Letters from the Big Bend: Legacy of a Pioneer

By Diane Garner

March 4, 1911). . . and even at night when I cross the turbulent waters of the Rio Grande and listen to the music her waters make in their mad rush to the sea, it seems to say, I pass on and on, but not you.

Lonely musings and vivid accounts of daily life along the Mexican border provide an intriguing glimpse into frontier life in Texas during the troubled times of the Mexican Revolution. Jim Landrum was a successful lawyer when he left Florida in 1908 to recover from tuberculosis in the West. After a regimen of mercury treatments, he settled in the Big Bend and gradually regained his strength. He found a place in the border community as a trading post manager, justice of the peace, postmaster, and medic and married the daughter of a respected Mexican family. Frequent letters to family in Pensacola shared his joys and problems. The most devastating of these to be falsely accused of a crimewith no hope for a fair trial, he joined Carranzas Constitutionistas as a captain surgeon. In 1914, he rode with soldiers into Mexico and disappeared. The baby he and his wife expected would one day be called The Cinderella of Big Bend.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Jun 1, 2011
• ISBN: 9781462016105

Diane Garner

Diane Garner grew up in small town Texas and was an educator in Houston for 25 years. In 1975 she transcribed her grandfather’s 130 letters as a gift to her mother. After retiring, she began in earnest to write her family’s story. She has previously published Letters from the Big Bend: Legacy of a Pioneer. She and her husband live in Houston, Texas where she is an active member of her church and likes to read, travel, and do volunteer work.

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Letters from the Big Bend:

Legacy of a Pioneer

Diane Garner

iUniverse, Inc.

Bloomington

In memory of my mother,

Mary Susan Landrum

And to my husband,

Ron Garner

And my children,

Gregory Schroeder and Jennifer Schroeder

Letters from the Big Bend:

Legacy of a Pioneer

Copyright © 2011 by Diane Garner

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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ISBN: 978-1-4620-1609-9 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4620-1610-5 (e)

Printed in the United States of America

iUniverse rev. date: 05/23/2011

Only now someone asks

About you

Wants to know the truth

And insists on loving you—

But all the truth

Is buried deeper still

—within your dust.

Chipita from Nile & Other Poems

By Teresa Palomo Acosta

(Austin: Casa de Red Salmon, 1999)

Used by permission of the author.

Table of Contents

Illustrations

Preface

Part 1: Jim Landrum, Big Bend Pioneer

Chapter 1 – Leaving Pensacola

Chapter 2 – His Friendly Big Bend Neighbors

Chapter 3 – His Commentary on the Times

Chapter 4 – Jim and Gregoria Marry – January 3, 1912

Chapter 5 – Turmoil in the Big Bend

Chapter 6 – Misfortune Strikes and Joining the Constitutionistas, 1912 – 1914

Part 2: Mary Susan Landrum, Cinderella of the Big Bend

Chapter 7 – Maintaining Contact with the Pensacola Landrums 1914 – 1929

Chapter 8 – Mary Susan Landrum as a Youngster in the Big Bend

Chapter 9 – Mary Susan Landrum as an Orphan

Chapter 10 – Strengthening Her Relationship with the Pensacola Landrums

Epilogue

References

Acknowledgments

Illustrations

1. Samuel Winburn Landrum, circa 1870. Confederate lieutenant at 31, injured in battle, taken prisoner and released after the war

2. Mary Susan Chapman Landrum 1860s, who would receive most of Landrum’s letters, standing with sister (unnamed) and mother, Barbara Ann Dickson Metcalf Landrum

3. Jim Landrum as a toddler, circa 1876

4. Landrum, Pensacola lawyer, with Paul’s Scarlet Climber rose in lapel from Landrum Cottage garden

5. Katherine (Kit) Chapman Landrum, circa 1905, Landrum’s youngest sister

6. Landrum Cottage, 229 N. Barcelona, near downtown Pensacola

7. Mary Susan Chapman Landrum, circa 1940

8. Copy of original 1909 Landrum letter on Big Tinaja Store letterhead reveals his artistic nature and the writing style of the era

9. Landrum, marked with X on postcard sent to his brother in Pensacola, as he began life in Big Bend, the only surviving image from his early days there

10. Landrum, circa 1910, from postcard, as an Agent of the Alpine Auto Company in six-hour drive from Marathon to the Big Bend

11. Senora Susana Rodriguez de Mena, and three of her six children, Gregoria on the right

12. Gregoria Mena Landrum, circa 1910, enlarged from photograph with her mother and sisters in Boquillas

13. Artist’s depiction of Ivalee Bales arriving to teach at the Glenn Springs School, 1926 illustration for newspaper feature on the school, Mary Susan Landrum, its raison d’etre, and Bales’ effect on the local cowboys (courtesy of Archives of the Big Bend, SRSU)

14. Artist’s depiction of Ivalee Bales, 1926, plays croquet with a Texas Ranger, a favorite pastime Mary Susan Landrum notes in letters to Pensacola (courtesy of Archives of the Big Bend, SRSU)

15. Mary Susan Landrum, 1926, wears cloche hat and tie posing with Ivalee Bales and fellow students. (Courtesy of Archives of the Big Bend, SRSU)

16. Mary Susan Landrum with Ivalee Bales on Coco, a Calico mule, 1926. (Courtesy of Archives of the Big Bend, SRSU)

17. Mary Susan Landrum, Ivalee Bales, May and Steve Bennett, constable, with W. D. Smithers and Sissy, the Bennett’s dog, 1926. (Courtesy of Archives of the Big Bend, SRSU)

18. Mary Susan Landrum (acting as translator) and Ivalee Bales with Poole and carrier pigeons; bird at top right bound for San Antonio with another Big Bend story, 1926 (courtesy of Archives of the Big Bend, SRSU)

19. Mary Susan Landrum, early 20s, formal portrait while living in Pensacola

20. Mary Susan Landrum, early 20s, full length formal portrait while living in Pensacola

Preface

It has been my good fortune to inherit these letters written by James (Jim) Robert Landrum, my grandfather from the Big Bend, Texas, to his mother, Mrs. Samuel Winburn (Mary Susan Chapman) Landrum, in Pensacola, Florida, from 1908 to 1913, and the letters concerning his demise and his only daughter, Mary Susan Landrum, written to the Landrum’s in Pensacola, from 1914 to 1929. From this point forward, I will refer to James Robert Landrum as Jim, the name favored by his family and his signature on the letters. Jim’s father died twelve years earlier in 1896. Before he contracted tuberculosis (TB) in Pensacola, he was a successful lawyer and judge. Jim was the oldest of five children and became the main breadwinner for his mother and two unmarried siblings. Therefore, it was difficult financially for the three who were left behind in Pensacola to provide for their widowed mother. Mrs. Samuel Winburn Landrum had no income after Jim left Pensacola in hopes of regaining his health out West.

The correspondence begins when Jim Landrum settles in Boquillas, Texas, which is located on the Rio Grande River. This is known as the Big Bend Country of Brewster County, in West Texas on the Texas-Mexico border. He was in his mid-thirties at the time. Upon arriving in West Texas, he had been in a sanitarium in Alpine because of tuberculosis. At the time the only real cure for TB was the dry climate of the area. When he regained his strength he was able to take a position as store clerk in the Ernst store in Boquillas after the murder of Judge Ernst. He attributed his new found health to God, exercises, a new mercury treatment and his strong will to live. Although far from relatives and friends in Pensacola, he refused to let loneliness make him despondent. He earned a law degree in Florida in 1899 and hoped to continue his law practice and political career which ended when he left Florida for West Texas.

All through the letters he expressed his thanks to the Lord for sparing him. He often quoted one man’s compliment, I believe you live religion. His letters show humor, a spirit of adventure and an optimistic outlook on life. Although he had just regained his health he was an energetic man and loved riding his horse for miles. He often expressed his interest in national, state, and local politics in Brewster County as well as in Pensacola. Jim was a true Southerner and took pride in the manners and customs of the south. He appreciated books, magazines and papers from Florida. He used many colorful analogies in his writing and at one point paraphrased, My kingdom for a horse to My kingdom for a book. He loved the Big Bend and used many descriptive phrases in writing about the sunsets, mountains, plants, and animals of the area. One time while spending the night out on the gallery (porch) he awakened to see over 1,000 goats and sheep about 75 feet from the house. He wrote … and at daylight my eyes opened on a mass of almost solid white-there being only one black and one yellow spot. It was not only pretty: it was beautiful. The herders are called pastors here, with emphasis on the last syllable. I remember: ‘The Lord is my shepard, I shall not want,’ but coming in contact with the herders here in charge of their sheep and goats, greatly impressed me with its full significance. There they were with pastors looking out both for the sheep and goats-for the good and the bad; and I wondered how many ministers of the Gospel act on the analogy.

Among his many duties and achievements while running the store at Boquillas, Jim was appointed Post Master, studied to practice law again, elected Justice of the Peace and gradually became the local medic for people as there were no doctors the Big Bend. He explained his success as a medic was due to his earlier experience as a coroner and his desire to teach himself through medical texts. He hoped that helping someone on the brink of death might lead the patient to be saved in Christ.

At first he found life lonely. When 1 came out here, I corralled the past, damned the bad in me and was thankful for the good. Physically life was unbearable and my mental state anything but serene. That I was conscious that I was largely responsible for both, inspired me for new life to try it over. With this as a guiding star and the thoughts of those behind my battle, after health began to return, has been easy. Deny, I cannot, that often, oh so often, do I crave for you all, for my friends, my home city, and my profession, yet these mountains, these canyons, these people, even my horses and dogs seem to say, Don’t go, and even at night when I cross the turbulent waters of the Rio Grande and listen to the music her waters make in their mad rush to the sea, it seems to say, I pass on and on, but not you. Gradually he came to know and love his many Mexican and American friends on the border. It seems he learned Spanish quickly and conversed in either language. He also enjoyed socializing frequently in Boquillas, Mexico, at dinners, weddings and frequent dances and political celebrations. He often had overnight guests in his home.

By 1910 his hopes for the future centered on settling anywhere from East Texas west to Arizona, depending on the opportunities. Jim seemed to be preparing his family in Florida for the fact that he would never be able to live in Florida again.

Jim’s commentary on the times looked to the future of the Big Bend. He mentioned hopes for a railroad through the area to reopen the mines. A cable was also being built to haul ore across the river. At one time, a new automobile made his horse shy and injure himself. He could list the number of new automobiles in the area. Telephones and the telegraph were accessible but scarcely used. There was probably no electricity in the area for he mentioned his oil burning lamp. The mail came to the area only twice a week by hack. Travel was mainly on horseback. The famous Ernst murder and trial was mentioned as well as Wilson’s election and Governor Gilchrist’s in Florida.

An average of two letters a month were sent to his mother and his sister. Most of them were saved in their entirety. However, there is no mention of Jim’s courtship of Gregoria. She and her family were mentioned as early as 1910 when he helped the family through a sickness. They returned the favor when he contracted cholera morbus. April 13, 1912, is the first time Jim’s marriage to Gregoria Mena was mentioned. He praised her often and often spoke of their happiness. Although letters are missing it seems the marriage was accepted by both families. Gregoria was learning to speak and write in English with Jim’s help. He began to write in third person and signed both their names at this time. Jim was very protective of his wife. He acquired a watch dog and refused to treat any consumptives in their house as he once did.

In a letter dated March 26, 1913, he voices concern over the border situation and petty stealing. The Post Office was burglarized in September or October of 1913. He was falsely accused of the crime. When arrest was imminent, he crossed the border and joined the Constitutionistas in their fight against the revolutionists as a captain in the medical corps. He was with Carranza’s troops fighting against Huerta and the Federalists. He made plans to settle in Cuatro Cienegas with his wife when peace was established. He urged authorities and political figures in Washington to come to his defense but to no avail. The mail was slow and due to the language barrier, his mother probably found it next to impossible to keep up closely with his travels. It was harder still, without capital, to mount a proper defense.

Gregoria wrote several times to her mother-in-law in Pensacola to keep her informed but news of Jim grew scarce. No one knows what became of my grandfather after he was forced to join Carranza’s troops, the Constitutionistas, as a captain surgeon because of extenuating circumstances. Gregoria died December 30, 1916, two years after giving birth to Mary Susan Landrum on January 31, 1914. Her parents said in one of their last letters to Jim’s mother that Gregoria had been sick. We can also assume that her heartache over losing Jim probably contributed to her death. Mary Susan was raised by her mother’s family, Susana and Clemente de Mena. As she grew up she learned to ride horseback, fish, hunt, and trap, and to appreciate the hardships and beauty of the Big Bend Country. She was sent to Florida in her early teens where Jim’s sister, Kate (Kit) Landrum, and his brother, Ben, raised her in the family home at 229 North Barcelona in Pensacola, Florida.

My interest in my family history waxed and waned over the decades. I reproduced my grandfather’s letters in 1975 as a Christmas present for my mother, Jim and Gregoria’s only child. But the events of my life, raising children, widowhood and then a new marriage, absorbed my attention. I was inspired by Maria Von Blucher’s Corpus Christi, an account of pioneer life in Corpus Christi, Texas. This book is based entirely on letters Maria wrote to relatives back in Germany. As in the book about Corpus Christi, I included chapter summaries for each group of my grandfather’s letters as an introduction to that part of his life in the Big Bend. I returned to the story of my grandfather and his letters after a trip to West Texas in 2004 where a surprise discovery reconnected me with the story. With the new information, I took on the challenge compiling my grandfather’s letters. In 2008, I enrolled in a memoir writing class and began to write my family’s story.

I feel especially honored to know of my grandfather through these letters. He was such a wonderful and courageous human being. As I think of my mother and her upbringing I now understand many things that were at times confusing. Since reading these letters and learning about her father and mother my eyes have been opened. Some of Jim’s best traits shine through in her. Her strength and courage were born in the Big Bend and even further back, derived from her parents and their families. It has been said, We are all a product of history. In this particular case, it is especially so. I hope my children in years to come will be able to read these letters and gain from them a pride in their heritage and the courage to make their lives as productive as our ancestors did.

Part 1:

Jim Landrum, Big Bend Pioneer

Chapter 1 – Leaving Pensacola

In 1908, thirty-five year old Jim Landrum packed up and headed west. However, it was not in search of adventure or financial success as in the famous saying of the 1850s, Go west, young man! Instead, he left Pensacola, Florida in search of a cure for his tuberculosis which was called consumption at the time. He must have been apprehensive about moving out west because he didn’t know what the future had in store for him. Jim had been trained first as a mortician and medic. After this he earned his law degree, established a law practice and had been elected as a judge. He reluctantly had to give up those professions because of his health. Even so, he probably had high hopes that relocating to the dry desert climate of the southwest would enable him to restore his health and begin a new life out west.

Early History

Early history of the area involves the Spanish government’s intent to use the territory that would later become Texas as a buffer between Mexico and the Comanche Indians. On the border of Mexico where the Rio Grande bends, the mountains and canyons of Big Bend National Park are located in the middle of the Chihuahuan desert. Many different groups have tried to establish their presence in the Big Bend including various Indian tribes, miners, soldiers, farmers, bandits and revolutionaries. The park covers 800,000 acres or 1,250 square miles in Brewster County, Texas. Today most people think of Big Bend in its present state, Big Bend National Park, where the acclaimed chili cook-offs are held annually in Terlingua and hikers and campers come to enjoy the beauty of the wilderness. It finally became a national park in 1944 after many years of mounting tension between the United States government and private property owners in the Big Bend. In the early days, ranchers in the Big Bend practiced open range ranching. Later some ranchers found it necessary to fence in their land. While the creation of the national park was a popular notion with most Americans, it was not a decision easily accepted by many of the ranchers when they were told they must sell their land. Many ranchers allowed cattle, sheep, and goat herds to increase in size to the detriment of the grasslands on which they fed. This overgrazing hastened erosion and changed the appearance of desert plant communities.

The Trip to Big Bend

The Big Bend during the early 20th Century when Jim Landrum arrived was sparsely populated. Along with the isolation came a realization of how dependent neighbors were for survival as well as companionship. Jim Landrum probably knew of the vastness and isolation of the western part of the United States. But he also was advised that the dry air of the high desert had recuperative powers over consumption. He would have traveled by train when he decided to seek a cure for tuberculosis and a new beginning. The trip took about a week to travel from Florida to West Texas and covered approximately 1,600 miles from the Florida Panhandle through five states along the Gulf of Mexico, the swamplands of southern Louisiana, the coastal plains of Texas, through the hill country of Central Texas, and the dessert of West Texas until he finally arrived in Alpine just north of the Big Bend. Exactly how he traveled is unknown. Perhaps he boarded the train in Pensacola, Florida with stops along the way. The last leg of his journey would have been on the Southern Pacific Railroad which had been built in the 1880’s and connected the water holes and settlements of the Southwest all the