Harder than Hardscrabble: Oral Recollections of the Farming Life from the Edge of the Texas Hill Country (Clifton and Shirley Caldwell Texas Heritage)

Clifton and Shirley Caldwell Texas Heritage

by Thad Sitton

Harder than Hardscrabble brings new life to Central Texas communities otherwise lost to history, and is an important contribution to the history of early-twentieth-century rural life in Texas.—Southwestern Historical QuarterlyHarder than Hardscrabble is a contribution to scholarly understanding of the rigors of a past lifestyle that remains remarkably close to us in time. Lay readers, especially those interested in farm life or Texas history, will enjoy the humanity and stories of Sitton's subjects."—Agricultural History"I found that I was very sorry when the book ended because I enjoyed the stories so much. It is also very informative about the ordinary activities and every day life of central Texas farm folk in the latter part of the nineteenth century and the first part of the twentieth."—Michelle M. Mears, Librarian / Archivist, Texas Historical CommissionUntil the U.S. Army claimed 300-plus square miles of hardscrabble land to build Fort Hood in 1942, small communities like Antelope, Pidcoke, Stampede, and Okay scratched out a living by growing cotton and ranching goats on the less fertile edges of the Texas Hill Country. While a few farmers took jobs with construction crews at Fort Hood to remain in the area, almost the entire population—and with it, an entire segment of rural culture—disappeared into the rest of the state.In Harder than Hardscrabble, oral historian Thad Sitton collects the colorful and frequently touching stories of the pre-Fort Hood residents to give a firsthand view of Texas farming life before World War II. Accessible to the general reader and historian alike, the stories recount in vivid detail the hardships and satisfactions of daily life in the Texas countryside. They describe agricultural practices and livestock handling as well as life beyond traveling peddlers, visits to towns, country schools, medical practices, and fox hunting. The anecdotes capture a fast-disappearing rural society—a world very different from today's urban Texas.

Genres: History

Paperback

First published March 1, 2004

Reviews

[Aubrey Caudill · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm glad these stories are saved for future generations, however i felt the book was a bit dull.