"If I owned Texas and Hell..." (1866)

[Bapopik at AOL.COM]

I just received that magnificent book, THE YALE BOOK OF QUOTATIONS.
...
However, it's kind of skimpy on Texas quotations. On page 707, a July 1891  
newspaper account is cited on Philip Henry Sheridan's famous Texas  phrase, 
attributed to "1868."
...
--Barry Popik
(Still renting in Texas because he can't sell his NYC apartment; BTW,  
NewspaperAchive is still not working for me to check this)
...
...
...  
_http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/texas/entry/if_i_owned_texas_and_hell_i_w
ould_rent_texas_and_live_in_hell_philip_sherid/_ 
(http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/texas/entry/if_i_owned_texas_and_hell_i_would_rent_texas_and_live_in_h
ell_philip_sherid/) 
...
 
“If I owned Texas and Hell, I would rent Texas and live in  Hell” (Philip 
Sheridan)
 
"If I owned Texas and Hell, I would rent Texas and live in Hell” is a famous  
statement of U.S. General Philip Henry Sheridan in 1866. A later account 
(1883,  below) tries to temper the impact of Sheridan’s words. 

The statement is  sometimes cited as “If I owned hell and Texas.” 


_Wikipedia_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Sheridan)  
Philip  Henry Sheridan (March 6, 1831 – August 5, 1888) was a career U.S. 
Army  officer and a Union general in the American Civil War. His career was noted 
for  his rapid rise to major general and his close association with Lt. Gen. 
Ulysses  S. Grant, who transferred Sheridan from command of an infantry 
division in the  Western Theater to lead the Cavalry Corps of the Army of the 
Potomac in the  East. In 1864, he defeated Confederate forces in the Shenandoah 
Valley and his  destruction of the economic infrastructure of the Valley, called “
The Burning”  by residents, was one of the first uses of scorched earth 
tactics in the war. In  1865, his cavalry pursued Gen. Robert E. Lee and was 
instrumental in forcing his  surrender at Appomattox. 

19 April 1866, The Independent, pg. 4:  
But these states are not yet reduced to civil behavior. As an illustration,  
Gen. Sheridan sends word up from New Orleans, saying, “If I owned Texas and  
Hell, I would rent Texas and live in Hell.” This is the opinion of a department 
 commander. 

15 September 1876, Chicago Daily Tribune, pg. 4:  
It is related of GEN. SHERIDAN that when once asked to give his opinion of  
Texas, he replied that, if he were obliged to make a choice between hell and  
Texas, he would prefer hell. 

19 December 1883, Washington Post,  pg. 2: 
General Sheridan as a Story Teller. 

“I saw an item in  THE POST, several days ago,” said an Army officer 
yesterday, “concerning Gen.  Sheridan’s desire to avoid notoriety, and also that 
only a few anecdotes could  be related of his public life. The story was correct 
but not complete. The  General frequently relates a story himself which I 
consider the most amusing  concerning his military career. He told it the other 
evening at a private social  gathering, about as follows: “In all my life, 
gentlemen, I will never forget my  first visit to the State of Texas. I had been 
bumped over its sterile plains for  a week in an ambulance. I was tired, dusty 
and worn out. When I reached my  destination I found some people there who 
wanted me to talk and be received and  all that sort of thing, before I had a 
chance to get the sand out of my eyes and  ears. One fellow was persistent. He 
asked me with pure American curiosity what I  though of Texas. In a moment of 
worry and annoyance I said if I owned hell and  Texas, I would live in the former 
and rent out the latter. The fellow who asked  me the question proved to be a 
reporter. The next day, what I had said was in  print and I never could stop 
it.’ You may naturally believe,” added the officer  to THE POST, “that the 
General’s story created considerable amusement. The  General is a remarkably 
fine story teller.” 

19 December 1884, Chicago  Daily Tribune, pg. 9: 
As Gen. Phil Sheridan said: “If I owned Hell  and Texas I’d rent Texas and 
live in Hell.” 

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