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Moving this thread along some more....

Fear not, folks will start shooting each other directly.

Resuming with the seemingly unlikely but apparently true concept of, to paraphrase a recent trucking commercial, 'the economy of Texas rolling upon Mexican wheels', as per Olmstead...

The Mexicans appear to have almost no other business than that of carting goods. Almost the entire transportation of the country is carried on by them, with oxen and two-wheeled carts.

Can't talk about Jack Hay's San Antonio period without talking about Mexicans, sort of the "silent majority" with respect to the nearly total lack of mention of them in popular Texas history, despite the fact that, in the 1840's, they were most-likely the single largest population block in San Antonio.

This is what Olmstead has to say, of San Antonio in 1857...

We had, before we left, opportunities of visiting familiarly several Mexican dwellings.... Within, we found usually a single room, open to the roof, and having a floor of beaten clay... There was little furniture, huge beds being the inevitable piece de resistance. These were used by day as a sofa and table. Sometimes there were chairs and a table besides; but frequently only a bench, with a few earthen utensils for cooking, which is carried on outside.

A dog or a cat appears on or under the bed, or on the clothes chest, a saint on the wall, and frequently a game-cock fastened in a corner, supplied with dishes of corn and water.

We were invariably received with the most gracious and beaming politeness and dignity. Their manner towards one another is engaging, and that of parents and children most affectionate.

Maybe idealized, but Olmstead ain't shy elsewhere of describing folks, including Mexicans, in harsh terms.

Here's two contemporary paintings by Gentilz, overall, in his paintings a general sense of affection for these people seems obvious. Here, his focus ain't the wattle-and-daub huts, but the people who lived in 'em.






Birdwatcher