PREFACE

Whatever of value there may be in these narratives and sketches is due to the grand old pioneers of Red River County, Texas. Mrs. Isabella H. Hopkins, Hanks, Clark, Gordon; Dr. Pat B. Clark; John Stiles, the son of "Old Man" John Stiles; Colonel Charles DeMorse; Old Uncle Henry Stout -- all of whom I knew personally and frequently heard talk of early days in Red River County. I want to acknowledge and express my thanks to some others who have in later years been of very material help to me in writing these historical events -- to the late Edward Edwards, Captain A. P. Corley, Mrs. Ella Parks, the daughter of A. H. Latimer, Mr. C. V. Hall, the teacher of history in the East Texas State Teachers' College in Commerce, and my distinguished young friend, E. W. Bowers, Professor S. E. Clark of Austin, and B. M. Clark of Blossom, Lamar County, Texas. Being pressed by friends for a completion of my History of Clarksville, and Red River County, I finally concluded to submit for your generous consideration these facts. I am bound to admit that this task was greater than I contemplated. Owing to the lack of time and