DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now pull up a chair, because some counties have a story that starts long before anyone thought to carve their name on a courthouse wall. Caldwell County, Texas.
Before it was a county at all, this stretch of land was a part of De Witt's Colony — and that arrangement held from 1825 all the way through 1836. After that, the land folded into Gonzales County, and there it sat until 1848. The first souls brave enough to put down roots here did it along Plum Creek and the San Marcos River.
Good water, hard country. The kind of place that weeds out the timid real fast. Then came the dates that changed everything.
March 6, 1848 — that's the day Caldwell County was created. And by August 7 of that same year, it was organized and open for business. From colony land to county seat in a single calendar year.
Texas moves when Texas wants to move. Now — the name. The county carries the name of Mathew Caldwell.
They called him Old Paint. Born in 1798, died in 1842. Soldier.
Statesman. Signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence. And Commander of the Texas Rangers.
That is a résumé that tends to get a county named after you. And Lockhart — Lockhart is the county seat, sitting right at the heart of it all. Old Paint. 1798 to 1842.
The man didn't have forever — but he left a name on the map that's going nowhere.
What the marker says
A part of De Witt's Colony, 1825-1836. A part of Gonzales County to 1848. First settlements were on Plum Creek and the San Marcos River. Created March 6, 1848; organized August 7, 1848. Named in honor of Mathew Caldwell, "Old Paint," 1798-1842, soldier-statesman. Signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence, Commander of the Texas Rangers. Lockhart, the county seat.