Benjamin F. Highsmith

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll give it to you straight with a little Uvalde wind behind it. Benjamin F. Highsmith.

The name alone ought to carry some weight out here, and friends, it earns every bit of it. Born in Missouri on September 11, 1817, this man showed up on the Texas stage at just about the moment the curtain was rising on the whole wild drama of a new republic fighting for its life. He served in the Army of Texas, 1835 to 1836.

Let that sink in. That is about as early as a man can get in this story. Before the dust had even settled on the idea of Texas itself, Benjamin Highsmith was already in it, already earning his place.

And he didn't slow down. He went on to ride as a Ranger under Captain John C. Hays.

Now if you know anything about the Rangers in those years, you know that Captain Hays was not running a quiet outfit. That was hard, dangerous, consequential work on a frontier that had not yet decided to be tamed. Highsmith was there for it.

Then 1842 rolls around and he joins the Somervell Expedition. The man kept answering the call, year after year, chapter after chapter. He lived a long life, passing on November 20, 1905, with more Texas history woven into him than most men could dream of.

And beside him through much of that life was Elizabeth Turner Highsmith, also born in Missouri, on March 22, 1836. She died October 7, 1900, five years before her husband. Two people from Missouri, and somehow this corner of Texas got to claim them both.

That's the mark Benjamin F. Highsmith left, and this marker in Uvalde County makes sure nobody drives past it without knowing.

What the marker says

Served in the Army of Texas, 1835-36 a Ranger under Capt. John C. Hays, a member of the Somervell Expedition, 1842 born in Missouri Sept. 11, 1817. Died Nov. 20, 1905. His wife, Elizabeth Turner Highsmith, born in Missouri March 22, 1836, died Oct. 7, 1900.