The Barnards of the Brazos: First Family of Glen Rose - Glen Rose, Texas
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txoilgas
N 32° 14.095 W 097° 45.333
14S E 617248 N 3567154
The statues are located on the Somervell County courthouse lawn in Glen Rose, Texas.
Waymark Code: WM5Y1Y
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 02/28/2009
Views: 17
The Plaque reads: The Barnards of the Brazos: First Family of Glen Rose - Bronze By Robert Summers - The Legend - Author John Graves.
“Charles Barnard, who founded Glen Rose on the Paluxy River, was an educated New Englander who came to the Republic of Texas in 1843. There he joined his older brother George in the operation of Indian trading posts beyond the advancing white frontier. Well liked by the tribesmen for their fairness, they prospered, bartering civilized goods for things like fur pelts and deer and buffalo hides. One very special item for which they bartered successfully was a spirited, intelligent young captive of the Comanches - Juana Cavasos, the daughter of a wealthy land-owning family of south Texas and northern Mexico. Charles and the ransomed girl fell in love, were married in 1848, and spent the following decade at a trading post on the Brazos River in present Hood County, a few miles north of the Paluxy. Juana proved to be not only a competent trader herself but an outstanding mother, horsewoman, herbal doctor, and neighborhood midwife.
After their trading was ended in the late 1850s by the official removal of most Texas Indians to reservations. Charles bought land on the Paluxy and built a home and a stone gristmill, the nucleus for a community called Barnard’s Mill, later renamed Glen Rose. The Mill, still standing today, ground settlers corn and wheat and served as a refuge and fortress for them during frequent raids by untamed Comanches and Kiowas. Many tales have come down from that era.
But Juana and Charles grew homesick, and in 1870 moved back to the old trading post on the Brazos, where they were ultimately joined by Juana’s twin brother Juan, who happened upon her while driving a herd up the Chisholm Trail and later returned to farm and ranch and raise his own family nearby. In that setting the Barnards spent their remaining years, legendary in their time and place, surrounded and honored by family and friends.”
Identity of Rider: Juana Cavasos
Name of artist: Robert Summers
Material: Bronze
Unusual Features: Unlike most, this statue features a woman riding sidesaddle.
Position: All Hooves Planted
Identity of Horse: Not listed
Date of Dedication: Not listed
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