LOCATION: Texarkana, Texas
PERIOD: 1930s
DRAMATIS PERSONAE: Levi Lester Motts (1909-1999); Julia Taylor (1909-1931); Joshua Taylor (1877-1945)
During the 1920s and ’30s the boll weevil devastated the cotton crop in several Southern states along the Highway 80 corridor. Many farmers gave up and left their farms since the weevil appeared to be impervious to all attempts to drive it out or kill it off. Ironically the thing that finally caused the weevil to move on, was a widespread drought in 1930, which farmers did not see as much of a savior. After the drought the Great Depression caused the remaining farmers who had managed to survive the weevil, as well as the drought, to be threatened yet again with economic collapse.
The West offered a virgin land, a territory full of promise. The allure was irresistible for some men who uprooted themselves and often their entire families to try their luck “out West”.
Levi Luther Motts’ great-uncle was Levi Motts (1843-1864).
MISSOURI
(F. D. Leone, Jr.)
There’s land in Missouri
I’ve heard tell it’s rich and dark
Ain’ nothin’ for me ’round here
I’d like to make a brand new start
Boll weevil killed my cotton
What drove him off was a drought
I’ve had enough of Texarkana
I’m thinkin’ hard of movin’ out
To Missouri – I’ll head west
Where a man can start fresh
I won’t rest until I’ve left
To Missouri I’m bound
Ol’ man Taylor thinks I’m lazy
Says soon it’s bound to rain
I should stick it out and make a crop
No matter where I go it’ll be the same
Since my Julie took sick and died
I’ve got no reason to stay
Texarkana is for Taylor
As for me, I’ll move away
To Missouri – I’ll head west
Where a man can start fresh
I won’t rest until I’ve left
To Missouri I’m bound
© 2019 Frank David Leone, Jr./Highway 80 Music (ASCAP). The songs and stories on the Highway 80 Stories website are works of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
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