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 El Capote Ranch
N 29° 30.019 W 097° 45.407
14R E 620506 N 3264062
This ranch appears to have changed major ownership only four times from 1806 to 1976. US President Theodore Roosevelt's 2nd wife Edith Kermit Carow was a part owner at one point.
Waymark Code: WM101X8
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 02/09/2019
Views: 4
Jose de la Baume was a French Army officer during the American Revolution. After that, he joined the Spanish Army and for his services there was granted this 27,000 acre ranch from Spain in 1806. He became the first owner of the title to this land and he had his title to it affirmed after Mexico won independence from Spain. It was confirmed that he did own the land. The next owner was Michael Erskine, from 1840 to 1870s. This was during the great cattle drives that made the image of the Texas cowboy famous. The third change in land ownership included Theodore Roosevelt's 2nd wife, Edit Kermit Carow, who was deeded a portion of this ranch. The horse, named Seguin, that Col. Roosevelt rode to further fame up San Juan Hill during the Spanish-American War was a horse bred and raise on this El Capote Ranch! The land of the ranch went to Judge Leroy Gilbert Denman upon his purchase of it in 1897. As of 1976, Judge Denman's descendants still owned it. This historical marker appears beside a main entrance gate opening onto FM 466, locally named Capote Road. It is opposite the nearby junction of Guadalupe Hills Lane and Capote Road. See page 16 of this link to read about the Roosevelt connection with El Capote Ranch: ( visit link)
Marker Number: 1412
Marker Text:
The founder of El Capote Ranch was Jose De La Baume (1731-1834), a French Army officer who came to North America with the Marquis De Lafayette and fought in the American Revolution. He later joined the Spanish Army and for his services received title in 1806 to 27,000 acres of Texas land - the original El Capote Ranch. De La Baume's grant was reaffirmed after Mexico won independence from Spain in 1821.
Virginia-born Michael Erskine (1794-1862) acquired the property in 1840. He raised cattle here and drove his herds to California and New Orleans. Since the San Antonio to Gonzales Road forded the Guadalupe River on El Capote land, many travelers passed this way. The Erskine family hosted several eminent visitors, including William Bollaert (1840), Ferdinand Roemer (1845-1847), and Frederick Law Olmstead (1857).
After the Erskine family sold the ranch in the 1870s, part of the land was deeded to Edith Kermit Carow, the second wife of Theodore Roosevelt. During the Spanish-American War, Roosevelt rode an El Capote horse, "Seguin", at the Battle of San Juan Hill (1898). The ranch was acquired in 1897 by Judge Leroy Gilbert Denman (1855-1916), a Justice of the Texas Supreme Court, and is owned by his descendants.
(1976)
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