DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, as best as Duane can carry the tale. In February 1854, the Texas Legislature made a decision that would shape this whole stretch of Young County — they designated twelve Spanish leagues of land, fifty-three thousand one hundred and thirty-six acres, to be maintained as Indian Reservations under the care of the Federal government. Now that's a lot of country, and somebody had to go figure out exactly what they had.
So that August, Major Robert S. Neighbors, United States supervising Indian agent, and Captain Randolph B. Marcy of the United States Army, went out and made surveys — in both Spanish and American measurements, mind you — and when all the American dimensions were platted out, the total came to sixty-nine thousand one hundred and twenty acres.
The numbers grew when you changed the ruler. The eight-league tract right here in Young County, on either side of the Brazos River, became home to the Anadarko, Caddo, Tehuacana, Tonkawa, Waco, and others — along with splinter groups of the Cherokees, Choctaws, Delawares, Shawnees, and some other remnants. The southern Comanches, for their part, had their own four-league reservation about forty-five miles to the west.
Under the guidance of United States agents, the Indians of the Brazos River Reservation made real progress — in agriculture, in stock raising, in what the marker calls the other arts of civilization. Progress was happenin' on this river. But drouth and other adversities had their say.
The reservations were closed. By 1859, the Indians were removed to the vicinity of what is present-day Anadarko, Oklahoma, and the lands reverted to the state. Then in 1873, those same acres were opened to the pre-emption of Texas citizens.
The Brazos rolled on. The land changed hands. And a chapter that started with a legislative decision in February of 1854 closed out quietly on the banks of this river, leaving Young County to remember what once stood here.
What the marker says
In February 1854 the Texas Legislature designated 12 Spanish leagues (or 53,136 acres) of land to be maintained as Indian Reservations by the Federal government. In August 1854, Major Robert S. Neighbors, United States supervising Indian agent, and Captain Randolph B. Marcy, of the United States Army, made surveys in both Spanish and American measurements; American dimensions were platted, totaling 69,120 acres. In the 8-league tract here in Young County--on either side of the Brazos River --were placed tribes of Anadarko, Caddo, Tehuacana, Tonkawa, Waco and others, together with splinter groups of the Cherokees, Choctaws, Delawares, Shawnees and some other remnants. The southern Comanches had their 4-league reservation about 45 miles to the west. Under the guidance of United States agents, the Indians of the Brazos River Reservation made much progress in agriculture, stock raising and other arts of civilization. Drouth and other adversities, however, led to closing of the reservations. Emptied in 1859 when the Indians were removed to vicinity of present Anadarko, Oklahoma, lands of the reservation reverted to the state, and were opened to the pre-emption of Texas citizens in 1873.