A statement relative to the old roads' trict but he has studied the subject! deeply, and, before the storm of last September, was reputed to have the most complete library of old Spanish J histories and maps in the county, or this part of the state. The greater part of this library was lost in the storm and Mr. Sutherland is compelled/ to write from memory rather *han authoritative record. His'letter follows: In answer to your communication of the tilth inst., 1 am sorry to say that ti formation on the subject is wry limited. And unfortunately all my old Spanish maps, charts, Mss. and old histories were destroyed by the flood last September. All that I certainly know about old roads in Texas is that j in 1GS0 Do Peon whilst searching for the few remaining followers of La • Salle opened the old Ha Bahia or Oo-i liad road. This road crossed the Xu-still 1 Osh, entered the I-tabb Patau re at tin Chocolate Mott passed the Petronilla ; Creek, The Trinidad and la Guajillo. ; Another road followed very nearly thc| • line of the Texas-Mexicair Ry. An-j( other passed Nueccstown and X. of Banquette near the ranch of Mr. C. C. Wright, Ha Puerto, Prccenos and the Lara to San Diego. Another followed the present up river road to the Matamoras road from thence to the Adami crossing on the Agtui Dulce about throe miles S. of Orange Grove passed / the Tecoloto ranch, Amargosa and Muertccito to San Diego. It depended on the weather, the abundance of grass and water and the kind of team a man was using which road he selected. If a man was on horseback he selected the most direct route. If he was driving horses or mules he made choice of the road' where grass was most abundant in be bad oxen he took the road where j prickly pear was plentiful. With the possible exception of the Sta Fe trail that passed through a part of Texas I no wheeled vehicles of any kind were used on the first roads. Everything was carried on pack animals. Few if any of the animals would cat corn or oats. 1 think I am safe in positively assorting that ‘If* years ago not one horse in five hundred would cat either corn or oats and it was often difficult matter to teach them to cat grain of any kind. It seems strange nowadays to speak of laying off a road to pass permanent watering places within a reasonable distance of each other, as all the permanent running streams and never Ink. ha' dr> M:< ddeho I Cross! ' "J Undo i Irop a id t bi- lbo Colorado ugh An nbinson’s j nortiel.au i at Has-I iio to i-:i the R in 1805 Gov. Cordero and Gen. O’Herrera opened the Atasco Silo road. This road crossed the Colorado at Columbus, the Brazos at San Felipe arfd the Trinity at Liberty. . \ The old road used by the missions near the coast started at the Mission Valley, passed La Bahia "Goliad” crossed the Nueces at Hapantitlan thence to El Charco Prcdondo Baluarte . and Las Animas to the Puo Grando. At each of those places there was a fort with a company of soldiers for the iprotection of travellers. Long before the advent of the white men the Indians had many trails from different parts to The Sacred lake of El Sal del Roy or great Salt Lake of the King. This is one of the most wonderful salt lakes in the II. S. The salt forms in layers "like ground ice" at the bottom of the lake and when re- • moved is completely replace^ in about I 28 days. Xo living organism exists in, • its waters. The lake is of an oval form and covers an area of about 700 acres of land. During the Civil War thousands of tons of salt from this i lake was carried to the Southern Sta i os. The Matamoras road from San Patricio to Matamoras was established about 1831. The old roads as originally laid out were never straight and more trails; where convenient and safe crossings! could he had .at crooks and rivers andi where a never falling supply of water could he had at rivers, lakes or crocks every 10-J5 miles. Only in time of danger or drouth was the. exact trail followed. When there was plenty of water and ro danger of an Indian at-i tuck by night, travellers took short cuts across the country. \ In 1875 I travelled four different! roads from Corpus Christi to San j failing people "recent arrivals in the state" r we never had permanent lakes and streams, that wo only remember that ic lakes and streams had plenty o£ rater when wo had plenty of rail?. But there wore hundreds of permnn-nt lakes and ;i score of. running son The that the spri nplh rs h: choked up b; tbrtia inds oV cattle, horses, snoop asm goats In dry weather when the grass is scant and the ground hare hundreds of animals ho around lakes and. streams for hours every day. drink once or twice and every time they outer the water carry some earth into the lake until in the course of time the lake is filled up and the springs choked but our row comer is not satisfied with this explanation and says "well, according to history there were mil-j lions of buffalo and thousands of deer,* and antelope in this country before j there were cither cattle or horses, why didn’t they fill up the lakes and choke i the Buffalo, deer and antelope never stayed in a part of the country where there was no grass, consequently earned less earth into Mie lake than they carried out and instead of filling u| they deepened the lakes. T suppose by this time you hav enough of roads. lakes and as you wi havr. in v/ijviow a. bushel of chaff got a. grain of wheat. I am sorry cannot furnish you with any inform: lion of real value hut I am ccrlaii the statements made arc* true and c; be proved. With respect I remain. Yours truly, W. G. SUTH ERL AND. i bad all i ores at what is still known as Do Loon’s crossing: near the village of the ' ’ Lipnns about .’5 miles above San Patricio—passed the Guadalupe at Mis- : sion Valley, the Colorado at La j Grange, the .Brazos at Washington and the Trinity at Robinson’s Crossing. -i .Anthony Crozat received a grant of Louisiana from Louis the fourteenth of France and he attempted to open up a trade with Mexico and SI. Denis , laid off a road through Texas lo the ^ .. Rio Granue St. Denis’ road entered , Texas at Gaines’ Ferry, passed Naco-