Lens on the Texas Frontier

Stereographs

•฀65฀• stereogrAPhs I n฀its฀prime,฀Indianola฀rivaled฀Galveston฀as฀the฀most฀important฀ Texas฀port฀city.฀Because฀of฀the฀Federal฀blockade฀of฀Texas฀ports฀ during฀the฀then฀recent฀Civil฀War,฀it฀was฀practically฀impossible฀ to฀export฀cattle.฀As฀a฀consequence฀of฀being฀kept฀from฀the฀markets,฀ the฀cattle฀population฀in฀Texas฀dramatically฀increased.฀After฀the฀ war฀there฀was฀a฀surge฀in฀traffi king฀in฀live฀cattle.฀The฀wooden฀rail฀ cars฀in฀the฀foreground฀were฀used฀to฀transport฀cattle฀and฀other฀livestock ฀on฀the฀tracks฀of฀the฀wharves฀that฀led฀to฀sailing฀vessels฀seen฀ in฀the฀far฀distance. Stereograph฀by฀Richard฀Rehner฀&฀Son,฀Indianola,฀Texas,฀ca.฀1866 Port city of Indianola Jones฀Collection,฀DeGolyer฀Library,฀SMU •฀Photographs฀from฀the฀Lawrence฀T.฀Jones฀III฀Collection฀• •฀66฀• t his฀stereograph฀was฀taken฀by฀an฀unidentified฀t aveling฀ photographer฀shortly฀after฀the฀remains฀of฀the฀Unionists฀were฀ gathered฀at฀the฀battle฀site฀and฀interred฀in฀a฀small฀mass฀grave฀in฀ Comfort.฀The฀German-Texans฀were฀killed฀while฀trying฀to฀escape฀ to฀Mexico฀to฀avoid฀Confederate฀conscription.฀The฀Union฀flag฀flie in฀the฀prevailing฀southeast฀wind.฀The฀monument฀still฀stands,฀and฀ the฀oak฀tree฀seen฀in฀this฀stereograph฀can฀be฀seen฀today฀in฀its฀same฀ location,฀only฀much฀larger฀in฀size. Stereograph฀by฀ Unknown฀Artist,฀Comfort ,฀Texas,฀ca.฀1866 “Treue der Union” monument and gravesite of Pro-Unionist German-Texans killed at the Battle of the Nueces Jones฀Collection,฀ ฀ DeGolyer฀Library,฀ SMU w ith฀Matagorda฀Bay฀visible฀in฀the฀far฀background,฀the฀ two-story฀wooden฀warehouses฀were฀built฀to฀temporarily฀ store฀imported฀goods฀and฀commodities฀destined฀for฀export.฀ The฀two฀wagons฀in฀the฀foreground฀appear฀to฀contain฀merchandise,฀ and฀empty฀wagons,฀along฀with฀their฀drivers,฀stand฀in฀the฀background ฀waiting฀their฀turn฀to฀be฀loaded.฀The฀livestock฀in฀this฀view฀ include฀mules,฀oxen,฀and฀Texas฀longhorn฀cattle. Stereograph฀by฀Richard฀ Rehner฀&฀Son,฀Indianola ,฀Texas,฀ca.฀1866 Busy street scene in the port city of Indianola Jones฀Collection,฀฀ DeGolyer฀Library,฀SMU •฀67฀• •฀Stereographs฀• t his฀ca.฀1868฀stereograph฀is฀one฀of฀seven฀recently฀ discovered unique฀views฀by฀a฀little-known฀western ฀Texas฀traveling฀photographer฀known฀only฀as฀ “A.฀Abraham.”฀His฀El฀Paso฀imprint฀or฀identifi ation฀is฀ present฀on฀only฀one฀of฀the฀seven฀stereographs,฀but฀it฀is฀ obvious฀by฀the฀mounts฀and฀prints฀that฀all฀seven฀views฀ were฀taken฀by฀Abraham.฀Six฀of฀the฀Abraham฀photographs ฀show฀scenes฀at฀San฀Elizario,฀Ysleta,฀and฀El฀Paso.฀ The฀view฀seen฀here฀is฀the฀exception.฀The฀title฀inscribed฀ verso฀gives฀the฀location฀as฀“Rio฀Grande฀at฀Fort฀Quitman .”฀Fort฀Quitman฀was฀eighty฀miles฀downriver฀from฀ El฀Paso.฀The฀actual฀fort฀cannot฀be฀seen฀in฀this฀view฀as฀ it฀was฀located฀about฀four฀hundred฀yards฀away฀from฀the฀ river.฀Under฀magnifi ation,฀the฀silhouetted฀figu es฀on฀ horseback฀can฀be฀seen฀wearing฀military฀kepis.฀They฀are฀ US฀Army฀cavalrymen฀on฀the฀US฀side฀of฀the฀river,฀most฀ likely฀members฀of฀the฀9th฀US฀Cavalry฀Regiment฀who฀ reoccupied฀the฀isolated฀adobe฀outpost฀in฀January฀1868.฀ The฀9th฀Cavalry฀was฀one฀of฀the฀original฀four฀“Buffalo฀ Soldier”฀regiments,฀and฀their฀service฀at฀Fort฀Quitman฀ was฀spent฀protecting฀the฀US฀Mail฀and฀other฀travelers฀ against฀attacks฀by฀hostile฀Indians. Stereograph฀by฀A.฀Abraham,฀Itinerant,฀of฀El฀Paso,฀Texas,฀ca.฀1868 Rio Grande at Fort Quitman Collection฀of฀the฀author •฀Photographs฀from฀the฀Lawrence฀T.฀Jones฀III฀Collection฀• •฀68฀• t he฀Galveston,฀Houston฀&฀Henderson฀Rail฀Road฀was฀the฀ first฀ ail฀connection฀between฀Houston฀and฀Galveston฀Island.฀ During฀the฀Civil฀War,฀this฀railroad฀was฀instrumental฀in฀transporting ฀goods฀to฀and฀from฀the฀blockade฀runners฀that฀docked฀at฀ Galveston.฀In฀this฀view,฀the฀engine฀is฀pulling฀at฀least฀twenty฀cars฀ loaded฀with฀cotton฀bales฀bound฀for฀export.฀Though฀the฀war฀was฀ over,฀the฀Texas฀cotton฀trade฀was฀as฀important฀as฀ever. Stereograph฀by฀฀ Unknown฀Artist,฀ Galveston,฀Texas,฀฀ ca.฀1867 “Cotton train near depot—Galveston, Houston & Henderson Rail Road—Galveston” Jones฀Collection,฀฀ DeGolyer฀Library,฀SMU I n฀1859฀William฀Menger฀opened฀the฀Menger฀Hotel฀on฀Alamo฀ Plaza.฀It฀is฀one฀of฀the฀most฀celebrated฀business฀establishments฀ in฀Texas฀and฀remains฀in฀operation฀today.฀This฀scene฀was฀taken฀ during฀Reconstruction,฀and฀a฀large฀Union฀flag฀ an฀be฀seen฀atop฀ the฀hotel. Stereograph฀by฀Henry฀ A.฀Doerr,฀San฀Antonio,฀ Texas,฀ca.฀1867 Menger Hotel Jones฀Collection,฀ ฀ DeGolyer฀Library,฀SMU •฀69฀• •฀Stereographs฀• c ongress฀Avenue฀remains฀the฀most฀important฀street฀in฀downtown ฀Austin. ฀ At฀the฀time฀this฀stereoscopic฀view฀was฀taken,฀about฀four฀ thousand฀people฀lived฀in฀the฀city...