Early Trails in Montague County - Bowie, TX
N 33° 32.834 W 097° 49.353
14S E 609311 N 3712577
A sign at the World's Largest Bowie Knife in Bowie, TX notes the passage of and provides some background for very significant but lesser known trails -- compared to the Chisholm Trail -- that passed through Montague County in Texas's early days.
Waymark Code: WM1295B
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 04/03/2020
Views: 0
The bottom of the sign shows a lone cowboy on his horse, a group of migrants in a Conestoga wagon, and a stagecoach from the Butterfield Overland Mail Route. On the south side of the knife near this sign is a complementary sign with a map, "Montague County Trails Prior to 1880", which notes the passage through the county of significant trails like the Chisholm Trail, the California Trail, and the Butterfield Stage Line. Of the settlements noted, Burlington (Spanish Fort) and Salt Creek Station (Red River Station) are but ghosts today, and Head of Elm became St. Jo.
This sign reads:
Montague County was once a network of trails, as it lay on a direct line from eastern locations to Mexico and California. One of the first area roads forged by white men was the Chihuahua Trader's Trail of 1840. Blazed by merchants hoping to pen a trade route from Mexico to St. Louis, Missouri, this road crossed the county and left tracks for later travelers. In 1841 came the Texan-Santa Fe Expedition, though it failed to open regular commerce between the Republic of Texas and Mexico; this delegation also left a road. In 1849 U.S. Army Capt. Randolph B. Marcy surveyed a California Trail, using parts of older routes. This soon grew into a thoroughfare for gold miners and pioneers seeking a better way of life in the West. In 1858 the famous Butterfield Overland Mail Line came across the county, and in 1882, the County's first railroad followed much of the earlier Texan-Santa Fe Trail.
Group that erected the marker: City of Bowie
Address of where the marker is located. Approximate if necessary:
1500-1700 Block of East Wise St
Bowie, TX USA
76230
URL of a web site with more information about the history mentioned on the sign: Not listed
|
Visit Instructions:
Take a picture of the marker, preferably including yourself or your GPSr in the photo. A very detailed description of your visit may be substituted for a photo. In any case please provide a description of your visit. A description of only "Visited" or "Saw it while on vacation" by anyone other than the person creating the waymark may be deleted by the waymark owner or the category officers.
Recent Visits/Logs:
| There are no logs for this waymark yet. |
|
|
|