Captain Israel Spikes

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Captain Israel Spikes. Born 1824, died 1879.

Pioneer. Patriot. Father of ten.

And the man a whole prairie carries the name of, him and his family both. Out here in Kaufman County, that kind of legacy has a way of settling into the land itself. In 1875 and 1876, Spikes was elected as a spokesman from this district to a state convention.

The purpose of that convention was nothing small. They were there to reestablish free government. To write a constitution.

And to make it stick. Now picture this. Captain Spikes, Confederate veteran, Mason, man of this Texas soil, climbing up on horseback and riding all the way to Austin.

And riding alongside him on that same journey was John H. Reagan. Former Confederate Postmaster General, and later United States Senator.

Two men, one road, one enormously consequential destination. The constitution those men and their fellow delegates helped write has been in force for nearly a century. Think on that.

Words hammered out by men on horseback, words that outlasted the men who wrote them by generations. Israel Spikes came home from Austin, went on living his life on this prairie that bears his name, raised ten children, and left his mark on Texas in two ways at once. On paper, in the law.

And out here, in the land.

What the marker says

(1824 - 1879) Pioneer patriot. Spikes Prairie named for him and his family. In 1875-1876 Spikes served as an elected spokesman from this district in state convention to reestablish free government. He rode horseback to Austin with John H. Reagan, former Confederate Postmaster General, later United States Senator. The Constitution these men helped write has been in force for nearly a century. Spikes, a Confederate veteran and Mason, had ten children.