DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about cedar chopping in Central Texas — and it's more of a story than you might expect. It starts, as so many Texas stories do, with land. Soon after Texas became a republic in 1836, the government divided land in this area for settlement.
Ample timber, fresh water, wildlife — the kind of place that pulls people in before they've even decided to stay. They settled along Brushy Creek, built communities, put down roots. The Legislature took notice, and in 1848 carved Williamson County out of Milam County, giving those settlements a name and a shape.
Through the 1850s, pioneer families worked small farms, ran small businesses, and cattle ranching began to take hold. Then came the Civil War, and the hardships that followed. By the 1870s and 1880s, Texas cattle ranchers were driving stock through this area to markets outside the state — long dusty drives through country that had already seen plenty of hard use.
Residents turned to cotton production, to raising sheep and goats, and to something that would quietly shape this county for decades to come: the harvesting of ashe juniper. Known locally, simply, as cedar. Now here's where it gets interesting.
By the 1890s, four rail lines had been built through Williamson County. Four. And what did the railroad need to lay those lines?
Cedar ties. What did it need to carry messages across that same landscape? Cedar telephone poles.
Fence posts, roofing shingles, foundation piers — cedar was doing the heavy lifting all across Central Texas. And then there was cedar charcoal, which had a whole variety of commercial applications all its own. The people who did this work were called cedar choppers.
They were harvesters and their families, and they didn't stay in one place long. They moved from camp to camp, following the cedar, setting up temporary operations wherever the work took them. One such camp sat right here — leased from 1905 to 1908 by A.F.
Martin and Brother. Site investigations at this very location turned up archaeological remains: a temporary camp and a dugout structure. Evidence of lives lived close to the ground and close to the work.
Cedar chopping kept on mattering well into the twentieth century — supporting charcoal kilns, timber yards, and camps scattered across the county. It wasn't glamorous. It wasn't the kind of work that made the front page.
But look around at the communities that took root and grew throughout this area, and you're looking, in part, at the legacy of the cedar choppers. They moved through, camp to camp, and the places they helped build stayed.
What the marker says
Soon after Texas became a republic in 1836, the government divided land in this area for settlement. Ample timber, fresh water sources and wildlife attracted many to establish communities along Brushy Creek. The Legislature organized these settlements in the creation of Williamson County, carved from Milam County in 1848. During the 1850s, most pioneer area families operated small farms or businesses, and cattle ranching began to grow in the area. In the 1870s and 1880s, following economic hardships of the Civil War, Texas cattle ranchers began to drive stock through this area to markets outside the state. Residents also turned to cotton production, the raising of sheep and goats, and the harvesting of ashe juniper, known locally as cedar. With four rail lines built through the county by the 1890s, residents utilized the railroad for shipping products, including cedar ties for rail line construction. The wood was also used for fence posts, roofing shingles, foundation piers and telephone poles, as well as the manufacture of cedar charcoal, which had a variety of commercial applications. The term cedar chopper applied to harvesters and their families, who moved from camp to camp for their work. Cedar chopping was a significant factor in the development of the county and its economy well into the twentieth century. It supported charcoal kilns, timber yards and camps, such as one located at this site, leased from 1905 to 1908 by A.F. Martin & Brother. Site investigations here indicated archeological remains of a temporary camp and dugout structure. Today, the impact of cedar choppers and their work is apparent in the successful communities throughout the area, which developed in part because of their industry. (2005)