Sandyland Farmers: Life in the Countryside Before Camp Swift, 1920–1942

Sitton, Thad

doi:10.21112/ita.2006.1.12

Cited by 1 publication

(6 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…In the decade after Texas gained statehood and again following the Civil War, waves of settlers moved into Bastrop County along McLaughlin, Big Sandy, Dogwood, and Piney Creeks (Sitton 2006). During the 1850s and 1860s, families "arranged themselves into informal, dispersed rural communities"; some communities, such as Oak Hill, gave "rise to a characteristic infrastructure of church, school, and graveyard" (Sitton 2006:13).…”

Section: Protohistoric/historicmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Railroad construction also led to the creation of the Sayers(ville) community and depot stop in 1886 (Buder 1996). New waves of settlers continued to arrive in the area in the 1880s and 1890s, often joining relatives living in the existing communities of Oak Hill, Piney, Wayside, and Sayers, as well as others (Sitton 2006 (Nickels and Lehman 2004b:72-89). Upon the passage of the Prohibition amendment in 1919, Aussilloux was forced to close his winery operation.…”

Section: Protohistoric/historicmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In 1920, about 350 families lived on properties within the triangular 87 square miles of countryside that would become Camp Swift (Sitton 2006). Early settlers in and around this area typically planted cotton as a money crop and corn as a subsistence crop, but cotton production in Bastrop County peaked in 1900 and by 1920 area farmers had begun to diversify their crops to include alternative cash crops such as melons, peanuts, and sweet potatoes.…”

Section: Protohistoric/historicmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some families also raised turkeys and collected chicken eggs, which could be sold for cash or bartered for items they were unable to produce, like sugar, flour, coffee, and kerosene. In addition to corn for household consumption, people depended on vegetables produced in house gardens, wild plants and vegetables, cattle for dairy products, and pork (Sitton 2006). People also worked part-time in the nearby mines, brickyards, or for government projects (during the Depression years), in addition to subsistence farming and cash cropping.…”

Section: Protohistoric/historicmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Construction of Camp Swift began in March of 1942 while people were still moving or in the process of preparing to move. Army training began in May, and all roads were closed to the public on June 15 (Sitton 2006). Camp Swift's pre-war design included 2,750 buildings with accommodations for 44,000 troops, but reached a maximum of 90,000 troops during the war (Leatherwood 2008).…”

Section: Protohistoric/historicmentioning

confidence: 99%

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An Archaeological Survey of 3,475 Acres at Camp Swift, Bastrop County, Texas: 2005

Nickels¹,

Hurley²,

Bousman³

2008

ITA

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The Texas Military Forces (TXMF) conducts military training on Camp Swift, an approximately 11,500-acre tract in northern Bastrop County, Texas. TXMF is responsible for complying with federal legislation regarding the assessment and management of environmental and cultural resources. This cultural resource inventory by the Center for Archaeological Studies (CAS), Texas State UniversitySan Marcos, was conducted between November 2005 and October 2006, under Section 106 and 110 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA). During the survey of 3,475 acres, 168 sites were recorded and 110 of these were newly discovered sites; however, five of these sites were outside of the survey boundary. Fifty-eight sites had been discovered by previous archaeological projects, but four of them could not be relocated. The 54 sites that were relocated were more fully documented in this report. Based on area, the site densities have increased three-fold. These results provide a more accurate inventory of prehistoric and historic sites at Camp Swift and demonstrate that intensive surveys linked with systematic shovel test excavations are the most dependable method for discovering sites at this facility. Summary and RecommendationsDuring this intensive survey, a shovel test was excavated every 30 m, covering 3,475 actual surveyed acres resulting in the excavation of 11,015 transect shovel tests. Of these transect shovel tests, 453 were positive and 10,562 were negative. An additional 16 acres covering site boundaries outside of the survey area were further assessed with shovel tests. This resulted in a total area assessed with shovel tests of approximately 3,491 acres. During this project, CAS archaeologists encountered or searched for 168 sites, discovering 110 new ones and revisiting 54 previously recorded sites; four previously recorded historic sites (41BP164, 41BP167, 41BP434, and 41BP489) could not be relocated. Five sites (41BP124, 41BP381, 41BP771, 41BP775, and 41BP793) were outside of the survey boundary and the latter three are newly discovered. There are 125 prehistoric components and 58 historic components, including four sites that could not be relocated and 15 sites that have both historic and prehistoric components.A total of 12,532 shovel tests were excavated on this project. For the site evaluations, 1,517 shovel tests were excavated within site boundaries in an attempt to evaluate previously recorded sites and establish the boundaries of new sites. Of these, 477 shovel tests were positive and 1040 shovel tests were negative. This survey represents one of the largest investigations of the unique sandy mantle environment in Texas. The Sandy Mantle is a large expanse of surface sandy soils lying above poorly consolidated sandy bedrock deposits that cover approximately one-eighth of the state. Because of this intensive testing, it was possible to develop a detailed map of the sand depths in the mantle at Camp Swift and identify patterns that may correlate with occupation history and site preservation potential. The ...

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Section: Protohistoric/historicmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Protohistoric/historicmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Protohistoric/historicmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Protohistoric/historicmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Protohistoric/historicmentioning

confidence: 99%

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