So dis caused dem to send de cattle up to Kansas. Dey was a way to New Orleans dat led by de old Spanish Trail we call hit now thro' Beaumont an' Orange Texas.  De old records show dat de toll charges was considered fair over de rivers, de ferryman was forced by law to keep de cattle pens at de crossings. Each one of de ferrymen had at least one pair of oxen which dey used to lead de ones de cattle men bring to de ferry, de tame oxen would be put in de pen wid de new ones to be shipped, an' driven down a chute into de water, as soon as dey would hit de water dey would start swimming for de other side, den de cowboys would crowd de rest of de cattle down de chute an' dey would follow de ferryman's oxen across. In keepin' dem from turning back down de river de wrong way de men would follow dem in boats on bof' sides of de herd an' prod dem wid long poles. One queer thing, de herd would not swim wid de sun in dey eyes an' so dey never crossed de rivers going east in de mornings.  A charge of a few cents was made by de head for herds crossing de rivers, an' de ferryman was made to keep de men, boats, cattle pens, an' de tame oxen ready for de use of any one who cum wid a herd. Sometimes dey has to stay over a night or two to cross if de river be up, so dey has to have dese pens. Den dey was de "Broomtail ponies of East Texas" dat dey would take to de markets an' sell, hit was on one of dese trips dat a fellow by de name of Steve Jackson was takin' a bunch to find a pasture, dey rode into a fine lookin' lake after dey had cum from a long days ride, so dey stop to water dey horses, but de horses jes took a sniff an' waded out widout drinkin' so dis fellow dat is takin' dem figures dat he kin take a drink if de horses could'nt, so he takes one big mouthful an' let's out a yell, an' tell's de other men dat he is poisoned, so dey think he is going to die but 'stid of dying he feels better next day. Dey decides dat dis is a lake of mineral water, so de story goes dat he bought a big tract of land an' dey bore wells dat has been used for a health resort.

While I am telling you 'bout de way dey lived I must tell yer 'bout how w'en hit was hard to git salt dat dey find hit at a place called Horsehead Crossing on de Pecos River, hit was a long an' dangerous trip an' go on out to de Pecos for salt. De men would got to de salt beds whar de salt an' de water was mixed an' wade out an' pile hit into big heaps an' leave hit untill de water an' de sand run out of hit, dis left de salt dat was loaded into wagons to take back wid dem. Sometimes after dis dey discovered dat dey could make salt by de use of large pots an' de evaporation by steam on Salt Creek in Lampasas county near de present town of Lometa, an' dis made hit lots easier for de folks in dis part of Texas to have de salt, but dis was one of de things dat dey had to do wid out durin' de war an' one of de things dat was needed de most. But I must tell yer more 'bout Fairfield, but de things dat I has told yer 'bout how far dey had to go jes for dese little things dat we has at our door now is de truth, de folks now-a-days does not know how easy dey lives to what dey did den. In Fairfield dey had a Baptist school dey called de Fairfield Baptist College, de girls building was 'bout five miles east of town, an' de boys building was in town, de young folks dat cum from other towns boarded in dese halls for de young men an' de wimmen, dey had 'bout fifty boarders at each one of de halls de bes' dat I kin recolleck. I has heard dem talk 'bout w'en dey had de examinations dey has de pupils folks to cum if dey can, an' dey gives de examinations publicly. De way dey cooked for de College dey had de kitchen set off from de house in de back yard, dey cooked on a big hearth wid de iron kettles hung from de pot rack or skillets set over de coals of fire, den dey would heap de coals on de lid of de oven. De groceries was kept in a big smoke house near de kitchen an' dey kept hit locked 'ceptin' w'en dey go to git de groceries. De nigger slaves would bring de food into de dining room an' as dey did'nt have any screens a nigger girl would stand at de head of de table an' wave a fan or pine bough to keep de flies away from de table while dey was eating. W'en de Civil War cum de wimmin made de canteen covers, knitted de socks an' helped to git de men ready for de first call for volunteers. De folks in Fairfield gave a big barbecue to de company of soljers dat went from Fairfield an' de country 'round hit. Miss Mollie Graves, a school teacher in de College gave de company a flag an' de boys marched away wid hit wavin' over dem.  

W'en de older men left at de last call den de wimmen had to manage by demselves except de help of de slaves who kept de work on de plantations going, for dey had to keep on livin' an' some one had to do dis work, de slaves whar I lived jes stayed on an' took keer of thing for de Master while dey was away to de war. De wimmen spun an' weve de cloth for de clothes for de men an' sent to dem in de army, as well as for de use of de folks at home. Some of dese men was stationed at Galveston. Calico was a dollar a yard an' hit took ten yards to make a ladies dress. During de war if a man had a fambly sometimes dey would hire a man to go in his place, den dey would take dey slaves to go an' build de breastworks, dey was two dat went from de Stroud fambly, dey was John an' Noel Stroud . One got killed an' de  cum back. Dey was de Stroud an' Oliver famblies, w'en Rod Oliver died I fell to one of his son-in-laws, by de name of Stroud . I lived on de Stroud plantation, 'bout eight miles north of Fairfield untill freedom cum. After freedom I left an' cum to de old Springfield community, dis was six miles north of whar Grosbeck is now, dey was no Grosbeck den. De town of Grosbeck was not started until de year 1870 w'en de Houston an' Texas Central railroad cum thro' hit. My last Massa's father Logan Stroud had a hundred slaves, today dey is three living, Lunny Giddins , (who took de name of de first man dat owned him) an' Hickory Giddins , an' myself. My mammy Nelly Simpson was de mother of thirteen chillun, I am de only one living. She died in 1886. During de war dey was a man by de name of Jerry Steward , he was a w'ite man an' lived 'bout six miles from de Stroud place. He kept blood hounds to track de run-a-way slaves. I kin 'member dey names as well as if hit was today, dey was named Milo, Jenny Lane, Rock an' Red. I kin hear in my memory how dey would go thro' de country a yelpin' as dey chase de niggers thro' de bottom an' den w'en dey had him up a tree yer could tell by de way dey would bark. W'en dey ketch de nigger dey bring him back an' turn him over to de overseer, an' sometimes dey would lock him up or give him a whippin' an' send him to de field. Dey jes had to whip de lazy ones an' de ones dat would not work. De Massa Stroud an' Oliver , all dey had mostly was good niggers dat stayed wid dem. Maybe because dey was good to de slaves.

Yes, Mam, I kin 'member de Indian tales dat was handed down to us from de Tehuacana tribe of Indians lived in de Tehuacana Hills, close to whar I lived all dese years dat I been tellin' yer 'bout. De one dat I like de best is 'bout de young Indian chief called Takiti , dis was de story 'bout de Spanish Traders hidin' de gold in de Tehuacana Hills. De tribe of Tehuacana Indians was in dis section long befo' de w'ite man cum. De town of Tehuacana, south of Mexia, de Tehuacana Creek dat run thro' dis country on down in 'bout six or eight miles of Waco, whar de old Indian trading house Tehuacana Trading House, was located, run close to de Brazos river near dis place, was all named after dis tribe of Tehuacana Indians. De story dat I has been told 'bout what becum of dese Tehuacana Indians was dat dey headquarters was in de Tehuacana Hills whar de town of Tehuacana is now, dey was friendly to de w'ite man, but when de Cherokee Indians cum down into Texas from Arkansas to live, dey was attacked by de Waco's, an' de Waco's took a fine lot of horses from dem, jes as dey was 'bout to win in a fight to git dey horses back de Tehuacana's cum to de help of de Waco's, and dis caused de Waco to win dis fight, so de Cherokees vowed to have dey revenge on de Tehuacana's. De next summer dey make an' attack on de Tehuacana's in dey fort dis Indian fort was built of de limestone rock dat Limestone County takes hit's name from, de Tehuacana's was holding' out, for dey had dey provisions in de fort, so de Cherokees decided to smoke dem out. Dey bring de grass an' put in de windows an' set fire to hit, an' so w'en de Tehuacana's had to cum out dey massacreed all but 'bout a dozen dat made dey escape.  So dis Takiti was de son of de chief, an' one of de braves dat escaped tell Takiti 'bout de Spanish gold dat was buried in de Tehuacana Hills.

He is dying an' he tells Takiti de secret of how he watched from behind a tree de Spanish Traders who once travelled across de blue bonnet valleys below de high hills an' had found de buffalo tracks dat led to de spring an' made dey camp. De Tehuacana's had planned to attack dem but de Spaniards had been warned so dey slip away, but befo' dey do dis dey take de sacks from de pack mules an' bury dem, de sacks was heavy an' de yellow gold shone in de light as one of de sacks cum open. Dey had buried hit near de spring an' marked de spot wid de rocks, dey was big rocks dat dey call boulders now. Dey took three of dese big rocks an' laid dem in a circle around de spot dey buried de gold, on each one of dese rocks dey carved a snake wid de head pointing to de center of de pile, for years dis old Indian brave kept his secret, but befo' he died he had told Takiti 'bout hit an' how to find de place. He told him dat "as de son of de old chief hit was his duty to go an' find dis gold an' bring hit to his people so dey could live in peace wid de white man an' not have to rob an' steal for dey livin'.  He told Takiti de curse dat rested on de spot, for de spirits of de Spaniards kept watch over hit at night, hit would have to be dug in de daytime an' not after dark or by de light of de moon for dis was de time de ghosts of de Spaniards walked. So now, after many moons had passed Takiti was on his way an' nearly at de end of his journey jes befo' de sun had set. As he climbed de hill de valley turned to blue mists befo' him, an' de sounds of de night cumin' on seemed to whisper in de voice of de birds an' de wind an' de trees words of courage from his people. Dis was de first time he had seen de Tehuacana Hills whar he roamed as a boy since he escaped from de Cherokees wid de few others, an' de sight of de Hills made him happy. On de eastern slope of de hill Takiti stopped an' looked an' looked, he could not believe what he saw, could dis land whar for ages his people had celebrated dey tribe dances on dirt dat was carried from dey long hunting trips to make a dirt floor, de ground dat had been made sacred by de spirits of de braves who had gone on to de happy huntin' grounds be ruined by a plow? Yes hit was so an' towards him a white man was walking who spoke to Takiti , but if he answered him hit would be a betrayal of de spirits dat seemed to be whisperin' to him.  Below, a little ways to de left was de spring an' de three big rocks, an' under dem was de gold dat would save de few of de tribe dat was left, but de white man guarded de spot.

Takiti knew dat he could not dig de gold before de white man, an' to wait an' dig hit by de light of de moon, de spirits of de Spaniards dat guarded hit would be there, so dey was nothin' he could do but to go back to his people an' try to lead dem on de best he could 'till de bitter end.  De white man who walked behind Takiti could not know de grief dat was in de heart of dis Indian brave as he walked away over de hills wid his eyes on de valley of de land dat his folks had once owned, wid sorrow in his heart he chanted de death song dat go like dis in de English language.  Oh, Sun, you remain forever, but we Tehuacana's must die, Oh, Earth, you remain forever, but we Tehuacana's must die.  Dey is other legends of de tribe of Tehuacana's handed down by de ones who cum first, but to me dis is de one dat always was next my heart in de days w'en de Indian legends was told 'round de chimbley fire, as de Indians was sent to de reservations in my boyhood days.