Homestead

by Cheri Randolph

Title

Homestead

Artist

Cheri Randolph

Medium

Photograph

Description

This Danish homestead had little defense against whatever the plains of South Texas had to offer in the way of harsh conditions. The day that I visited here was a cold, early January day with a powerful wind blowing. The stark, vastness was very evident, and it hit home to me what kind of life these early ranchers must have had against the harsh elements both Winter and Summer.

The photograph was taken at the site of Danevang, a small community ten miles south of El Campo, which was founded by Danish settlers in the late nineteenth century because they believed that this area would prove to be a prosperous farming area.

In 1894, the first settlers, consisting of eleven families began to buy land in what was soon to become Danevang. The land was $9.00 an acre. Even though this was more than most could afford, many people bought between forty and eighty acres. As the land was bought, it was surveyed and fenced off into sections, A section consists of 640 acres.

Once the settlers arrived, they constructed small two-room houses. These houses had walls, a roof, and a floor - nothing fancy. Using their familiar farming techniques, they were not successful. They soon adapted these techniques to suit the southern climate. The Danes ended up farming cotton because the environment of south Texas was not able to support the type of grain crops they had customarily planted.

Before the land could be farmed, it had to be broken. Then it had to sit for several months so that it would be soft enough to plow. Only then could crops be planted. All of the farming had to be done with a one-furrow plow, which was pulled by two to four horses. The planting had to be done one plant at a time.

It was a harsh life, well illustrated by this still standing homestead.

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November 9th, 2012

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