Oliver Vie ten page letter to Grace - n.d.
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Kingsville Texas Dear Sister i thought i could drop you a few lines to let you know that i am well and hope you or the same. Well sister we are having some warm weather down here we did have some pretty cool weather here gets cold at night and one burns up at noon time. Say Grace i suppose Dave an
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troops at Kingsville. Well the Militia is still leaving the valley gong back too their states they have to send them away because they or deserting so fast one can
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[page 3] on the out post have been shot at along the river the out post go out for 15 day at a time i guess i will go out soon there is a kid here about 16 years old a trooper of B. troop 12 cav. that got shot he is near dead. Say i thought Texas city [Texas] was hot but it ant got a thing on this place it was a 115 in the shade yesterday the place is full of snakes and wolfs and mosquites the wolfs howl all night and keep us awake why i would live in this god for saken place for no money if the mexicans dont kill us i guess the heat will unless
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[page 4] it gets cooler. We left Texas city [Texas] just in time to beat the storm they say it was worse than in 1900 i have been in all then places that was struck by the storm the army was a big loser i got all my stuf out so i never lost any thing the pay roll books was lost so we ant got paid yet we never finished do the range yet. Well i suppose you all read in the paper about it and the great Causeway that i crossed many a time is gone you would be surprised if you had ever seen it to think that it was gone and the great sea wall saved Galveston[Texas] i would like to see then places to day.
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[page 5] This is some town three saloons full of Texas rangers and ranchers every body packs a gun if i had my say i would give the place to the mexicans we or in camp on the side of the Sun set rail road by and old cotton gin why the peope would not come out of their house till the soldiers came here most of the people or mexicans if they go to the store they carry a rifle why i would not write in this letter of all the things that goes on here so you people up there don
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[page 6] The people and the Texas rangers tell us that if the mexicans catch us one at a time it means that we cash in but we carry our rifles when we go aroud we give them lots of chance i think if some of the people would leave these mexicans alone things would be all right i guess it ant all the mexicans. we were in the saloons last night and i hear some rancher tell a mexican passing that he knowed he had a rifle and he gave him two hours to go and get it and the mexican came back with it and soad up in a sack it was rusty it was a mousar the night before last a mexican rancher that lives about 300 yards
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[page 7] from our camp got up at three oclock in the morning and began shooting we went over there to see what was wrong and found he had fired three shots at his cow thinking the out laws was raiding agan he was so scared he could not get his breath. We just got word this morning that the mexicans were trying to pass the out post early this morng at the pumping station from the other side of the river but the out post ant allowed to shoot across the river unless they fire at them and the mexicans or wise to that if they give the soldieres
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[page 8] a chance this trouble down here would stop in a hurry there is lots of mexicans killed that some people don
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[page 9] Why even Houston [Texas] was hit and it is about 60 miles from Galveston [Texas]. Say Grace i am very likely to go on the out post and time now so don
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When we get paid i will send you that insurance money got near two months pay coming Well i will close now say tell Archie i should have wrote to him but i an
Details
| Title | Oliver Vie ten page letter to Grace - n.d. |
| Creator | Vie, Oliver |
| Source | Vie, Oliver. Ten page letter to Grace. n.d. Oliver Vie Papers, 1913-1919. A2285. Missouri History Museum, Saint Louis, Missouri. |
| Description | Oliver Vie was born January 28, 1887, in St. Louis, Missouri. After working for several years in a shoe factory, he enlisted in the army in October 1913, Company K, 26th Infantry. He served along the Mexican border before going with the first contingent to France in June 1917. He fought in the battles of Cantigny and Soissons and was wounded in action and died July 20, 1918. In this letter, Vie wrote his sister Grace and described his thoughts on Mexican and Texan relations along the border. He also described a severe local storm, the region, and military life. |
| Subject LCSH | United States. Army. Infantry regiment, 26th; Punitive Expedition by the United States Army into Mexico, 1916 |
| Subject Local | WWI; World War I |
| Site Accession Number | A2285 |
| Contributing Institution | Missouri History Museum |
| Copy Request | Transmission or reproduction of items on these pages beyond those allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the Missouri History Museum: 314-746-4510 |
| Rights | The text and images contained in this collection are intended for research and educational use only. Duplication of any of these images for commercial use without express written consent is expressly prohibited. Contact the Missouri History Museum's Permissions Office at 314-746-4511 to obtain written consent. |
| Date Original | c.a. 1913-1916 |
| Language | English |