2020-10-21: Geocaching Through History in Northeast Texas and an International Border

On this last day of our NC-TX roadtrip, I only had one goal for today, a bucket list item! That was to finally make it to the last surviving border marker between the United States and the newly formed COUNTRY of the Republic of Texas. We did stop to see a few other historical sites along the way also. This would finally wrap up our fourth state in four days. So without hesitation, climb aboard the GeoJeep and let's go for a drive! 

So we ended day 3 yesterday in SW Arkansas taking the backroads to pickup some new counties. The last caching county needed along our route was Lafayette County which we added first thing this morning by stopping at the Buckner Memorial Cemetery (GC38VDQ). And again resisting the urge to spend a lot of time looking around, I quickly found the geocache, signed the log, and continued into Texas.

Passing through Texarkana, we picked up US-59 and drove south towards the International Border Marker. After about an hour we stopped in historic Jefferson, Texas for a couple of virtual geocaches and a look around (GCC0AA, GCGAT8). Named in honor of President Thomas Jefferson, this town was loaded with history and had a lot to see.

The first stop around town was at the Jay Gould Railroad car. From the historical marker: "Built in 1888 by the American Car & Foundry Company of St Charles, MO, this was the private railroad car of Jay Gould (1836-1892). A native of New York, Gould was a noted financier and owner the of numerous railroad companies, including the Union Pacific, the Missouri Pacific, the International & Great Northern, and the Texas Pacific. This car, named the "Atalanta," remained in the Gould family ownership until the 1930's.

"Elaborately designed and elegantly furnished, the Atalanta features two observation rooms, two bath's, a butlers pantry, kitchen, dining room, and office. Interior materials include mahogany and curly maple woodwork, silver bathroom accessories, and crystal light fixtures.

"Following Jay Gould's death in 1892, the car was used by his son, George Jay Gould (President of the Texas and Pacific Railroad), and his wife, actress Edith Kingston. The car later was brought to Texas from St Louis and used as a family residence during the 1930's east Texas oil boom. Purchased in 1953 by the Jessie Allen Wise Garden Club, it was moved to this site in 1954."

Captain William Perry was among the first settlers of Jefferson, arriving in 1840. Through his shipping business, he played an early part of the growth and establishment of Jefferson as an inland port. He bought and developed tracts of land in the area, becoming quite wealthy in the process. One of his developments was the Excelsior House. The oldest hotel in East Texas, the wood frame part was built in 1850's and the brick wing was added in 1864. Among its famous guests were Presidents Ulysses S Grant and Rutherford B Hayes, and poet Oscar Wilde. Added into the National Register of Historic Places, it was restored in 1963-64 by the Jessie Allen Wise Garden Club..

Below is the Kahn Saloon. Built during the early 1860's, this structure served as a boarding house and as a mercantile before opening as the Kahn Saloon in 1900. Temperance movement leader Carrie Nation was denied entrance here during one of her campaigns through Texas. The popular gathering place was closed after local prohibitionists won a 1907 election.

Jefferson native Marion Try Slaughter launched his career as country music singer Vernon Dalhart at the Kahn Saloon. Starred later for operas in New York, and recorded for Edison's talking machine. His rendition of "The Prisoner's Song" (1924) was the first folk ballad to sell over a million records, and led to rise of country music as an American art form. Within ten years he earned and lost a fortune, later living in obscurity.

One last item of interest in the history of Jefferson, Texas. Established by Boyle and Scott about 1875, Jefferson became home to the first ice factory in Texas. They sold ice at ten cents per pound. B. J. Benefield delivered the ice to their customers. The plant was later moved to Harrisburg.

Back on the road down to my bucket list geocache (GCTBR8). "In the early 1700's, France and Spain began disputing their New World international boundary that included this area; each nation claimed what is now Texas. When the U.S. purchased the Louisiana Territory from France in 1803, the boundary was still in dispute. Leaders agreed to a neutral area between the Arroyo Hondo and the Sabine River, and the 1819 Adams-Onís Treaty formally defined the border. When Texas became a Republic in 1836, it appointed a joint commission with the United States to survey and mark the established boundary from the Gulf of Mexico up the Sabine River and on to the Red River. John Forsyth represented the U.S., and Memucan Hunt represented Texas in the work, which proved to be long and difficult.

"The survey crew began the demarcation process on May 20, 1840 at the Gulf, placing a 36-foot pole in the middle of a large earthen mound. Proceeding north, they placed eight-foot posts denoting the number of miles from the 32nd parallel. Upon reaching the parallel, they placed a granite marker on the west bank of the Sabine River. From that point, they traveled due north to the Red River, completing their work in late June 1841.

"As a result of erosion, the first granite marker on the Sabine fell into the river long ago, but a second granite marker on the northward path of the surveyors had been placed here to mark the north-south meridian. This is the only known marker remaining, and it is believed to be the only original international boundary marker within the contiguous U.S. Today, the border between Texas and Louisiana follows the Sabine River to the 32nd parallel, at which point it connects to the boundary established by Hunt and Forsyth. The Texas Historical Foundation purchased this site to provide public access to the early boundary marker."

So if you're like me and one that stops to read historical markers, this one should be on your bucket list. And as a surveyor, I thought this was especially cool that it being the ONLY one like it in the U.S.

That was all the stops for today. We continued the rest of the way to Killeen for a couple of days before heading to West Columbia. There we start our next project and will be in that area for a few months. Soon I'll be bringing you our adventures from SE Texas. See you back again soon...

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2019-06-18: Roadtrip Back to Texas Day 1 in NC and SC, Finding an Abandoned Racetrack, Farmville, a Historic Survey Marker and a 9-11 Memorial

Well it's that time again. My work on this project in North Carolina is done. Time for a roadtrip back to Texas. Only this time it's in North Central Texas, about an hour north of Abilene. So that means I'll be hitting the backroads westbound again looking for geocaches in new counties, finding historical places and stopping for roadside attractions. The passenger seat in the GeoJeep is open. Hop on in and let's go for a ride...

I get out of work a little early today, run by the house to pack everything into the GeoJeep, and head west on US-264. Driving around Greenville to the other side a few miles, I see this huge water tower for the town of Farmville, NC. I stopped to take a photo and send it to my wife. She used to play Farmville a lot. I told her that the town really does exist but it's in shambles! She needs to get playing the game again, plant and harvest the crops, feed the animals, and get this place back growing again. She got a good chuckle out of it!

Arriving at my first new county down in South Carolina in a town called Cheraw. The cache was a quick parking lot LPC find for Chesterfield County (GC6807X). This wasn't my first choice to find, but a plan B find for the county credit.

My original geocache, and one of the reasons I like geocaching, brought me to this long abandoned racetrack just down the road by the airport. Like several others before me, I could not find the geocache. (it has since been archived) But I did get to find this piece of NASCAR history. Built by NASCAR legend Jimmy Ingram, the race track was in operation from 1955 through 1968. It started out as a quarter-mile dirt track. Sometime in the 1960's, it was paved and expanded to 3/8 of a mile. Now the only passing and overtaking happening is by time and nature. I did get a quick shot with the GeoJeep at the top of the page.

Next up was a virtual geocache called "Run For The Border" (GCE55). As a surveyor myself, I like finding these old survey stone markers. This one was placed in 1813 to mark the line between North and South Carolina. Originally surveyed in 1764, this stone was placed because of the uncertainty of the location of the Salisbury Road which had served as the north-south boundary from the western terminus of the state line. It was resurveyed again in 1934, found to be accurate, and the round Geodetic Survey Disc was attached to the stone. Not too far away is a traditional geocache called "North Corner" (GC333HN) and I make a stop and found that one also.

The next county on my list was Chester County, South Carolina. There I made two quick park and grab cache finds (GC5MD92, GC5VGFZ). On the way to my next county and geocache, I passed through this small town called Lockhart. I grew up in a small town called Lockhart in Florida. Back in Texas, I also encountered another Lockhart which they're famous for their BBQ. So I found a place that would make a good selfie by the town square and Liberty Bell replica.

My next cache over in Union County was at this highway 9-11 memorial made of painted rocks (GC1410J). A quick find for the county and a nice GeoJeep photo opp too!

A short adventure for today, but had to work until 3:00. Now it's almost 10PM and I find a hotel for the night in Spartanburg, SC. Tomorrow I can get started out bright and early. There's more counties to pick up, more geocaches to be found, and lots of history and cool sites to see. I hope you'll be back too. The passenger seat is always open. See you soon...

2017-04-17: Judge Roy Bean, an Old Fort, Cemeteries, and the Pecos River

Well our weekend is over and we drove back home along the Texas / Mexico border. Before leaving Eagle Pass, we drove around town checking out some of the historical spots.

Our first stop was down along the border at Fort Duncan. A temporary post called Camp Eagle Pass was established at the start of the Mexican War in 1846 by Captain Sidney Burbank with Companies A, B, and F of the First United States Infantry. In November 1849, the post was renamed Fort Duncan, honoring Col James Duncan, a hero of the Mexican War. The fort consisted of a storehouse, two magazines, four officers quarters, a stone hospital, in addition to quarters for enlisted men. (The red brick building above was the hospital.)

The fort served as a frontier outpost near the trail of California emigrants; a base of operations against hostile Lipan Apache Indians. In 1851 it became the headquarters of the First Infantry. By 1856 the garrison included units of mounted rifles and first artillery. Abandoned in May 1859, the post was re-garrisoned by Robert E. Lee in March 1860 because of border assaults by Juan N. Cortina, desperado of the area. At the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, the fort was again abandoned only to be occupied later as "Rio Grande Station", by Confederate forces.

In 1861, Fort Duncan was re-garrisoned by the 9th Infantry and headquarters company of 41st Infantry under Col William R. Shafter. Seminole-Negro Scouts, organized here on August 16, 1870, played a large part in ridding Western Texas of Indians. After 1883, the post declined in importance; known as Camp Eagle Pass.

Fort Duncan played a part in aviation history when the first military cross-country flight, from Fort McIntosh in Laredo, landed here in 1911. Its use as a training camp continued during World War I. Mexican border troubles in 1916 again brought reoccupation.

By 1932 the Army abandoned the post. In 1938, the fort property was purchased by the city of Eagle Pass, for use as a Park and Recreation area. The infantry barracks were leased by the Local Council of Boy Scouts.

In 1939 the barracks became the Fort Duncan Country Club and remained as such except during World War II when it was also an officers club for the Eagle Pass Army Air Force Advanced Flying School.

After walking around the fort, we drove north a few blocks to the downtown area looking for the post office. We didn't need the post office, but I had read about an interesting spot on the Find-A-Grave website. This spot, at Rio Grande and Monroe in Eagle Pass, is approximately the site of the first city cemetery here. For some reason, after the 1880's the cemetery was abandoned. It was later developed on and paved over, effectively destroying it. During the construction of a post office nearby in the 1950's, a tombstone was discovered, as well as several graves.

We never did find it though. I wasn't thinking that the current Google search for post office was a different post office from the 1950's. It wasn't until I looked the website again and re-reading the description that we were a few blocks away. Maybe next time passing through we'll find it.

From there we drove over to Shelby Park along the Rio Grande River. The park is mostly used by those leaving their cars on the Texas side and walking across the International Bridge into Piedras Negras. There were also about a half dozen border patrol agents getting ready to launch two airboats for patrol. The photo below looks over into Mexico and the bridge would be located off frame to the left.

Well now it was time to finally hit the road and put some miles behind us. We still had almost five hours of driving with 10 Geocaches and some sites to see along the way. Driving north along US-277 we found three quick caches: one at a cemetery (GC4N23X) and two roadside caches (GC29WHF and  GC35ZC8), before arriving in Del Rio for lunch.

Westbound on US-90, our next cache was the Ye Olde 4-Wheeler (GC36XP2) which brought me to stop and capture a photo of this old west wagon before it completely fell apart.

Next was another cemetery cache (GC3B4NE) in Comstock. In 1882 and 1883, the Galveston, Harrisburg, and San Antonio Railroad built track through Val Verde County and the town was established as a station and named for John B Comstock, a railroad dispatcher. The graves date back to 1883, but there were three that really caught my attention. No stories behind them. It's just the emotion and photo opportunity they gave me. Like this first one of Lucy Denmead who couldn't escape death in 1902, or did she?

Next cache (GC5N4E2) was at the rest area where US-90 crosses the Pecos River. I once passed through here 10 years ago while I used to drive an 18-wheeler, long before this rest area was built. Back then I had to park on the shoulder. The only thing I do remember was the remains of the old highway which ran down towards the river to the original bridge built in 1923 and destroyed by floodwaters in 1954. The current Pecos High Bridge is 1310 feet long and 273 feet above the water, and is the highest highway bridge in Texas.

At this southern end of the Pecos River it empties into the Rio Grande just a half mile down.

Just down the road was another cache (GC2NZHP) and another bridge. These two bridges cross Eagles Nest Creek Canyon just north of the Rio Grande River.

In nearby Langtry was our next cache (GCK9CH) and someplace I've wanted to stop for a long time, the "Law West of the Pecos." In 1882 the lawlessness was so bad that the railroad asked for help from the Texas Rangers. The closest legal authority was in Fort Stockton over 100 miles away. With the blessing of the Rangers and the railroad a proprietor of a store housed in a tent in Vinagaroon was appointed as the first Justice of the Peace in Pecos County (now Val Verde County) August 2, 1882.

Roy Bean never one to stand on ceremony tried his first case the week before the appointment. In 1883 the judge moved his business and his court to Langtry, Texas. There he built the Jersey Lilly Saloon, Court Room and Pool Hall. Some legends cite Bean as being a "hanging" judge, but there is no record that he ever sentenced a man to be hanged. The only law book the Judge ever owned was the 1879 Revised Statues of Texas. Occasionally he actually used it.

The "Judge" had great admiration and fascination for the famous English actress Lillie Langtry. She was internationally know as the "The Jersey Lily so he named his establishment after her. A sign painter commissioned (for food and drink) to letter the sign misspelled "Lily".

One of the most colorful stories about the Judge is true. He successfully promoted the Maher - Fitzsimmons prize fight in February 1896. It was staged in defiance of U.S. and Mexico law on a sand bar in the middle of the Rio Grande River.

A couple more quick caches along the way home and that was the end of another adventurous weekend of exploring the history of the Old West Texas. Thanks again for stopping by and following along in our adventures. Until next time, happy trails.

2017-04-16: Geocaching in 7 New South Texas Counties for Ghost Towns, Cemeteries, and History

Another weekend off and another opportunity to hit the road for a Geocaching adventure. Yesterday after lunch, we drove south along the Rio Grande to Eagle Pass, Texas. Today we explored South Texas and found caches in seven new counties, bringing our total up to 168 of 259 counties.

So this morning after a couple of ordinary Geocache finds along US-277 south, we stopped at our first non-cache site of historical interest. I found this place looking through the Find-A-Grave website for old cemeteries. According to the Historical Marker along the roadside, this is called the Burleson Cemetery.

Among the earliest settlers in the area later named Dimmitt County, the Burleson family settled near Carrizo Springs between 1865 and 1970. James A. (1869-1895), Joseph E. (1870-1895), and Samuel (1877-1895) Burleson died suddenly , probably of food poisoning. The following July, Marion M. Burleson (1853-1895) succomed to heat stroke and was buried on family land with his brothers and a Burleson child. As time passed, the graves on this site became a mystery. Investigations at the end of the Twentieth Century by the Texas Department of Transportation found it to be the final resting place of the Burleson Family. (1998)

I am assuming from the marker that while construction of US-277 took place, the Texas DOT researched the history of the graves and constructed these pavers in place along the roadside to mark the graves. 

After a quick cemetery cache (GC68Q3P) in Carrizo Springs, we continued onto US-83 and a few more quick picnic area and roadside caches. 

Several miles to the south, we came to the ghost town of Catarina and our next geocache (GC1B4CV). The tiny town of Catarina was on the Old San Antonio Road -- El Camino Real -- an important travel corridor in early Texas history. The name has been associated with the area since at least 1778; legend holds that it is the name of a Mexican woman killed by Indians on or near the site.

The town was established after Asher Richardson, a rancher, decided to build a railway link from Artesia Wells to his planned town of Asherton. In return for an easement through the nearby Taft-Catarina Ranch, Richardson agreed to allow the ranch to establish a railroad depot, with cattle-shipping pens, on his railroad. By 1910, when the Asherton and Gulf Railway began operations, these cattle pens had become the nucleus of a small community built by Joseph F. Green, the manager of the ranch. Green moved the ranch headquarters to the depot and added a bunkhouse, a commissary, a hotel, a post office, and a small schoolhouse.

By 1915 the little town had twenty-five residents, and had become famous in the area for the Taft House, an expensive mansion that Charles Taft, the owner of the ranch, supposedly built with oversized bathtubs to accommodate his brother, President William Howard Taft. Catarina Farms, a development project, built roads, sidewalks, and a waterworks and an impressive new hotel and installed electric power and a telephone exchange. Agent Charles Ladd imported entire orchards of fruit-laden citrus trees to impress prospective investors with the area's agricultural possibilities. 

By 1929 Catarina had between 1,000 and 2,500 residents, a bank, at least two groceries, a lumber company, and a bakery. A water shortage (precipitated by the drying-out of the nearby Artesian wells), marketing problems, and the Great Depression hurt the town. By 1969 some of the town's most picturesque old buildings had been abandoned, and the population was 160.

C. H. Kearny and Lee Peters designed and built this hotel in 1925-26 in the Spanish Eclectic style, with features including tiles roofs and mission elements, cast stone detailing, and a U-shaped plan with courtyard and fish pond. The building, which once also housed a bank, cafe, shops and offices, is a reminder of the towns boom era.

Turning north on I-35 to start the loop back to Eagle Pass, we come to the Nueces River at the southern edge of the town of Cotulla. Here we found another historical marker and our next cache (GC3AMC7) at the Old Mexican Border. Until 1836, the Nueces River formed the undisputed western boundary of Texas. By the Treaty of Guadalupe Hilgado, signed in February 1848, the boundary line between Mexico and the United States was fixed at the Rio Grande.

While in Cotulla, we stopped by the LaSalle County Courthouse and Cotulla City Park. The Presidio Rio Grande Road brought travelers to this area for centuries. In 1852 the U. S. Army  built and garrisoned Fort Ewell for protection. The first permanent settler William A. Waugh (1832-1901), an Ohio native who found gold in California in 1849, opened a ranch near the Cibolo Crossing in 1856. On February 1, 1858, the county was created and named for Robert Cavalier, Sieur De La Salle (1643-1687), the first French explorer of Texas.

Polish immigrant Joseph Cotulla (1844-1923) migrated to the county in 1865. In 1881, when the International & Great Northern Railroads pushed through South Texas, Joseph Cotulla offered part of his homestead in exchange for running the track through his property. He platted a town site with a central plaza and a row of store front businesses that drew cowboys and homesteaders for miles around. The town of Cotulla was founded in 1882 and became the county seat in 1883.

Before leaving we stopped by the Cotulla Cemetery where both William Waugh and Joseph Cotulla are buried and to grab another cemetery geocache (GC69ADM).

Another exit further up the northbound I-35 brought us to our next Geocache (GC69ADH) at the Millett Cemetery. Since starting Geocaching, I've been to a LOT of cemeteries looking for caches.

But I don't recall ever seeing anything like this next headstone: "The Arm of Sam B. Tyree." I just had to take a picture. Researching further, Samuel Burnham Tyree was born in 1896. While attempting to tame some wild horses at the age of 14, somehow the rope severely tangled around his arm. Badly damaged in the accident, his arm then had to be amputated. His family then buried his arm in the Millett Cemetery with a marker and cross.

He lived another 76 years and died in San Antonio on November 22, 1982, where he is buried nearly 100 miles from his arm.

While on the way to the cemetery, I spotted something and made note to stop on the way back. And while taking a quick stroll through the cemetery, I saw these concrete steps with a plaque stating that they used to be the front steps leading into the Our Lady of Guadalupe Church. So I stopped back at the other display and found that was where the Our Lady of Guadalupe Church once stood.

The original mission began Circa 1900 with Priests coming from San Antonio. In 1911 a church was built northwest of here. It burned down in 1920. For 22 years mass was offered in private homes. In 1942, Father M. Reis bought the small grocery store located on that very spot. He converted it into a chapel under the title of Our Lady of Guadalupe to serve the ranchers and farmers of this area.

Father John Van Lare came to South Texas in the 1950's. In 1976, he became the Pastor of Sacred Heart Church in Cotulla. He spent over 30 years ministering to the communities of Cotulla, Fowlerton, and here in Millett. He retired in 2004 at the age of 84 and returned to his native Holland.

The church which had fallen into disrepair was closed in 2005. It was then later demolished in 2008.

At this point my phone was nearly dead and I forgot to bring my car charger. Fortunately though I had loaded all the caches into my old GPS. This meant caching the old fashion way with only a compass. No turn-by-turn navigation through the unknown streets going from one town to the next. This also meant not knowing anything about what I was looking for in the way of size or difficulty. I did have a general idea of the highways needed to continue the loop north and then back to the west for Eagle Pass. Several times I almost decided to just skip the remaining caches and head back to the hotel. But I'm glad I didn't and as you'll see below.

Anyway, we passed through and found eight more Geocaches in several different cemeteries. They were larger still active cemeteries and being Easter Sunday were busy with visitors paying their respects to loved ones. There was one we stopped at where they were having a picnic by a grave site with about 10-12 family member in attendance. At yet another there were some too close for me to search for the cache and so had to DNF it.

Moving forward and now on our US-90 westbound loop back towards Eagle Pass, we stopped in the town of Hondo for our next cache (GC707EJ). From the historical marker:

The first rail line reached this area in 1881 and town lots were sold that year for Hondo City. The line was built by the Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio Railway. It connected with the Southern Pacific System building east from California. The railroad was vital to the early growth of Hondo, but rail traffic began to decline in the 1940s. The last passenger train, pulled by engine No. 6, left the Hondo Station on June 8, 1958. The Southern Pacific Depot was moved to the present location in 1970 from the original site, seventeen blocks east.

The next two caches (GC14PPJ & GC14PPF) were probably the best of the day and just solidifies the reason we like to go Geocaching. There are no signs along US-90 and travelers along the route would never know this historic place is even here.

The town of D’Hanis was the third settlement founded by Henri Castro, an Alsatian employee of the Texas Congress charged with populating the desert with European immigrants. He named the village after one of his top employees upon its groundbreaking in 1847. It was inhabited by a just few dozen families in mesquite shacks.

As the town grew the shacks were replaced by European-style stone buildings. A post office and a schoolhouse made it a real town. The church of Saint Dominic was built, and priests from another of Castro’s settlements held mass there.

D’Hanis wasn’t quite substantial enough to be included as a railroad stop though. When the newly laid tracks skipped over D’Hanis, residents picked up and moved closer to the tracks. The new D’Hanis just a mile and a half away, centered around a railroad depot.

The only thing that remained in Old D’Hanis was Saint Dominic’s Catholic Church. Churchgoers continued to attend mass there until a fire ravaged the old building in 1912. In 1915 new church was built closer to town and the ruins of Saint Dominic’s were left behind.

Little is left of Old D’Hanis aside from the ruins. The history of the town might be lost to time if not for the cemetery attached to the church, in which D’Hanis’ original settlers are interred. The grave markers themselves are French-German in style, and the epitaphs, though difficult to read, tell much about the people who lived in Old D’Hanis.

Alexander Bohemia Hoffman’s gravestone reads, “Killed by Indians in Uvalde County;” Mary Anne Rudinger’s sadly states hers was “The first death upon arrival of settlers at Dhanis May 25, 1847 Carrying smaller children over streams she became ill and died on above date.”

New D’Hanis is still small, with a population of 550 or so. The ruins of Saint Dominic Catholic Church and the D’Hanis Cemetery are part now of the D’Hanis Historic District. The district was added to the National Register of Historic Places on June 24, 1976.

Again, so glad I decided to continue Geocaching along the way using the old Garmin GPS. We didn't know what the caches were or where they would take us because we didn't have the names or descriptions of the caches. But we managed to find them old school style and were rewarded with this historic treasure.

It was now getting late in the afternoon and we still had some miles to go back to the hotel. So even though we found six more cemetery caches, we didn't have much time to really explore the cemetery looking for those interesting stories. They were also still active cemeteries with recent burials. As you may have noticed, I prefer the older historic cemeteries.

So that was the end of our day today. Another great day of history and adventure. Tomorrow we head back home and I already have some great stops planned. Thanks again for stopping by and reading about our adventures. Be sure to follow our blog nfor the latest updates and feel free to share us with your family and friends.