grace grits and gardening

ramblings from an arkansas farm girl

A letter from Junius Peak

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Throwback Thursday…

The name Peak is likely familiar to East Dallas residents. But even if you aren’t an East Dallasite, the letter below is a fascinating part of American history.
Junius, fought as a Confederate soldier during the Civil War, served as Dallas City Marshall 1874-1876, and as 2nd Lieutenant for the Texas Rangers in 1878.
The following oral history was dictated by Junius Peak to the Frontier Times (Bandera, Tx) on August 6, 1927 (presented without editing)…
Junius Peak

I was born at Warsaw, Kentucky,  April 5, 1845. Moved with the family in 1855 to Dallas, Texas, which we reached on June 10th of that year. We were soon comfortably located in a good 2-room log house, with a fine well of water, etc.
     Shortly after our arrival in Dallas, father bought 229 acres of fine land two miles East of the Dallas County court house, paying $110.00 cash on this land. My father at once began building the first brick house in Dallas County for his house, and in which he died.
     The early part of April, 1878, I was commissioned by the Governor as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Texas Frontier Battalion for the purpose of destroying the Sam Bass gang of train robbers, and was promoted to Captain in May following.
     By July of that year I had succeeded in disposing of the entire band, excepting Bass, Barnes and Jackson, driving these out of North Texas into the trap arranged by Major John B. Jones at Round Rock. I was immediately ordered to the Frontier where I found the Indians very active, especially in 1879.
     A detachment of seven Rangers from my Company, on the 20th day of June and 2nd day of July had the last two engagements with Comanche and Kiowa Indians on the Texas frontier, at the head of the North Concho River and on the Plains 80 miles West, where Ranger Anglin was killed and the two pack mules lost on June 28th recovered.
     Please mail me 20 copies of your September issue, with bill for same enclosed.

     Sincerely yours,

     June Peak
     4409 Worth Street, Dallas

***
Note: As the unofficial keeper of historical records and photos for Munger Place Historic District, I hope to periodically share information related to Texas history and specifically East Dallas. These photos and glimpses into bygone days are invaluable.  As Winston Churchill said, “The farther backward you can look, the farther forward you are likely to see.” 

talya

Grace Grits and Gardening
Farm. Food. Garden. Life.

State Fair of Texas!

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Texas Star

Our state fair is a great state fair, don’t miss it, don’t even be late. – Rodgers and Hammerstein

talya

Grace Grits and Gardening
Farm. Food, Garden. Life

Musical Pairing:

State Fair – 1962 – Dallas Skyline

Happy Birthday Anita!

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Anita and I were best friends from birth. 
One of our favorite weekend activities involved connecting the massive spread of mud puddles between her house and her Daddy’s shop. (She’s a farmer’s daughter too…) With sticks, we dug trenches between water holes, so a leaf would freely float from one end of her property to the other. This took careful planning and hours of dedication. 
When we weren’t redirecting the water on her Daddy’s home place, we sat on the rickety bridge just down the gravel road leading to her house. With our legs dangling over muddy water, we planned Anita’s escape. We were certain she was secretly adopted, and if this was the case, running away seemed logical. The signs were obvious, and the basis for our theory was solid—compared to her older sister Sharon, there were fewer baby pictures of Anita…
We reviewed our carefully crafted plans over and over. She would sneak out during veil of darkness. But…should she wait until after Halloween? All that candy would come in handy. Maybe she should wait til next Summer? 
The details were simple and fail proof. She would hide out and live on the banks of the river, avoiding the area with the scary quicksand. I would somehow sneak food to her. Until the time was right, we returned to our mud puddles.
Happy birthday Anita!
talya
Grace Grits and Gardening
Farm. Food. Garden. Life
Musical Pairing:
The Beatles Birthday Song

Food. Farm. Garden. Life.

THANKS FOR READING!