The Hidden History of Texas

This is Episode 54 - Antebellum Texas - Ready to Secede. – the state and stage is set for secession.  We are getting closer to Civil War.

In the previous episode I discussed how important slaves and slavery was to the economic engine of Texas during the antebellum period. However, it is interesting to note that the majority of Texans did not own slaves and had no participation in the cotton or cash-crop industries. It’s estimated that about only one in four families actually had even a single slave and most had fewer than five. The planters who owned more than ten slaves actually held over half of all those people that were held in bondage in the state.  A percentage of these people also made large profits from their investments in land, labor, and cotton and they played a major role in driving the Texas economy.

            Antebellum Texas gave birth to what would become agricultural Texas.  Agriculture began to develop quickly and steadily with an ever-increasing number of farms being established. Those farmers worked hard to expand  the land that was tillable, which in turn helped to increase the value of their livestock and the total yield of their crops. Of course, slave labor was an important asset and contributor to that economic growth. Unfortunately, during this same time period, industry, finance, and urban growth stagnated. During the decade of the 1850s approximately 1 percent of the heads of households in Texas worked in manufacturing. In 1860, Texas industries produced a meager 6.5 million dollars’ worth of goods, as opposed to the northern state of Wisconsin which produced close to 28 million dollars’ worth of manufactured goods.

Due to the Texas constitutional prohibition on banking, the finance or commerce industry also lagged behind other states and less than 5 percent of the citizens worked in it. Due to the limitations on industry and commerce, the urban areas of Texas were sparsely populated and in 1860 only San Antonio, Galveston, Houston, and Austin could actually be considered cities. Their combined populations of about 23,000 was less than Milwaukee’s.

When we look at antebellum Texas and wonder why there was a failure to create a more diversified economy we find several valid reasons. Geography is one, Texas has a great climate and in both Central and East Texas the soil is very suitable for crop production. The continued reliance on slaves also served to slow down the growth of any type of manufacturing, since plantation production was much more profitable due to lower labor costs. With the plantations being profitable there was no real incentive to expand outside of agriculture. Because the plantation owners were some of the richest most powerful people in Texas, they would have had to lead Texas in any move to diversify the economy. They could see no possible return on their investment that would make them more money than their current system, so they made no effort to change.

The one part of the Texas experience the plantation owners did have a vested interest in seeing improved was transportation. The early settlers of Texas had always used the rivers as their primary transportation routes. While the rivers could be an excellent way to travel during most of the year, heavy rains, or the opposite drought and low levels which helped to expose sand bars, made the rivers very unreliable. The roads, which were nothing but dirt trails turned into massive mud pits during the rainy season, (even now they still become  that way in some parts of Texas)  and so wagon transportation was slow and cumbersome.  In fact, I was often told of how my great-grandfather William Ollie Wilson who was born in 1860 and drove a freight wagon in the 1880s, would normally make the trip from Johnson City Texas to Marble Falls Texas in about 3 days, yet in the rainy season it could easily take him more than a week to cover the same 23 miles.

The obvious solution to the transportation problem would ha...

Episode 53 - Antebellum Texas – Headed To Civil War Part 1

We call it the antebellum period in  American History, but exactly what is that?  The Antebellum Period in American history refers to the time leading up to the Civil War, specifically from the late18th century through 1861. The term "antebellum" means "before the war" in Latin, and it is often associated with the Southern United States. This era was marked by significant economic, social, and political changes, particularly in relation to slavery and the expansion of the U.S. territory.

Some of the main or key features that help us to recognize the Antebellum Period are:

Slavery and Tensions: I’ve talked about this issue and how prevalent slavery became in the state of Texas. How it served as an economic engine for Texas. The increase in slaves and slavery led to intense moral, economic, and political conflicts between the Northern and Southern states. One of the primary reasons for this tension was the North had begun moving toward industrialization and abolitionist movements were gaining strength.

Westward Expansion: Remember I talked about manifest destiny and the role that played as the nation acquired vast new territory in the West. As a result, there were conflicts over whether new states should permit slavery, further heightening regional tensions.

Economic Development: This was a big driving force and source of tension. The North and South developed distinct economies, the North focused on industry and urbanization while the South remained largely agricultural, relying on cotton production and slave labor.

Social Reform Movements: The period saw the rise of various social reform movements, including abolitionism, women’s rights, temperance, and educational reform. Key figures like Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, and others became prominent advocates for change. Needless to say, these types of movements caused great concern in southern states.

Political Conflicts and Compromises: Efforts to balance the interests of slave and free states led to significant legislation, such as the Missouri Compromise (1820), the Compromise of 1850, and the Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854). However, these efforts ultimately failed to resolve the underlying tensions.

The Antebellum Period ended in 1861 when the Southern states seceded from the Union, and the outbreak of the Civil War. Last episode I spoke about the crisis of 1850 and how it proved there was strong positive feelings for the union in Texas, but it also revealed that in spite of its location in the southwest, many of its citizens still proudly identified with the Old South.

During this period, especially during the first few years of statehood, more people started coming to settle in Texas. The census of 1847, which was a state census showed the population was 142,009. Only 3 years in 1850 later the official U.S. census showed a population of 212,592 people. Almost 70 percent of the state's 212,592 inhabitants were white, and the vast majority of them were settlers from other states. About 28 percent were black slaves and the rest were Hispanic or Indian. Native peoples were not counted in the official census of the U.S. until 1890.

Those new Texas arrivals originated from the upper South and states that at one time were considered the frontier, primarily in the Northwest such as Illinois. They arrived by traveling through the Marshall-Jefferson area, those who travelled through the Nacogdoches area were largely from the lower South. Meanwhile the Gulf Coast, Galveston and Indianola were the main entry points for many from the lower southern states; along with a large percentage of foreign-born immigrants, especially Germans, who arrived in the late 1840s.

For the most part, even though most historians don’t think of these settlers as “true frontiersmen” they were true pioneers, because Texas was truly a frontier state.

This is episode 52 of the Hidden History of Texas - The Compromise of 1850 and some Texans are already angry and ready to leave the union

This is episode 52 of the Hidden History of Texas - The Compromise of 1850 and some Texans are already angry and ready to leave the union

In the past few episodes, I’ve talked about relations between Texas and Mexico, Anglos and Mexicans, and how slavery was part and parcel of life in Texas. The fact that there was, and in reality, still is racial animosity and other types of bigotry towards non-whites and non-protestants among the Anglo citizens of Texas isn’t, or at least shouldn’t be a surprise. The earliest Anglo settlers primarily came from the Southern states and carried with them their culture.  They were very much like a large percentage of those who resided in many of the States, including some in the north. At the same time America was flexing its muscles and trying to expand its territory.

From 1845 to 1865, America operated under the concept of Manifest Destiny as put forth by John L O’Sullivan when in 1845, he wrote,  “…the fulfillment of our manifest destiny to overspread the continent allotted by Providence for the free development of our yearly multiplying millions”.  Although originally written as a defense in the argument for admitting Texas into the Union, the article laid the foundation for justification of government actions that consequently had a negative effect on those who fell outside of the White Anglo-Saxon Protestant group.

By 1850 one outgrowth of this belief was the birth of  a secretive society known as the American Order. The group stood firmly against Catholics, foreigners, and supported restrictions on immigration. They came to be known as the “National American Party’ or more commonly labeled the “Know-Nothing” political party. In Texas, they were known as the “American Party” and as a whole they argued that any foreign-born citizen be barred from voting or holding public office. In Texas, the party was anti-Mexican, pro-slavery, and they pledged to vote only for native-born Protestants for public office.

Remember from last episode, after the Mexican and American war ended, Texas wanted to annex the eastern part of New Mexico. Texas was also insistent on making certain that slave owners were not only allowed to keep their slaves but also to acquire more. Southern states who identified with  the Texas political views also wanted to make certain that Texas was a slave state.  It was not only Texas that the Southern leaders were concerned with; they also began to insist that ALL of the territory that was acquired as a result of the treaty of Guadalupe-Hildago that ended the war be opened to slavery. Needless to say, this did not sit well with those in the north who were abolitionists, and they were determined to prevent this from taking place.  

Meanwhile Robert S. Neighbors, who had been sent to New Mexico by then Texas Governor Peter Bell to organize the 4 eastern counties of New Mexico into a part of Texas failed in his mission.  As a result of his failure in June of 1850 there was a public outcry where some called for the use of military force to take the territory and still others called for secession from the Union.

Governor Bell chose to call a special session of the legislature (in Texas the legislature only meets every 2 years, usually it keeps them out of trouble) to deal with the issue. However, even before the session began, things managed to get worse. The government in New Mexico put forth a proposed constitution for a future state and the citizens easily approved it. In their constitution, they declared the state’s boundaries to include the land claimed by Texas.  At this point, President Fillmore decided to become involved, and he ordered that the army should reinforce their contingent that was stationed in New Mexico. He also publicly proclaimed that if any militiamen from Texas entered the area,

This is Episode 51 – Texas Politics as we start the 1850s

Texas politics is a contact sport, and Texas Politics as we start the 1850s was almost a blood sport and today’s Texas politics and politicians often seem like they still are set in 200 years ago. What was Texas and America like in 1850? Frankly, it was a mess, the country was mired in controversy after controversy, especially when it came to the issue of slavery. Texas itself, after lowering the flag of the Republic in 1846 struggled to find its footing. After the war with Mexico in 1848 the state government was bound and determined to make the Rio Grande river, especially the far western part, the state’s boundary. Well, this meant that most of Eastern New Mexico, including an area that reached all the way to Santa Fe would become a part of Texas. In fact, in 1848 the state legislature declared that part of Eastern New Mexico to be named Santa Fe County and the governor, George T. Wood, sent Spruce Baird there to set up a county government.  Needless to say, the proud people of Santa Fe, refused to accept the Texans and with the help of federal troops forced Baird and the other Texans with him to depart. Baird was only able to stay until July 1849 at which time he left the region.

Meanwhile, in Washington D.C. a major controversy was brewing between legislators from the North and those from  the South. Of course, this was over the issue of slavery and especially if it was to be allowed in the newly acquired territories that had recently been acquired from Mexico in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo which ended the Mexican-American war. This necessarily drew Texas into the dispute on the side of the South, remember the early Anglo settlers of Texas were mostly southerners and their allegiance was to the south and to the slave owners.

Why does this matter? Simple, because when President Zachary Taylor, took office in March of 1849,  he suggested that the  best way to handle adding the new territories of California and New Mexico would be to bring them in directly as states and just bypassing the whole you have to be a territory first thing.  While that sounds like an easy thing to do, not so fast, because most people knew that both California and New Mexico were most likely going to prohibit slavery. Well, this set off alarms in the South, Texas and the Anglo Texans. It also angered Texans  because it effectively stopped Texas from ever claiming Santa Fe and Eastern New Mexico and more importantly to the southern states, it would effectively stop the expansion of slavery at Texas.

Diehard southern slave holders vowed they would break up the union before they accepted President Taylor’s proposals.  Not only did they urge Texas to stand strong and demand the boundaries they wanted, but the Mississippi state legislature actually called for a convention to take place in Nashville in 1850 whose purpose was "to devise and adopt some means of resistance" to what they labeled as Northern aggression.

Needless to say, this was warmly greeted by the passionate Southern spokesmen in Texas, and they  took up the argument. They demanded that the state send delegates to Nashville to prove that Texas would not meekly submit to the union. As my mother used to say, the squeaky wheel gets the grease and in 1849 the Texas Legislature gave in to the pressure and passed an act that created new boundaries. Once again, they proposed to create Santa Fe County and this time they sent Robert Neighbors to organize the government.  Since this was a very active legislative group, they also declared that there would be an election in March of 1850 to send 8 delegates to the Nashville convention, so that they might provide "consultation and mutual action on the subject of slavery and Southern Rights."

Neighbors, as Baird before him, discovered the residents of Santa Fe had no desire to be a part of Texas. Well, being the stubborn folks they were,

This is Episode 50 – Slaves and Slavery in Texas Part 3 Treatment of Slaves and Slave Insurrections

In this episode I’m going to continue my discussion about a topic that often makes some folks a tad uncomfortable and that’s because I’m talking about the history of slaves and slavery in Texas. In the last episode I covered how the early Anglo settlers of Texas had roots in the deep south and brought with them  their prejudices and social customs and one of those customs was slavery.

I looked at how even though Mexico and Spain eventually outlawed slavery, Texas was exempted from those laws. Government officials were so eager to profit from the production of cotton that they ignored the slavery issue. Steven F. Austin, said, “The primary product that will elevate us from poverty is cotton and we cannot do this without the help of slaves.”  As a result, Anglo-Americans where able to bring their family slaves with them to Texas. Until 1840, they were also allowed to buy and sell them.  As I mentioned, it's important to understand that Texas was actually the last frontier of slavery in the United States. Between the years of 1821 and 1865, slavery spread over the eastern two-fifths of the state. The reality of slavery tightly bound Texas with the Old South.

I realize that there are some who refer to it as the “peculiar institution” because even though slavery was a reality in many other countries, how large it was and how it was so tightly woven into Southern society made it unique or  "peculiar"  only to the South. Over decades Southern politicians and writers used the term to defend the practice of slavery. One thing we need to keep in mind when it comes to the issue of slavery is that it was and is an absolutely barbaric practice.

In the past Hollywood made movies that sometimes-showed images of scenes of “happy” slaves, sitting around singing and generally in good spirits. The reality is slaves lived a life that was totally under the control of their owners. They were whipped, not a childish misbehavior spanking, but a brutal ripping of the skin off the back of the person being whipped. They could be hung. They could be beaten. They could be and were often sold. Female slaves could be and were raped by their masters. Families were torn apart. Slaves were considered to be less than  human. There were no happy slaves. As it was elsewhere, in Texas how slaves were treated did rely on who their owner was.

One story about how slaves were treated is the story of Lavinia Bell, a Black woman who had been kidnapped when she was a child and sold into slavery. She eventually escaped and part of her story was how she had been forced to work naked in the cotton fields near Galveston. She had made multiple attempts to escape and after her first failed attempt she was physically mutilated and beaten severely by her owner. Hers is not the only such story, many others who were enslaved in Texas told similar stories of violence and cruelty by their owners. Hundreds sought to escape, especially to Mexico where they knew they would be safe from being returned. Now of course, there are the outliers, such as Joshua Houston. He was owned by Sam Houston, actually he was  owned initially by Houston's second wife, and he became an important part of Houston's family.

He was treated well, taught to read and write, and actually the Houston family helped to prepare him for his eventual emancipation. After the Civil War he became a politician, and, at one point, offered to lend money to Sam Houston's widow when she faced financial difficulties. While the treatment of slaves in Texas may have varied on the basis of the disposition of individual slaveowners, it was clear that Anglo Texans in general accepted and defended slavery. There was also one undercurrent of reality that existed for all slave owners, and that was the fear of a revolt or insurrection by the slaves.

Actions by the Texas legislature provide an apt illustratio...

Slaves and Slavery in Texas Part 2 - After the Anglos Arrive

This is Episode 49 – Slaves and Slavery in Texas Part 2 - After the Anglos Arrive.  I’m your host and guide Hank Wilson. And as always, brought to you by Ashby Navis and Tennyson Media Publishers, producers of  a comprehensive catalog of  audiobooks and high-quality games, productivity, and mental health apps. Visit AshbyNavis.com for more information.

In this episode I’m going to continue my discussion about a topic that often makes some folks a tad uncomfortable and that’s because I’m going to talk about slaves and slavery in Texas. In the last episode, I focused on slavery in what we call New Spain. That is the territories that were colonized by the Spanish in the 1500s up through the mid to early1800s. Slavery was a fact of life in the Spanish colonies, and then after Mexico declared their independence from Spain in 1810, and a rebel congress took control. In 1813 under the leadership of Father José María Morelos, they met at Chilpancingo  they declared an end to slavery and to the casta or class system in New Spain. Now we have no records of whether or not the declaration of the Congress of Chilpancingo ever reached Texas.

Mexico achieved independence in 1821 and there were still about 3,000 slaves in the country and a several of those lived in Texas. In the summer of 1822, the new Mexican congress met and established a constitutional government for the nation. That congress quickly set out to promote the ideals of Chilpancingo and on September 17 issued a law abolishing racial categorization in official documents.

In a correspondence to the city council of San Antonio, Father Refugio de la Garza, a native Texan who represented the province in which he referred to the new social and political relations of the Spanish regime: “all that is over. We are all equal, and without this equality, our rights would not be inviolate and sacred.”  After that date, Texas census reports drop all mention of casta data, showing that Mexico’s leaders accepted the new “race-free” society. However, slavery still existed and the fact that it did caused race relations to take a new and dangerous direction for Mexican and Spanish residents of Texas, with the arrival of the Anglo-American settlers in the course of the 1820s. For the most part, those early settlers had roots in the deep south and brought with them  their prejudices and social customs. One of those customs was slavery.

While Mexicans generally objected to slavery, especially as it was allowed and implemented in the United State, many politicians turned a blind eye to the system. They were eager to profit from the production of cotton that Texans produced. Steven F. Austin, said, “The primary product that will elevate us from poverty is cotton and we cannot do this without the help of slaves.”  As a result, Anglo-Americans where able to bring their family slaves with them to Texas. Until 1840, they were also allowed to buy and sell them. One concession the Anglos made was to agree that the Grandchildren of those original slaves would eventually be gradually freed upon reaching certain ages. When, in1827, the provincial government hinted it might emancipate slaves earlier, many of the immigrants made their slaves sign indenture contracts binding them for ninety-nine years. This was ostensibly to work off the purchase price, upkeep, and transportation to Texas of the slaves.

Mexican officials thought of this as the same as the tradition of debt peonage, and as a result Black slaves continued to arrive in Texas. As the 1820s came to a close, the most serious threat to Anglo slaveholders took place when on September 15th, 1829, Mexico President Vicente Ramón Guerrero, in commemoration of Mexican Independence, emancipated all slaves. The powerful friends that Austin had in Mexico’s government quickly secured an exemption from the law for Texas and slavery was permitted to continue in the province.

This is Episode 48 – Slaves and Slavery in Texas Part 1 the early years -  I’m your host and guide Hank Wilson. And as always, brought to you by Ashby Navis and Tennyson Media Publishers, producers of  a comprehensive catalog of  audiobooks and high-quality games, productivity, and mental health apps. Visit AshbyNavis.com for more information.

In this episode I’m going to talk about something that might make some folks a tad uncomfortable and that’s because this will be the 1st of 2 parts where I’m going to talk about slaves and slavery in Texas.

Slaves and slavery is a historical  reality, not only in Texas but around the world. This program is focused on the history of Texas, so I won’t go into the world-wide history of slavery, or the fact that it still takes place around the world. I will also not discuss how the indigenous people who were on the continent before the Spanish bumped into it also made slaves out of their conquered enemies. That is for another episode that is in the planning stage that I’m working on about the history of the Americas before they became the Americas. No in this episode I will concentrate on the issue of the slaves and slavery of African people’s first by the Spanish, Portuguese, and English, and in the next episode I’ll discuss the issue as it took place under the Anglos who  took over Texas.

The first slaves brought into what the Spanish called New Spain, now Mexico were in fact Africans taken from their homelands and brought to the continent as part of the 1519 invasion led by Hernán Cortés. After Cortes opened the door, after 1580 there was a steady stream of African slaves that were brought over because Portugal gave Spain easy access to the Portuguese slave network. By 1640 more that 275,000 Africans had been taken from their homelands and sent to New Spain. Since the slaves were considered commodities once it became less profitable the importing almost completely came to an end.  By 1646, in a total population of over 1.7 million, New Spain’s African population, both native born and those born in New Spain, outnumbered Europeans 35,089 to 13,830. That’s enough about what happened in Mexico now let’s talk about Texas.

The first slave brought into Texas was Esteban, or Estevanico. He was one of four survivors of the failed Pánfilo de Narváez expedition to Florida, remember from earlier broadcasts, they were heading to Florida but took left instead of a right and ended up wrecking on the Texas coast in 1528. Estaban was the slave of Andrés Dorantes de Carranza, and was described by Alvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, who kept track of what happened to the survivors’ as they traveled through Texas and the Southwest, as a “Black Arab from Azamor.” Azamor is a Moroccan town on the coast that had been captured by the Portuguese in 1513....

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Forts part 2

Mexican – Anglo Relations

Welcome to the Hidden History of Texas. This is Episode 47 – Mexican Anglo Relations -  I’m your host and guide Hank Wilson. And as always, brought to you by Ashby Navis and Tennyson Media Publishers, producers of  a comprehensive catalog of  audiobooks and high-quality games, productivity, and mental health apps. Visit AshbyNavis.com for more information.

Relations between the Anglo settlers and Mexicans or Tejanos (Tejanos are those of Mexican or Spanish decent who were born in Texas, either when it was a province of Mexico or as a Republic) have almost always been strained. The Anglo settlers who immigrated into Texas were primarily from the South and as such they carried with them all of their innate prejudices. While some of the earliest settlers did learn to adapt to a Spanish way of life and to live in peace with their Mexican neighbors, many of the newcomers had no such desire.

One area of conflict concerned itself with the issue of slavery.  Mexico began to restrict slavery during the 1820s and finally completely outlawed it in 1829. However, the Mexican government exempted Texas from this law in order to appease Anglos. Initially that didn’t seem like very important because it is estimated that in 1825 there were only about 400 slaves in Texas. However, by 1835 and the real beginning of the battle for Texas independence it is believed that there were more than 5,000 slaves in the region.  

In 1836 after Texas won at the Battle of San Jacinto, and claimed to be an independent republic there was still trouble. Because there was no formal treaty solidifying Texas status as independent. Mexico refused to recognize Texas' independence and considered it a rebellious territory. The Mexican government believed that Santa Anna had no legal authority to sign the Treaties of Velasco while a prisoner, and that the Mexican government had no obligation to honor the agreements. Now  because of that, there was the very real fear that Mexico would invade and try to take Texas back. Then when in 1837, Mexico abolished slavery, this time without any exceptions, the Anglo residents of Texas began to fear that their slaves would start to side with Mexico in any type of dispute. And since many of the Anglos already distrusted the Mexican people in the state as the Texas Republic took shape, officials placed more and more obstacles before the non-Anglo population.

For example, In the world of politics,  Anglo leaders excluded Tejanos from almost every type of meaningful political participation. For example, Juan Seguín, one of the most influential Tejano political leaders, an Alamo defender, and who played an important role in the development of the Republic, and who fought for and stood side by side with those opposing Mexico and Santa Ana, was forced to flee to Mexico after a white mob chased him out of San Antonio. 

When it came to education, well Texas wasn’t big on public schools as a way of insuring equality. In fact, from 1836 to 1900 private individuals, such as the Catholic Church, Protestant groups, and public officials all regarded schools as critical to preserving the social order. They saw them not only as ways to increase literacy, but also as vehicles to perpetuate existing class, sex, and ethnic roles. After Texas became a state, Mexican children often had no access to public schools. As the decades passed, that began to slowly change and  by the 1880s the children did increasingly have access to rural schools. By the 1890s Mexican working-class children in urban areas were admitted to city schools. In both cases access was limited to segregated classes in the elementary grades. No secondary or postsecondary facilities were available to them. Only the children of wealthy families attended colleges and universities. The decision to segregate elementary schools in Texas was due to racial prejudice, residential location,

Welcome to the Hidden History of Texas. This is Episode 46 – Frontier Forts 1850 - 1856Frontier Forts 1850 - 1856 -  I’m your host and guide Hank Wilson. And as always, brought to you by Ashby Navis and Tennyson Media Publishers, producers of  a comprehensive catalog of  audiobooks and high-quality games, productivity, and mental health apps. Visit AshbyNavis.com for more information.

Following the death of Maj. Gen. George Mercer Brooke in 1851, his successor, Brevet Maj. Gen. Persifor F. Smith, added Forts Ewell and Merrill in South Texas. Pushing the military line further west, Smith authorized construction of Forts Clark, Terrett, Mason July 6, 1851, McKavett March 1852, Chadbourne, Phantom Hill November 14, 1851, and Belknap June 24, 1851. To help plug gaps in the northwest, Camp Cooper was erected in 1856. A double line of forts now protected Texas' southern and western frontiers. Let’s take a look at four of these forts, and I’m going to start with Fort Belknap.

Fort McKavett - Quarters

Fort Belknap was established at the site of what is now Newcastle in Young County Texas. Newcastle is located in what is known as North Central Texas and is very near the headwaters of the Brazos River. In June of 1851, Brigadier General William Belknap established the fort in the area because there was adequate water.

The fort was what is known as a four-company post, there were members of the 2nd  unit of the U.S. Dragoons, the 7th U.S. Infantry, the 2nd U.S. Calvary, and the 6th U.S. Calvary. Fort Belknap was the northern anchor of the central Texas chain of forts which had been established to protect the Texas frontier from the Red River to the Rio Grande. It had no defensive walls or works and the troops that inhabited it were used to pursue raiding bands from the various tribes that inhabited the area. At times, troops from the fort trailed into Kansas to do battle with their enemies. One of the results of the fort’s presence, was the creation  of a centralized hub of roads that made travel throughout the region easier, including the Butterfield Overland Mail route from St. Louis to San Francisco. At the start of the civil war, troops were moved and union troops finally returned in April of 1867. It was finally abandoned for good in September of 1867. In the 1970s the citizens restored and rebuilt some of the buildings and today it is open to visitors.  One other frontier fort that was opened in 1851and did not receive the same care and consideration from latter generations, was Fort Mason.

Fort Mason was established in July of 1851 in Mason Texas. Mason is one of the most picturesque towns in perhaps the most picturesque regions of the  State. It’s about 60 miles from where I currently live and while the town itself is well worth a visit, the remains of the fort, not so much. There’s only one  building left and it’s very disappointing if you’re interested in Texas history. Fort Martin Scott in Fredericksburg or Fort Croghan in Burnet are both much more informative and easier to visit. Anyway, Fort Mason was established in 1851 atop a hill that offered the soldiers an expansive view of the land around. Maj. Hamilton W. Merrill and companies A and B of the Second Dragoons were the first solders to occupy the fort. There is no clear record of who the  post was named after, and it appears that it most likely was named either for Lt. George T. Mason, who was killed at Brownsville during the Mexican War, or for Gen. Richard Barnes Mason, who died only a year before the fort was established. The fort was occupied on and off until 1861 at which time it was taken over by secessionist forces of Texas. A couple of notable officers who served at Fort Mason when it was in Union hands was Robert E. Lee and John Bell Hood. After the civil war the union took  control of the fort and was finally abandoned in 1869.  One fort that was never officially a fort is known locally as  Phantom Hill which was established on November 14,

Welcome to the Hidden History of Texas. This is Episode 45 – Texas Frontier Forts 1848-1849 -  I’m your host and guide Hank Wilson. And as always, brought to you by Ashby Navis and Tennyson Media Publishers, producers of  a comprehensive catalog of  audiobooks and high-quality games, productivity, and mental health apps. Visit AshbyNavis.com for more information.

After and actually during the War with Mexico, the United States began the process of establishing Army posts or forts in Texas. The first of these  Fort Polk and Fort Brown had been established during the war against Mexico, almost at the mouth of the Rio Grande and the Gulf of Mexico.  In 1849 Maj. Gen. George Mercer Brooke,  assumed command of the Military Department for Texas and  began working on ensuring that Mexico understood the United States was claiming authority along the southern border of Texas. To do so, he placed Ringgold Barracks, Fort McIntosh, and Fort Duncan along the Rio Grande.

After those forts were in place, he then moved to protect the western frontier. In order to accomplish that he established Fort Inge, Fort Lincoln, Fort Martin Scott, Fort Croghan, Fort Gates, Fort Graham, and Fort Worth. In this episode I want to look at 4 of those forts, Fort Martin Scott (December 1848), Fort Inge (March 13, 1849), Fort Croghan (March 16, 1849), and Fort Worth (June 6, 1849).

The first of those, Fort Martin Scott, my favorite of all the forts, because my great-great grandfather was actually stationed there and it’s how part of my family came into existence in Texas.

Located in the heart of the Texas Hill Country just outside of Fredericksburg Texas, is Fort Martin Scott. It was founded on December 5, 1848, when Captain Seth Eastman of the 1st U.S. Infantry, one of the 1st U.S. Army post on the western frontier and named  it  Camp Houston. This fort served as protection for the mostly German settlers in the area and also helped protect the Fredericksburg – San Antonio Road. Eastman stayed at the camp until February of 1849 when he was sent to establish what was to become Fort Inge.

Fort Martin Scott, then  Camp Houston,  started with 2 companies of infantry and one of dragoons. In 1847 Germans who had settled the area had entered into peace treaties with the Comanches; however, those treaties were in danger as more Anglo settlers moved into the region. The camp was formally renamed to Fort Martin Scott in December of 1849 in memory of Major Martin Scott who was killed in action at the battle of Molina del Rey in 1847.  Over time the influx of white settlers led to an increase of tension between the parties and in 1850 several tribes met near the San Saba River. At that time Indian agent John Rollins, with an escort provided by Captain Hamilton W. Merrill met with the tribes and drew up the Fort Martin Scott Treaty.

Due to people moving further west Fort Martin Scott began to lose its tactical value and finally in 1853 Colonel W.G. Freeman recommended the fort be closed and in December 1853, the 8th Military Department ordered that it be closed. The preserved fort can be visited and is now the property of the Fredericksburg Heritage Association.

Next to come into existence was Fort Inge, located on the east bank of the Leona River south of Uvalde. The area’s primary natural  identifier is a 140 foot volcanic plug of phonolite basalt. Some archeologists believe the area has been occupied by one group or another since around 6,000 BC. Several ranches also existed in the region during both the Spanish colonial and the Mexican periods of Texas.

On March 13,  1849, Captain Seth Eastman along with some 56 soldiers of the 1st United States Infantry established a base camp on the Leona. In December of that year, the post was renamed Fort Inge in honor of Lt. Zebulon Inge, a West Point graduate who served in the U.S. Second Dragoons and had been killed during the Battle of Resaca de la Palma.