DUANE
Duane's take
The official marker tells it this way, and I'm just the one passin' it along. Cherokee County. The name alone carries weight out here in East Texas, and the story behind it runs deep — deeper than most folks slow down long enough to hear.
Long before anyone drew county lines, the land belonged to its original inhabitants. Spanish and French explorers pushing through in the seventeenth century found Tejas and Hasinai Indians already living here, already knowing every creek and timber stand. The Spanish moved to establish missions in the region, staking a claim on ground that had been claimed many times before, and would be again.
Now here's where the story takes a hard turn. The Cherokee Indians, driven out of the United States, migrated to this area around 1822. They were here — settled, present — when Anglo-American colonization came rolling in through the eighteen-twenties and eighteen-thirties.
Two peoples, same ground. You already sense where this is heading. Under the administration of Republic of Texas President Mirabeau B.
Lamar, the Cherokee were expelled from the area in 1839. Not drifted away. Not moved on.
Expelled. That's the word the marker uses, and it deserves to sit there a moment in the quiet. Cherokee County itself wasn't formally created from Nacogdoches County until 1846, and after that, settlement increased rapidly.
Family farms took root. Towns sprung up throughout the county. Roads were built.
Railroads advanced. River navigation opened things up further. The land that had seen so much conflict became, mile by mile, a patchwork of communities.
Agriculture was the chief economic base from the very beginning — and it stayed that way even as industrialization and business interests developed alongside it. Schools were established. Churches went up.
The social fabric of Cherokee County was being stitched together, stitch by careful stitch. And here's the footnote that isn't really a footnote at all — it's a quiet boast the county wears like a belt buckle. Cherokee County has been the birthplace of two Texas governors, one governor of Wyoming, and one Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives.
Not bad for a patch of East Texas ground that's been fought over, settled, expelled from, farmed, and built up since before the Republic itself had a name.
What the marker says
Cherokee County has a rich and varied history. Spanish and French explorers of the seventeenth century found Tejas and Hasinai Indians living in this area, and Spanish missions were established in the region. Driven out of the United States, the Cherokee Indians migrated to this area about 1822, and were here at the time of early Anglo-American colonization in the 1820s and 1830s. Under the administration of Republic of Texas President Mirabeau B.Lamar, the Cherokee were expelled from area in 1839. Following formal creation of Cherokee County from Nacogdoches County in 1846, settlement of the area increased rapidly. Family farms and towns soon sprung up throughout the county. The building of roads and the advancement of railroads and river navigation contributed further to settlement. The chief economic base of the county from its beginning, agriculture remained a vital force as industrialization and business interests developed. The establishment of schools and churches formed the basis for the area's social history. Cherokee County has been the birthplace of two Texas governors, one governor of Wyoming and one Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives.