SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 75 



member of the Congress of Texas, before annexation. We 

 give it exactly in the language of Colonel Ford, as noted by 

 us and subsequently read to him. 



" Dr. Thomas Kearney, formerly Collector of Customs of the port 

 of Corpus Christi, and Major James Carr, made, in 1870 or 1872, an 

 investment of $5,000 in sheep husbandry ; bought ranch, and buildings 

 about sixty miles north-west from Laredo, Webb County, Texas, the 

 land about 13,000 acres and the sheep well improved. At the end of 

 five years, Dr. Kearney sold out his interest to Carr, that is, one- 

 half interest for $20,000. In August, 1877, Carr refused a $60,000 

 offer, which he had from William Votaus, for his sheep ranch with the 

 sheep ; the exact facts being that Votaus offered $30,000 in cash, and 

 one of the best-improved places on the San Antonio River, which had 

 cost him about $60,000." 



Mr. Shaeffer says that Carr ought to have taken the offer. 



Colonel Ford fully confirms the statements about the Mex- 

 ican and Indian depredations, before made, which extend as 

 far as a hundred miles from the Rio Grande. There is no 

 necessity for this confirmation, however, to any one who will 

 read the exhaustive reports, prepared by Mr. Schleicher, of 

 the Texas delegation in Congress. Colonel Ford says that 

 the Mexicans do not run the sheep off, because the sheep 

 cannot be made to travel fast enough ; but they kill the shep- 

 herds. 



Obstacles to Sheep-growing in Texas. Conversations with 

 many intelligent Texans, and the perusal of many documents 

 relative to Mexican outrages, have led us to fully adopt the 

 opinion expressed by one of our correspondents, that the most 

 formidable obstacle to the almost indefinite extension of sheep 

 husbandry in Texas is the liabilit}^ of the territory to Mexican" 

 and Indian depredations. The opinion widely prevails at the 

 North that the border troubles in Texas have been exagger- 

 ated for the purpose of provoking a war with Mexico. In our 

 belief, there is no foundation for this opinion. The extent of 

 the depredations, and their ruinous effect upon settlements, are 

 proved by incontestable evidence. A peaceful and compara- 

 tively inexpensive remedy for the border troubles is strongly 

 urged by influential citizens of Texas. It is the granting a 

 moderate subsidy (six thousand dollars per mile) to a railroad 



