DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm gonna do my best to do it justice. Now, Cooke County had a complicated relationship with the Confederacy right from the start — and I mean that literally. When secession came to a vote, Cooke County voted 231 to 137 against it.
Against. And yet, when the war came anyway, nine military units rode out of this county to serve the Confederacy. Let that sit with you a moment.
Two hundred and thirty-one votes on one side, nine units in gray on the other. That's Cooke County for you. Before the ink was even dry on the war, Colonel William C.
Young of Cooke was already movin'. In April and May of 1861, Young led a thousand men into Indian Territory and took Federal forts away from Union forces. A thousand men.
That is not a skirmish — that is a statement. Back home, the county wasn't exactly sittin' on its hands either. Commissioners set up regular patrols.
They fortified a home to serve as a refuge for the dependents of fighting men. The county gave four thousand dollars for munitions and wool cards to make cloth. Cotton gin, grist mill, gunsmiths, blacksmiths — all of it turned toward making war goods.
Epsom salts came from Indian Creek to supply the Confederate cause. Corn, beef, pork, wheat, and other produce fed both the military and the home front. And when salt ran short for dependent families, the county swapped twenty-five steers to get it.
Twenty-five steers. People worked hard, and they sacrificed much. Now flip that marker over, because the story isn't done.
In October of 1863, the Second Frontier Regiment, Texas Cavalry, C.S.A., was organized — headquarters right there in Gainesville. Their job was to guard the counties along the Red River. Keep down outlaws.
Keep down deserters. Keep back the Indians. And always, always watching the north, because a Union invasion from above the Red River was a threat that never went away.
Appointed to command was Colonel James Bourland, born 1803, died 1868. And it wasn't long before the outfit had a name that matched the man — Bourland's Border Regiment. These were mounted troops.
They patrolled. They maintained posts along the river and pushed into Indian Territory. They were not a garrison sitting behind walls — they were moving, always moving.
And they weren't alone out there. Confederate Seminole troops served alongside the regiment. And riding that same perilous border was the famous Confederate Indian General Stand Watie and his Cherokee Brigade.
That is a remarkable assembly of fighting men — Texans, Seminoles, and Cherokees — all holding that ragged line together. Bourland also worked in coordination with the Frontier Regiment, state troops who maintained a line of posts stretching a hundred miles to the west — each post a day's horseback ride apart — running from the Red River all the way down to the Rio Grande. And beyond that, a state militia line held thirty miles further west.
Layers upon layers of defense, stitched together across hundreds of miles of hard country, anchored by a county that had voted against the whole enterprise in the first place. Cooke County, C.S.A. — they may not have wanted the war, but when it showed up at the door, they did not leave that door unguarded.
What the marker says
Military, defense center in Civil War. Cooke voted 231 to 137 anti-secession, yet nine military units served Confederacy from here. In constant danger of Federal or Indian attack. Col. Wm. C. Young of Cooke, with 1,000 men took Indian Territory forts from Federals April-May 1861. Commissioners set up regular patrols. Forted a home as refuge for dependents. Gave $4,000 for munitions and wool cards to make cloth. Cotton gin, grist mill, gunsmiths, blacksmiths made war goods. C.S.A. was furnished epsom salts from Indian creek. Corn, beef, pork, wheat, other produce fed the military, home front. County swapped 25 steers for salt for dependent families. People worked hard, sacrificed much, protected homes of fighting men of Confederacy. (Back of Cooke County, C.S.A.) Organized Oct. 1863 with Gainesville as headquarters, the Second Frontier Regiment, Texas Cavalry C.S.A. guarded counties along Red River, to keep down outlaws, Indians, deserters. Col. James Bourland (1803-1868) was appointed Commander and it became known as "Bourland's Border Regiment." Union invasion from north of Red River was constantly threatened. These mounted troops patrolled, maintained posts along river and in Indian Territory. Confederate Seminole troops served with the unit. Famous Confederate Indian Gen. Stand Watie and his Cherokee Brigade shared duty along perilous border. Bourland also worked with Frontier Regiment, state troops, that maintained line posts 100 mi. west, a day's horseback ride apart, from Red to Rio Grande rivers, and with a state militia line 30 mi. to the west. Erected by The State of Texas 1963.