Brokeback Mountain: Our Community's Common Bond > The Lighter Side

ROAD TRIP: A BBM Game

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Meryl:
Ashwood, TX

jpwagoneer1964:
Donna, Tx

Spurred by the arrival of the railroad a small town had sprung up on a site between McAllen and Weslaco.  One of the town sites charter members, Mr. T. J. Hooks,  had put all of his resources and energies in making the town self-sufficient. His efforts were not lost on the town folks and at a secret meeting it was decided to show their appreciation with a special gesture. A party was arranged in honor of T. J. Hooks. His daughter Donna, living in Beaumont, was invited to attend. When Mr. Hooks arrived at the little railroad station to pick up his daughter he was amazed to see a sign hung at the side of the rails, reading "Welcome to the town of Donna". The few surviving attendees of this time still swear that they saw tears in the eyes of T. J. Hooks..
Donna Hooks Fletcher was equally surprised and in the coming years she played a prominent part in the towns development.

Today Donna is a major player in the toursim industry and home to thousands of retirees from all over the United States

Mark

MaineWriter:
Adobe Walls, TX

 The name Adobe Walls has been applied to several trading posts north of the Canadian River.

The earliest date is given as 1843 and the first structure appeared around 1845-46 when an 80 foot square adobe structure was built and aptly called Fort Adobe.

Indian misbehavior forced the post to close by 1848. Attempts were made to reestablish the post, but it was finally blown up in frustration, providing the Panhandle with its first landmark ruins.

In 1864 the First Battle of Adobe Walls was fought when Colonel “Kit” Carson and his force of 335 men (with 75 Indian allies) fought hostile Kiowas, with assorted Apaches, Comanches, and Arapahoes near the ruins. The casualties were three dead with 15 wounded for the Army and Indian casualties were estimated to be 60 killed or wounded.

Ten years later, Dodge City, Kansas merchants opened a trading post/ restaurant/ saloon a mile from the original ruins. Trade with the area’s buffalo hunters flourished until June1874 when the Second Battle of Adobe Walls took place. The main building was constructed of sod - in the fashion of Kansas buildings - and although the complex was overwhelmed by a force estimated between 300 to over a thousand Indians, the defenders held their own with only three dead (one an accident after the fight was over). The post was abandoned.

Later the Turkey Track Ranch made its headquarters near the original site. Former Army scout and survivor of the 1874 fight, Billy Dixon built a house at the ruins of Fort Adobe. In 1887 Dixon’s house became the community post office and Dixon became postmaster.

Adobe Walls as touted as an up and coming settlement in an attempt to recruit settlers, but in truth it never truly developed. The population never exceeded 20 throughout the 20th Century and only scattered houses remain today.

Leslie

Fran:
Stoneburg, TX

Stoneburg is at the intersection of U.S. Highway 81 and Farm Road 1806, two miles northwest of Bowie Lake Dam and fifteen miles west of Montague in west central Montague County.  A settlement began in the early 1870s.  In 1883 school was conducted by W. T. Small on a ranch between Stoneburg and Bowie, twelve miles to the south.  In 1893 the tracks of the Chicago, Rock Island and Texas Railway reached the area.  That year a post office was established named Riley, but after five months the name was changed to Stoneburg, in honor of J. M. Stone, an area rancher who donated land for the townsite when the railroad arrived.  By the early 1900s the town's population surpassed 150.  Until the Great Depressionqv the number of residents remained above 100.  The post office closed on March 31, 1954.  Since World War IIqv the population has steadily declined, dropping to fifty-one by the late 1980s.  In 1989 the town had only a service station and two churches.  In 1990 the reported population was still fifty-one. -- The Handbook of Texas Online

jpwagoneer1964:
Grover, Wy

As of the censusGR2 of 2000, there were 137 people, 48 households, and 38 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 61.5/km² (159.0/mi²). There were 56 housing units at an average density of 25.1/km² (65.0/mi²). The racial makeup of the CDP was 96.35% White, 0.73% Asian, and 2.92% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.92% of the population.

There were 48 households out of which 43.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 79.2% were married couples living together, and 20.8% were non-families. 20.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.85 and the average family size was 3.32.

In the CDP the population was spread out with 27.7% under the age of 18, 15.3% from 18 to 24, 20.4% from 25 to 44, 25.5% from 45 to 64, and 10.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 101.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 102.0 males.

The median income for a household in the CDP was $32,500, and the median income for a family was $34,250. Males had a median income of $29,375 versus $20,625 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $15,687. None of the population and none of the families were below the poverty line.

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