ustxtxb_obs_1981_04_03_50_00021-00000_000.pdf

Professor Tarpley On Dime Box, Wink, Notrees . . 1001 Texas Place Names, by Fred M. Tarpley, UT Press, $14.95. Austin Wink home to songster Roy Orbison a grocery story and gas station town, was not named by highway trav elers who would have missed seeing the town had they blinked. Instead, its name honors C. M. Winkler, a Confederate colonel and legislator. In 1001 Texas Place Names, a lot of local legends bite the dust. The book, compiled by East Texas State University professor Dr. Fred Tarpley, provides name origins for two or more towns, rivers, or other map sites in each Texas county, more entries for some locales. \(Cherokee county leads in Published by UT Press, 1001 follows Oklahoma Place Names, by OU Press, and is in some ways a lesser volume. The Okie analog lists the origins of some 2,600 place names, and while some listings provide little information and nothing of general interest, it feels complete. But Oklahoma is a small state, Tarpley points out: in Texas there are some 60,000 place names on U.S. Geological Survey Maps, and more than 1,500 towns with post offices. Though the card files he has built up over the past 20 years might have allowed him to come close, Tarpley did not try to publish all he knows about state names. Instead he tried to satisfy our curiosities. Did you ever wonder where Dime Box, or Cut and Shoot, or Notrees got its name? Tarpley tells: Dime Box petuates the memory of a time when there was a community mail box, erected by citizens, where teamsters and freighters passing that way carried mail to the residents, asking a service charge of ten cents for each article delivered Notrees [no trizi. The first postmaster, Charles J. Brown, Jr., thought the name described the barren landscape . . . . Cut and Shoot of the stories agree that there was once a preacher who was much too popular with the women. When charges were made at a church meeting, the men ran to wagons and buggies to get knives and rifles to cut and shoot. Another explanation is that cutting and shooting developed from an argument over the design of a new church steeple. At $14.95 in hardback, $6.95 in paper, 1001 is appropriate enough for the gift book market, and it makes good bathroom reading, besides. But it falls short of what serious students, journalists and some long-time Texans need. I was disappointed to find that of the eight Texas towns I lived in during my childhood, Only one got a listing: and Tarpley, breaking with Waxahachie’s Chamber of Commerce historians, says that the town name translates from an Indian tongue, not as “cow creek” but as “cow chips.” If nothing else, in 1001 Texas Place Names Tarpley makes several C of C . historians eat their words. D. J. R. THE INSIDE STORY of how 12 Texas senators hid for 41/2 days and blocked a rigged presidential primary bill. That successful fight directly affected congressional and legislative redistricting in Texas for the 1980s and beyond. It was a victory for representative government, making it easier for more Texas liberals, blacks, browns and even Republicans to win election to Congress and the Legislature. Never before did the “Good 01′ Boys” of the conservative Democratic establishment suffer defeat in such an important battle. Robert Heard, author of three other books, covered Texas politics for the Associated Press in Austin for 12 years and another year as editor of the Texas AFL-CIO’s Labor News. Immediately after the Killer Bee triumph, Heard urged each of the “Buzzin’ Dozen” to tape his recollections of those 41/2 days. Eight did, plus Dora McDonald, who hid nine of the Bees in her garage apartment. Here is the story of how they argued and debated hour by hour over where to stay and when to return. Heard recounts the near misses in the widespread search for the Bees and quotes at length from tapes of the many heretofore unreported events of the quorum break, including the story of the “Crippler Bee” who apparently played both sides, the debate to attend Rev. Gerald Mann’s church and perhaps be arrested there, the poignant adventures of Raul Longoria, and what really happened when a Texas Ranger confronted Gene Jones’ brother in Houston. Through the story of this dramatic event, Heard reveals a great deal about how state government really works. Softbound, 5 1/2×8 1/2, 135 pages, 60 illustrations \(including never-before published photos taken during the RESERVE YOUR COPY TODAY. Publishing co. 1022 Bonham Terrace Austin, Texas 78704 Please send me copies of The Miracle of the Killer Bees at $7.95 \(add is enclosed. Mr. /Mrs. /Ms. Street Apt. No. City State Zip THE TEXAS OBSERVER 21