Memories of a Texas Pioneer

By Murray Montgomery

Staff Writer

It is safe to say that W.F. Cude lived a tough life, at least that is what he wrote in a personal sketch for the book The Trail Drivers of Texas.

From the time he drew his first breath on the banks of the San Jacinto River, Cude’s life went on to become an adventure that would put most of today’s Western movies to shame. He was a Texas Ranger, Confederate soldier, farmer, cattleman, and freight hauler – all in one lifetime.

Born in 1844, young Cude could still recall those early days and farm-related things, “During those times in Texas, there were no farming implements. Horse collars were made from shucks, plow lines from rawhide, and wagon wheels were sawed from a sweet gum log, which served to good advantage,” he said.

The memories he wrote for his biographical sketch included the places where his family lived when he was very young, “In the winter of 1849, we sold our home, bought two large wagons, and moved to Lavaca Creek, 12 miles from Hallettsville, the county seat.” Cude would have been about five years old when that happened – what he referred to as a creek was probably what we know today as the Lavaca River.

As a Texas Ranger, he was stationed on the Rio Grande River, protecting the country from Indians and bandits. When the Civil War started, he left the Rangers and went to San Antonio where he enlisted in the Confederate army. Cude was assigned to the Second Texas Cavalry. In October 1862, his unit was ordered to proceed to the coast and the mouth of the Brazos River – they had received reports that Union troops were landing there.

Evidently, the report of Union soldiers at the Brazos was false and his unit was ordered to Houston. “In December, the Yankees captured Galveston,” said Cude. “We were determined to retake Galveston so when the commanders called for volunteers to go on steamboats to take back the city and because most of the volunteers were cavalrymen, we called ourselves Horse Marines. In a one-hour battle, we recaptured Galveston on the first day of January 1863.”

However, the Union army continued to flood troops into Texas and Cude was eventually captured and then paroled at Jackson, Mississippi. Along with four of his comrades, the young soldier walked all the way from there to Beaumont, Texas – it took them 16 days. “My shoes had worn out, so when I got to Houston, I went to a store and bought a new pair – I told the clerk to charge them to Jeff Davis,” said Cude.

Cude continued his narrative, “In the fall of 1865, I went to school at Moulton, Lavaca County, and in 1866 I went to Live Oak County, there I secured a wagon and ox team and hauled freight from Indianola to San Antonio. In 1867 I made a crop in Gonzales County, and in the fall of the year, I drove my first cattle, going to Houston for a man named Tumlinson with about fifty head. I made my first trip up the trail to Kansas in 1868.”

This young man was only 24 when he made his first cattle drive and he had already been a Texas Ranger and fought in the Civil War. The history of Texas is filled with stories like this one. It is truly amazing how tough those people were – they refused to give up regardless of the many obstacles they faced.