Of the original buildings of the post, only one remains—the guard house, a small stone room with a slanting roof now connected with the ranch-house. It was the only post building made of stone; the others, adobe-built, have long since crumbled away and vanished. Of the barracks, the officers’ quarters, the blacksmith shop, the bakery and the other adjuncts of an army camp, only tumbled heaps of foundation stones remain, in which can be occasionally traced the plan of the building. Some of the old corral still stands, built of heavy stones and strengthened with adobe, but it too is crumbling and falling down.
The old guard house, which, with its single window, now walled up, forms a storeroom on the back of the Sackett house, has a vivid history all its own, apart from the military occupancy of the post. After the camp was deserted by the soldiers, it served as a saloon wherein the civilian settlers of the vicinity quenched their thirst, argued political questions and conceivably converted it into a blockhouse in event of Indian menace. One scene of bloodshed at least, it witnessed, for at its crude bar two men quarreled and just outside its door they shot it out, as was the custom of the frontier, and the loser of that desperate game fell dead there.
Today there remains a deep crevice in one of the walls where two military prisoners, confined there when the building was still serving as a dungeon, made a vain attempt to dig their way to liberty through the thick, solid stone of the wall. Who they were, what their crime was, and what implements they used are forgotten; only the scratches they made remain, mute evidence of their desperation and their failure.
In early days there was another saloon at the post, but of that building no trace today remains. Yet it was in use at least up to the time that Coleman County was created, for it was here that the first sheriff of the county, celebrating the gorgeous occasion of his election, emerged from the saloon, fired his six-shooter into the air and yelled: “Coleman Country, by God, and I’m sheriff of every damn’ foot of her! I got the world by the tail on a downhill pull! Yippee!”
A word in regard to the builder of the house that now represents Camp Colorado might not be amiss. The Honorable Henry Sackett was born in Orsett, Essexshire, England, in 1851 and came to America while a youth. Building the house, largely with his own labor, in 1870, he lived there until his death a few years ago, acting as postmaster under seven Presidents, and as store-keeper for the settlers. The south side of the stone house, built into a single great room, was used as post office and general store. Henry Sackett was a pioneer in the truest sense of the word, an upright and universally respected gentleman, a member of the Frontier Battalion of Rangers, and later Representative in the Legislature of Texas, from Brown and Coleman Counties. He married Miss Mary MacNamara, daughter of Captain Michael MacNamara of the United States Army. Mrs. Sackett still lives at Camp Colorado.
The countryside is unusually picturesue—broad, rolling hills, thick with mesquite and scrub oaks, with the river winding its serpentine course through its narrow valley. On the slopes cattle and sheep graze and over all broods a drowsy quiet. But it is easy to resurrect the past in day dreams—to see the adobe walls rise out of dusty oblivion and stand up like ghosts, to hear again the faint and spectral bugle call and see the old corral thronged with lean, wicked-eyed mustangs, the buildings and the drill grounds with blue-clad figures—bronzed, hard-bitten men, with the sun and the wind of the open lands in their eyes—the old Dragoons! Nor is it hard to imagine that yonder chaparral shakes, not to the breeze, but to crawling, stealthy shapes, and that a painted, coppery face glares from the brush, and the sun glints from a tomahawk in a red hand.
But they have long faded into the night—the reckless, roistering cavalry men, the painted Comanches, the settlers in their homespun and buckskins; only the night wind whispers old tales of Camp Colorado.
A half mile perhaps from the Sackett house stands another remnant of the past—a sort of mile-stone, definitely marking the close of one age and the opening of another. It stands on a hillside in a corner of the great Dibrell ranch—a marble monument on which is the inscription:
BREEZE 21ST 31984
HEREFORD COW
BORN 1887 DIED 1903
MOTHER OF THE DIBRELL HERD
DIBRELL
This monument marks the resting place of one of the first registered, short-horn cows of central West Texas. When Breeze was born, west Texas swarmed with half-wild longhorns, descendants of those cattle the Spaniards brought from Andalusia; now one might look far before finding one of those picturesque denizens of the old ranges. Fat, white faced, short horned Herefords of Breeze’s breed and kind have replaced them, and in the vast pageant of the west, the longhorn follows buffalo and Indian into oblivion.
Letters
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Letters to the Editor:
Robert E. Howard to Adventure, Mar 20, 1924
Robert E. Howard to Adventure, Aug 20, 1924
Robert E. Howard to The Californian, Summer 1936
Robert E. Howard to Claytons Magazine, Jun 13, 1933
Robert E. Howard to The Fantasy Fan, Dec 1933
Robert E. Howard to The Fantasy Fan, Jan 1934
Robert E. Howard to The Fantasy Fan, May 1934
Robert E. Howard to Fort Worth Record, Jul 20, 1928
Robert E. Howard to The Ring, Apr 1926
Robert E. Howard to Weird Tales, ca. Jan 1926
Robert E. Howard to Weird Tales, Jun 1927
Robert E. Howard to Weird Tales, May 1928
Robert E. Howard to Weird Tales, Nov 1929
Robert E. Howard to Weird Tales, Apr 1930
Robert E. Howard to Weird Tales, Jan 1931
Robert E. Howard to Weird Tales, Mar 1932
Robert E. Howard to Weird Tales, Jun 1936
Personal Letters:
To Robert Barlow
To August Derleth
To Harold Preece
To E. Hoffman Price
To Donald Wandrei
Letters to the Editor:
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Robert E. Howard to Adventure, Mar 20, 1924
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I am writing for information in regard to the tribes of Mongolia.
1. What is the Mongol word for "wolf"? For "tiger"? For "sword"?
2. Is the language used by the Mongols similar to that of the Tartars?
3. Do the Kirghiz inhabit Mongolia or Chinese Turkestan?
4. Are there any Baskir tribes in Chinese Turkestan, and are they allied to the Turkomans?
5. Am I right in supposing that swords or simitars still form an important part of a Mongol or Tartar warrior's armament?
6. Do the Mongol or Tartar tribes worship Erlik, Bon or Buddha? Or all three?
7. Is it still customary for the tribes to meet at some place an engage in wrestling, horse-racing and other contests?
8. Is polygamy practiced?
9. What are the different forms of punishment by law and tribal custom?
10. What are the powers of the khan of a tribe?
11. About what is the population of Mongolia?
Robert E. Howard to Adventure, Aug 20, 1924
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1. At what period did the feudal system flourish most highly in central Europe?
2. What were the rights of the feudal lord or baron?
3. Did not a privilege known as maiden rights exist under feudal rule?
4. I have heard that until 1889 or 1890 there was in Germany a law which permitted a man to whip his wife. Is this true? If so, were there any limitations to his authority?