Major Robert Simpson Neighbors
N 33° 09.133 W 098° 43.976
14S E 524904 N 3668194
A 1936 gray granite Texas Centennial Marker stands at the final resting place of Major Robert Simpson Neighbors, in the old Belknap Cemetery, across the road from Ft. Belknap, south of Newcastle, TX.
Waymark Code: WMY0Y0
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 03/29/2018
Views: 1
Please be sure to keep the cemetery gate closed as you pass through the gate that leads out to the cemetery. There are plenty of cattle, and they're not shy about coming over to get a look at you. You're more likely to see them at a distance, though, as they call out to each other about your presence.
A 1967 Texas Historical Marker over on the Fort Belknap grounds provides more than just a sound byte:
As Indian agent, forceful peacemaker and humanist, Maj. Neighbors had more influence over Texas' Indians than any other man of his era; came to Texas in 1836.
He served as quartermaster in Texas Army, 1839-41. While on Texas Ranger duty in San Antonio, 1842, he was taken as a prisoner of war to Mexico by Gen. Adrian Woll and spent 18 months in Perote Prison.
Began his service to the Indians in 1845. As agent for Lipan-Apache and Tonkawa tribes, he used field system of control, visiting Indian homes, learning a red man's way of life, improving living condition, helping them to trade. He ably defended their rights, was counselor and friend, and sought new homes for them, never faltering in commitment to their safety.
As a Texas commissioner in 1850 he organized El Paso County; he was also a state representative, 1851-1852, and a presidential elector in 1852.
Major Neighbors later became the supervising agent for all of the Indians in Texas. Frontier civilians and soldiers failed to support his Indian policies. Many became hostile. On Sept. 14, 1859, he was murdered near here by a white man as he was returning after safely removing all reservation Indians from Texas. He was buried in Belknap Cemetery (½ mi. E. of town).
Marker Number: 18389
Marker Text:
who served in the Army of Texas, 1836. Captured by General Woll, 1842. U.S. Indian agent, 1845. Born in Virginia, November 3, 1815. Died September 14, 1859
Erected by the State of Texas
1936
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