25 inches long, 6.5 inches wide, and 1.25 inches thick. Though that is small it is possible to scan larger photos. It really excels at any black-and-white or color photograph of 6-inches by 4-inches or smaller.
Once the images are scanned and stored on the card, you remove the SecureDigital card and insert it into your computer. If your computer does not have a slot for a SecureDigital card, you can use the included adapter that accepts SecureDigital cards and plugs into your computer’s USB port.
The images on the card can be quickly transferred to the computer for further editing or uploading to web sites or for copying to other media.
The scanner can even be turned upside down to scan larger documents or pictures. I guess that is why the word “flip” is in the product name; you can flip the scanner over and make scans of larger documents. Larger documents and pictures are scanned one section at a time, as the scanner only handles a maximum size of 4 by 6 inches. The individual partial images can then be “stitched together” with the included Windows Software. By the way, the Easy Stitch software is available for Mac Computers also.
The Flip-Pal costs $150 or less (depending on any promotions at the time). That price includes shipping, a SecureDigital Card, a SecureDigital-to-USB adapter, batteries, all the required software, and a one-year warranty.
Here is the website for the Flip-Pal Machine and all the other Information, FAQ’s, etc – http://flip-pal.com/
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