DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. You're rolling through Zavala County now, and this land has got layers — so settle in. April 1862.
Somebody had to draw the short straw on the frontier, and that somebody was the Confederate post they called Camp Nueces, founded right near this site. It sat on the San Antonio-Eagle Pass Road, right where that road crossed the Nueces River, and its job was simple in theory and brutal in practice: keep the traffic moving. Cotton going south into Mexico.
Munitions, medicines, factory goods coming back north to feed the Confederate war machine. That was the mission. That was the lifeline.
And this post was one link in a whole chain of such camps, each one a day's horseback ride from the next, strung out in a line all the way from the Red River down to the Rio Grande. Now, you might picture a military posting and think — glory, flags, the drama of battle. Friend, Camp Nueces was not that.
It fell under the frontier regiment commanded by Colonel James M. Norris, and those men never got to relax. Not once.
Indian raids were a constant threat, a danger that didn't announce itself and didn't keep hours. And on top of that, the post was short — short on food, short on horses, short on guns. None of war's glory, the marker says, and more than its share of hardships.
That's a sentence worth sitting with a moment. More than its share of hardships. Now, Zavala County itself has a story worth a minute of your time.
It was created in 1858 and named for Lorenzo de Zavala — and it belongs to a group of ten counties in Texas set aside to commemorate colonizers. Ten out of two hundred and fifty-four. When you start looking at all those counties, the whole map of Texas reads like a history book with an argument running through it.
Forty-two counties carry Indian, French, or Spanish names. Twelve honor Washington and other American patriots. Ninety-six were named for heroes of the Republic of Texas from 1836 to 1846 — including fifteen who died in the Alamo.
Twenty-three carry the names of other early statesmen. Eleven honor the U.S. leaders who pushed to annex Texas. Ten go to state jurists, ministers, educators, statesmen, historians.
Thirty-six are named for leading men of the southern Confederacy. And fourteen take their names straight from local geography. Two hundred and fifty-four counties, and every single name is a choice somebody made, a value somebody wanted on the map.
Camp Nueces sat in this county, did its unglamorous, dangerous, grinding work, and left almost nothing behind but the story. Which, out here on the road, might be enough.
What the marker says
Founded April 1862 near this site, to guard vital traffic as it crossed the Nueces on the San Antonio-Eagle Pass Road. A post of the Confederacy's frontier regiment, under Col. James M. Norris. Its duty was to see that cotton got through to Mexico and munitions, medicines and factory goods came north to supply the Confederacy. One of the chain of posts a day's horseback ride apart, on line from Red River to Rio Grande. Never able to relax, in constant danger of Indian raids; short of food, horses and guns, Nueces (like other frontier camps) had none of war's glory and more than its share of hardships. Located in Zavala County, created in 1858 and named for Lorenzo de Zavala. This is one of 10 counties to commemorate colonizers. Of the 254 counties, 42 have Indian, French or Spanish names. 12 honor Washington and other American patriots. 96 were named for 1836-1846 heroes of the Republic of Texas (including 15 who died in the Alamo). 23 have names of other early statesmen. 11 honor U.S. leaders in the campaign to annex Texas. 10 honor state jurists, ministers, educators, statesmen, historians. 36 are named for leading men of the southern Confederacy. 14 have names from local geography. (1983)