Disaster in Rio Grande Valley 73 



cactus, which ought to be called "giganteus," 

 almost all the plants are small leaved; worst of 

 all, every tree, shrub and plant is thorny to a degree 

 no one can imagine until they have tried a thicket 

 of "tear-blanket" or "cat's claw." The distant 

 view was exquisitely soft, hill and valley stretching 

 for miles about us, looking like a most beautifully 

 cultivated country, the bare spots only like small 

 fields, and the rest deluding the weary traveller in 

 the belief that the distance is a change from the 

 arid, bleak country through which he is riding. 



We turned in at a small store, found a loaf of 

 bread and some whiskey, and lay down on the 

 floor with our saddles for pillows, and blankets 

 for beds, and slept soundly. At daylight I made 

 up our party, saw them over the river in a small 

 flatboat and rode on, thinking of our situation and 

 wondering again and again how I could have been 

 so thoughtless as to entrust our money to anyone, 

 even with Dr. Campbell's advice, and what course 

 to take now. I could, of course, do nothing but 

 await my interview with Col. Webb, who had 

 written to bring the prisoners along and he would 

 get the money. The difficulty was that by the 

 laws of Texas a man can not be taken out of his 

 own county to be tried, and it is also against the 

 law to lynch him. Then, too, five men could not 

 easily remove a desperado with some twenty ac- 

 complices, through twenty- five miles of wilderness. 



