A ruine:d mission 



This old mission of San Jose, a few miles south of San Antonio, is considered one of the 

 finest examples of mission architecture in America 



Eastern Texas is a country of diversi- 

 fied topography, varying in altitude from 

 50 to 700 feet, with wide areas of over- 

 flow lands extensively utilized for rice 

 culture, and with a vast interior forest of 

 long-leaf pine. The great "black land" 

 belt, famous for its fertility, is in this 

 district. 



Central Texas is a region of dissected 

 plateaus and rolling hilly lands, much of 

 it lying between altitudes of 1,000 to 

 2,000 feet above sea-level. General farm- 

 ing and stock raising are its principal in- 

 dustries, with extensive cotton fields in 

 the lower lands of its southern part. It 

 has large areas of fertile soil and a cli- 

 mate approaching that of the temperate 

 zone. 



Northwestern Texas is the great *'Pan- 

 handle" district, lying mostly on the high 

 plateau of the Staked Plains, with alti- 

 tudes from 3,000 to 4,000 feet. It also 

 includes the lower slopes of this province 

 to the eastward, with altitudes of 1,800 

 to 2,500 feet. It is divided into 44 coun- 

 ties, with a total area of about 44,000 

 square miles, or nearly equal to that of 

 Pennsylvania. For a long time it was a 



thinly settled stock country, but in recent 

 years its settlement has been advancing 

 rapidly. The climate is cool and semi- 

 arid, with rainfall of 15 to 25 inches; but 

 the soil is fertile, and dry land crops yield 

 good returns (see maps, pp. 1353, 1355). 



It is drained by two great rivers — the 

 Canadian and the Red — the latter rising 

 on the high plateau within the State 

 bounds. At the eastern edge of the pla- 

 teau there are steep declivities, amounting 

 to a thousand feet or more, descending to 

 the rolling prairies which stretch far to 

 the eastward. 



The western end of Texas is a very 

 different country from other portions of 

 the State. It is a region of wide desert 

 valleys and many ridges, mountains, and 

 plateau remnants of various kinds. The 

 altitudes range from 2,000 feet in the 

 valleys to more than 9,000 feet in the 

 higher mountain peaks. 



It is traversed by two great rivers, the 

 Rio Grande and the Pecos, but for a large 

 part of their courses these streams are in 

 rocky canyons. The climate is arid, with 

 rainfall less than 10 inches about El Paso 

 and 15 inches farther east. Cattle rais- 



1337 



