SOUTHERN PACIFIC LINES 39 
Sabine River, with an annual rainfall of less than 10 inches, the 
desert conditions become still more pronounced, especially on the 
mesas, bolsons, and lower mountain slopes. 
Although there is a great change in the character of the soil, from 
the deep moist earth of the east to the dry, open, unprotected soil of 
the west, the most important reason for the desert flora is the dimin- 
ished supply of moisture. The average humidity of the air decreases 
from about 80 per cent in the eastern part of the State to less than 
40 per cent in the far western part. There are, however, many com- 
plex factors in the adjustment of plants to zones in which moisture, 
sunlight, soil, and temperature are different. 
On the west side of the Sabine River is the old freight division sta- 
tion of Echo, about 6 miles north of Orange. Apparently this some- 
what inconvenient location was necessary to obtain 
Echo. suitable conditions for a railroad bridge across the 
Elevation 16 -Sae8. river. Along the east side of the river is a wide strip 
Population 30.* 
New Orleans 252 miles. Of marsh and on the west side pine-covered plains 
rom 15 to 20 feet above sea level. - 
The wide area extending west from the Sabine River to San Antonio 
was for a long time a ‘no man’s land,” claimed in an indifferent 
fashion by both the French in Louisiana and the Spanish and Mexi- 
can authorities in the west. There was no legalized trade in this 
area, although the people of Louisiana trafficked with the Indian 
tribes. Outlaws and cattle and slave smugglers roamed at will, and 
lawless conditions prevailed even after the settlement of the boundary 
in 1819, just before the Mexicans revolted from Spain. This region 
was a complete wilderness in 1820 and 1821 when it was crossed 
with immense hardship by Moses Austin and later by his son Stephen 
F. Austin ® when arranging to establish his colony of 300 families at 
San Felipe de Austin on the lower Brazos River. 
e is on a wide plain on the west bank of the Sabine River. 
_ Until recently it had a lucrative lumber industry, with several saw- 
mills cutting logs brought from the great long leaf 
Orange. pine region to the north.° Much of the product 
preter nanny found a water outlet by way of the ship canal, 26 
New Orleans 258 miles. feet deep, which has been excavated down the Sabine 
River and Sabine Lake through Sabine Pass to the 
Gulf of Mexico. The projected Intracoastal Witerway will reach the 
Sabine River just below Orange and accommodate small vessels, 
* The first notable map of Texas was *° There is also a large amount of 
prepared by Stephen F. Austin in 1829 | other timber in the forests of south- 
and published in Philadelphia the fol- | western Louisiana and southeastern _ 
lowing year. Reproductions of this | Texas, including gums and oaks and 
map and an earlier one by Austin and | some cypress. Much so-called mahog-— 
wee of a map of Mexican origin dated | any is made from gum lumber. 
Austin 
