“Gone To Texas” the Brazos by T.C. Albert

“G.T.T.”, who dreamed that these three little letters would one day represent one of the biggest episodes in American history? Traditionally, “G.T.T.” means “gone to Texas”, and they began being seen painted upon the doors of abandoned houses shortly after the great panic of 1819. Migration to Texas and all the opportunities that such a big land held became the dream of many, especially as the frontier and seemingly opportunity along with it passed to the west leaving many in the mountainous south east sinking into poverty.

The panic of 1819 was the first failure of our fledgling nation’s market economy, but the boom and bust cycle would repeat itself over again in 1837, prompting a new wave of G.T.T. signs to appear over the countryside.

Many of early settlers that migrated to Texas expected to make a good life for themselves and their families as farmers and ranchers, but as a necessity some found themselves celebrated Rangers and Indian fighters as well. As early as 1821 Austin’s colony made up of the “old 300” had settled along the “Rio de los Brazos de Dios”, and were soon on their way to becoming prosperous cotton farmers. Similar stories naturally attracted more waves of American emigrants, which soon drew the scrutiny and attention of political authorities who sent special detachments of the Mexican army to "monitor the situation".

Despite that, by 1835, the inevitable “Texas Revolution” was under way, and in 1837, the “Battle of the Brazos” was fought on the waters of that river between ships of the American and Mexican Navies. Eight years later, in 1843, these two navies would square off again, this time in the famous “Battle of Campeche”. Images of this scene are memorialized on the engraved cylinders of the legendary Colt 1851 Navy revolvers.

It was during these turbulent times that the neighbors of Gary Horne’s Tennessee and Kentucky ancestors saw that his folks had “G.T.T.” and settled along the Brazos River. The "Brazos" set was made for Gary to reflect a pouch of that period, much like something his ancestors may have actually used. It is constructed from heavy oil tanned leather, and is decorated with a single “Lone Star” for Texas applied to its flap. A hand hammered coin silver Concho is mounted in the center of the star. The powder horn is an antique, perhaps made and used during the days when his ancestors were relocating to Texas in the 1840s, and still sports its original brass “drawer pull” strap hanger.

The powder measure is made from the hollowed tine of a prong horn antelope, whose range extended into central Texas, and the traditional accompanying pick is made from forged iron. The hunting knife is of the early pinned handle, partial tang butcher variety, commonly traded and used on the western plains during the middle of the 19th century, and is cased in a sheath sewn with tough rawhide lace and attached to the pouch strap.

The “Brazos” was made to commemorate the settling of the Texas frontier, and will be used by one of the decedents of those early Texans to hunt on the same grounds where his ancestors once hunted, fought, and carved out a big piece of our nation with their own plains and buffalo rifles.

Copy and photos for this “Historic Rivers of the Frontier” pouch series by T.C. Albert.

Historic Rivers of the Frontier Pouch Series: “The Clinch” by T.C. Albert

In our nation’s infancy, historic frontiersman, longhunters, pioneers and explorers all used the wild river valleys as ready made pathways to lead them deep into the country’s heartland as they looked for freedom, land, and wealth. That wealth was often accumulated in the form of deer hides, and the pursuit of deer was a lure that led many of them over the mountains and deep into the interior as they sought out the fabled lands of Kentucky.

The “Clinch” was one of the earliest and most famous of these river pathways, and along its rugged banks longhunters first sought the deer as they blazed a trail through Big Moccasin Gap and eventually carved out the great “Wilderness Trail” itself.

This pouch set is dedicated to those hunters and to the deer they hunted. The bag itself is made from hand sewn bark tan deer hide in a traditional “D” style. The long shaved hair flap is also made from tanned deer, and has had the hair shaved down to the velvet with broken window glass. The stout strap is made from antique harness traces, and is adjustable with an antique center bar buckle.

The pouch is accoutered with a fancy silvered, bone handled, patch knife engraved with the word “Clinch” .Its elegance represents the elegant style of life back on cultured eastern seaboard where such fine table ware likely came from, but it has found itself pressed into service on the frontier far from home. It is sheathed in a fringe throated; bark tan deer hide case sewn to the pouch strap. Fittingly, the pouch is further served with a length of white tail deer antler has been carved and fashioned into a traditional powder measure. It is attached to the pouch strap with an iron ring suspended on a stout copper linked chain.

Once the deer is felled, the ever present hunting knife would be used to dress and skin it. The knife for this set has a bone handle topped with a fitted brass pommel cap, and a heavy, broad, hollow ground blade that sweeps up at the point, tailor made for use in general butchering and skinning. It is sheathed in a bark tanned deer hide case, wet sewn around a stiff leather inner liner, and hangs from a tough raw hide deer skin loop.

The powder horn, like many originals is simply made with no decoration except a bit of spiral file work on its integral front strap ring. The shrink fitted walnut plug is pinned with squared wire nails, and a cold forged staple is driven into its back edge for a rear strap attachment. A hard wood stopper is hand shaped into a traditional “punkin’ seed” shape, and completes the horns air tight water proof seal, guaranteeing that it will indeed “keep ‘yer powder dry”.

No wilderness kit is complete with out an ax for camp use, butchering, and trail blazing. The hatchet in this set as an antique, early, round cheeked broad ax. Its hand carved, primitive handle was shaped from a simple hard wood branch long, long ago, perhaps indicating that this ax was broken and re-hafted while seeing use on the wilderness frontier itself.

This set is a plain, hardworking longhunters rig, paying tribute to the deer and the frontiersman that roamed “The Clinch”.

Copy and Photos by T.C. Albert.