DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the City of Columbus and Colorado County. Now, some places just seem like they were born to be important — and Columbus, Texas, is one of them. Way back in 1823, this very ground was the site of the projected capitol of Stephen F.
Austin's colony. The projected capitol. They had big plans for this bend of the world, and the land knew it.
By the time Austin's own map of 1835 came out, the first settlement at this point already had a name on it: Montezuma. A bold name for a bold place. But it wouldn't stay Montezuma long.
On January 11, 1836, the provisional government of Texas created the municipality of Colorado and ordered the town of Columbus laid out as the seat of government. That's the kind of official language that means folks were drawing lines in the dirt and staking out a future. Then on March 17, 1836, the county of Colorado was created.
By 1837, it was organized. And on June 5, 1837, Columbus was incorporated as the county seat. Step by step, deliberate as a man hammering fence posts into hard caliche, this place built itself into something.
Now here's an angle that doesn't get told enough — for four years, from 1869 to 1873, Columbus was a railroad terminal. The end of the line. And when you're the end of the line, all the trade from a large territory to the west has to come through you.
Columbus was an important trading center during those years, the kind of place where deals got done and fortunes changed hands before the railroad pushed on. But it's the people this marker wants you to remember. And there are quite a few of them, so settle in.
First, the pioneer families — Burnam, Gilleland, Cummins, Fisher DeWees, Kuykendall, and Tumlinson. Names that were here before the county had a name. Then there's J.
W. E. Wallace and his company, who defended Gonzales on October 2, 1835.
That engagement was among the earliest sparks of the Texas Revolution, and men from this county were standing in that fire. William D. Lacey and Will Menefee signed the Texas Declaration of Independence.
Those are signatures on the founding document of a republic. You don't forget names like that. The marker goes on to honor twenty-one San Jacinto veterans who lived in Colorado County before or after the Texas Revolution — Leander Beason, John P.
Borden, David Cole, Stephen T. Foley, George W. Gardner, S.
Joseph Garwood, Basil G. Ijams, Dr. James D.
Jennings, Alfred Kelso, Amos D. Kenyon, Daniel Miller, James Nelson, Mitchell Putnam, Dempsey Pace, William Pace, Washington H. Secrest, Maxwell Steel, Robert Stevenson, Spencer B.
Townsend, William Waters, and Leroy Wilkinson. Twenty-one men who were at San Jacinto and then came here, or were here and went there. Either way, this county claimed them.
And from a later war, the marker honors Confederate officers who called Colorado County home — Colonel John C. Upton, Major John S. Shropshire, Major J.
S. West, Captain P. J.
Oakes, Captain James D. Roberdeau, and Captain R. V.
Cook. Then there's the roll of citizens of distinction. Jones Rivers, a jurist.
Dr. Lawrence Washington. Gail Borden.
Matthew Stanley Quay, who went on to serve as a United States Senator for Pennsylvania. Chas. Nagel, a cabinet minister under Taft.
Wells Thompson, who served as Lieutenant Governor of Texas. George McCormick, State Attorney General and co-writer of the present State Constitution. And Geo.
W. Smith, a member of the Supreme Court of Texas. Projected capitol of a colony.
Railroad terminal. Birthplace of jurists and senators and constitution writers. Columbus, Texas, didn't just grow — it accumulated significance the way a river accumulates water, steadily, from every direction, until you look up one day and realize what you're standing next to is something substantial.
The marker was placed in 1936, but the story it's telling started in 1823, and it never really stopped.
What the marker says
Site of projected capitol of Stephen F. Austin's colony, 1823. First settlement at this point shown on Stephen F. Austin's map of 1835 as Montezuma. The municipality of Colorado was created by the provisional government of Texas January 11, 1836 and the town of Columbus ordered laid out as the seat of government. On March 17, 1836 the county of Colorado was created; in 1837, it was organized. Columbus, the county seat, was incorporated June 5, 1837. As railroad terminal, from 1869 to 1873, Columbus was an important trading center for a large territory to the west. In memory of: The pioneer families of Burnam, Gilleland, Cummins, Fisher DeWees, Kuykendall and Tumlinson. J. W. E. Wallace and his company who defended Gonzales October 2, 1835. William D. Lacey, Will Menefee signers of the Texas Declaration of Independence. Leander Beason, John P. Borden, David Cole, Stephen T. Foley, George W. Gardner, S. Joseph Garwood, Basil G. Ijams, Dr. James D. Jennings, Alfred Kelso, Amos D. Kenyon, Daniel Miller, James Nelson, Mitchell Putnam, Dempsey Pace, William Pace, Washington H. Secrest, Maxwell Steel, Robert Stevenson, Spencer B. Townsend, William Waters, Leroy Wilkinson; San Jacinto veterans who lived in this county prior to or after the Texas Revolution. Col. John C. Upton, Major John S. Shropshire, Major J. S. West, Capt. P. J. Oakes, Capt. James D. Roberdeau, Capt. R. V. Cook; Confederate officers. The following citizens of distinction have resided in Colorado County: Jones Rivers, jurist; Dr. Lawrence Washington, Gail Borden, Matthew Stanley Quay, Senator for Pennsylvania; Chas. Nagel, cabinet minister under Taft; Wells Thompson, Lieutenant Governor of Texas; George McCormick, State Attorney General and co-writer of the present State Constitution; Geo. W. Smith, member of Supreme Court of Texas.