DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Barnard's Trading Post Number Two, out in Somervell County. Now, you might not expect a couple of Connecticut boys and their childhood friend to end up reshaping the Texas frontier — but that's exactly what happened. The Torrey brothers and George Barnard grew up together back East, and somewhere along the way they hatched a plan.
In 1843, with President Sam Houston himself signed on as a partner, they contracted to build a series of trading posts along the Brazos River. Sam Houston. A partner.
That detail alone tells you this was no small undertaking. George Barnard had something a lot of frontier operators lacked — a friendly manner that made the Indians his friends. And on a frontier that could turn violent in a heartbeat, that was worth more than any fortification.
It paved the way, the marker tells us, for more peaceful settlement in the region. In 1846, George was at the post on Tehuacana Creek near Waco when he ransomed a young girl named Juana Cavasos from a group of Comanches. He paid three hundred dollars for her freedom.
By 1847, Juana had married George's brother Charles. Let that settle a moment — a woman whose life was changed by that single act on Tehuacana Creek would go on to shape an entire region. In 1849, Charles and George established a new post, right here in this valley.
The second post itself sat four miles north of this site, in view of Comanche Peak over in what's now Hood County, and near a Shawnee-Delaware village. Charles and Juana made this valley their home, and they ran their trade out of a bulletproof dog-run log house. Bulletproof.
The brothers did an excellent business — the marker is clear about that — but it's equally clear that Juana's influence on the region equaled theirs. Not supported it. Equaled it.
Two Anglo communities grew up around all that activity: George's Creek and Fort Spunky. Fort Spunky. Whoever named that place was not short on confidence.
Then 1859 arrived. The government relocated the area's Indian population to Oklahoma, and the need for a trading post dwindled. Just like that, the thing that had built this corner of Texas was no longer needed in the same way.
But Charles and Juana weren't done. Come 1860, they were already beginning something new — a community on the Paluxy River. Charles built a large stone gristmill there, and a town grew up around it.
They called it Barnard's Mill. Later, that town was renamed Glen Rose. A ransomed girl from a Comanche trade on Tehuacana Creek.
A bulletproof log house in a valley near Comanche Peak. A stone gristmill on the Paluxy. The name on the map today may be Glen Rose, but the story behind it belongs to Charles, and George, and Juana Cavasos Barnard.
What the marker says
The Torrey brothers of Connecticut and their childhood friend George Barnard, with President Sam Houston as a partner, contracted to build a series of trading posts along the Brazos River in 1843. Barnard's friendly manner made the Indians his friends, paving the way for more peaceful frontier settlement. In 1846, George ransomed a young girl, Juana Cavasos, from a group of Comanches at the post on Tehuacana Creek near Waco for $300. By 1847 she had married his brother Charles. In 1849, Charles and George established a post within this valley where Charles and Juana would live. In view of Comanche Peak in modern-day Hood County, the second post was four miles north of this site and near a Shawnee-Delaware village. Trading goods from a bulletproof "dog-run" log house, the brothers did an excellent business, and Juana's influence on the region equaled theirs. Two Anglo communities sprang up in the area: George's Creek and Fort Spunky. The government relocated the area's Indian population to Oklahoma in 1859; the need for a trading post dwindled. 1860 found Charles and Juana beginning a community on the Paluxy River, where he built a large stone gristmill. The town that grew around the mill was called Barnard's Mill, later renamed Glen Rose. (1998)