DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker at Cibolo Crossing on the Gonzales Road has to say — and friend, it's got more history packed into one creek ford than most rivers manage in their entire length. During the Mexican administration of Texas, there was a road. Not a grand highway, mind you, just a dirt track connecting the settlement of Gonzales in the DeWitt Colony all the way to San Antonio de Béjar.
They called it the Gonzales Road. And approximately twenty-two miles east of San Antonio, that road had to reckon with Cibolo Creek — the Rio Cibolo — a waterway that etches its course all the way from near present-day Boerne down to its junction with the San Antonio River. Now, the Cibolo didn't offer many easy crossings.
The land doesn't hand those out freely. But here and there, the creek allowed for a few natural fords, and the Gonzales Road made use of one of the best of them — a spot running right through the Francisco Herrera land grant and the land grant belonging to a man named Erastus Smith. You might know him better as Deaf Smith.
That crossing — the Cibolo Crossing — turns up in the letters and diaries of people who lived through the Texas Revolution. And what they describe is something more than a wet patch of road. It was a rendezvous point.
A marshaling ground. A place where early settlers and troops gathered, caught their breath, and figured out what came next. Now here's the detail that tends to stick with you.
Back in 1835, Mexican troops were preparing to retrieve a cannon from the Gonzales Colony. Erastus Deaf Smith — the very man who owned the land on the east side of that crossing — is said to have climbed up into a tree near the ford and spied on those Mexican troops as they made their preparations. Just picture that.
His own land. His own tree. And he's up in the branches, watching.
Then came February 28, 1836. By that point, the Alamo was under siege, and men were desperately trying to get reinforcements through. Captain J.
J. Tumlinson, Captain Albert Martin, Captain John W. Smith, and Captain Juan Seguín led relief forces to that very same Cibolo Creek Crossing, where they stopped to wait — waiting for Fannin's forces to arrive and join them.
Those forces never came. The crossing that day became a waiting room for a rescue that didn't happen. Time moved on, as it does.
Texas was annexed by the United States in 1845. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed in 1848. The Gonzales Road was later integrated into a route running through Yorktown, and the original crossing at Cibolo Creek was simply abandoned — left to the water and the cottonwoods and the quiet.
But here's what the marker wants you to carry with you as you roll on down the road: the significance of the Cibolo Crossing remains critical to the events surrounding Texas independence. A creek ford through a couple of land grants — and yet men climbed trees there, armies gathered there, and the fate of the Alamo hung in the balance on its muddy bank. Some places earn their history the hard way.
What the marker says
DURING THE MEXICAN ADMINISTRATION OF TEXAS, A ROAD CONNECTED THE SETTLEMENT OF GONZALES IN THE DEWITT COLONY TO SAN ANTONIO DE BEJAR, KNOWN AS THE GONZALES ROAD. APPROXIMATELY TWENTY TWO MILES EAST OF SAN ANTONIO, THE ROAD CROSSED THE CIBOLO CREEK, OR RIO CIBOLO. FROM ITS ORIGINS NEAR PRESENT DAY BOERNE TO ITS JUNCTION WITH THE SAN ANTONIO RIVER, THE CIBOLO ETCHED ITS COURSE THROUGH THE COUNTRYSIDE AND ALLOWED FOR A FEW NATURAL FORDS. THE GONZALES ROAD INCORPORATED ONE SUCH NATURAL FORD THROUGH THE FRANCISCO HERRERA LAND GRANT AND THE ERASTUS "DEAF" SMITH LAND GRANT. THIS NATURAL FORD WAS KNOWN AS THE CIBOLO CROSSING. DESCRIPTIONS OF THE CIBOLO CROSSING APPEAR IN LETTERS AND DIARIES OF PARTICIPANTS OF THE TEXAS REVOLUTION. IT IS DESCRIBED AS A RENDEZVOUS AND MARSHALING POINT FOR EARLY SETTLERS AND TROOPS, INCLUDING ATTEMPTS TO BRING REINFORCEMENTS TO THE DEFENSE OF THE ALAMO. ERASTUS "DEAF" SMITH, THE OWNER OF LAND ON THE EAST SIDE OF THE CROSSING, IS SAID TO HAVE SPIED ON THE MEXICAN TROOPS FROM A TREE NEAR THE CROSSING AS TROOPS PREPARED TO RETRIEVE A CANNON FROM THE GONZALES COLONY IN 1835. IN ADDITION, ON FEBRUARY 28, 1836, CAPTAIN J. J. TUMLINSON AND CAPTAINS ALBERT MARTIN, JOHN W. SMITH AND JUAN SEGUIN TOOK RELIEF FORCES TO THE CIBOLO CREEK CROSSING TO AWAIT FANNIN'S FORCES. WITH THE ANNEXATION OF TEXAS BY THE U. S. IN 1845 AND THE SIGNING OF THE TREATY OF GUADALUPE HIDALGO IN 1848, THE GONZALES ROAD WAS LATER INTEGRATED INTO A ROUTE THROUGH YORKTOWN. THE ORIGINAL CROSSING AT CIBOLO CREEK WAS ABANDONED. THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE CIBOLO CROSSING ON THE GONZALES ROAD REMAINS CRITICAL TO EVENTS SURROUNDING TEXAS INDEPENDENCE AND HISTORY.