Fort Ewell

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Fort Ewell. La Salle County.

A place that had two whole lives, and a famous visitor who just wanted his mail. Back in 1852, somebody looked out at this stretch of the Nueces River and said, this is the spot. And they weren't wrong.

Fort Ewell was established right here, and it didn't just guard the frontier, it stood watch over the main San Antonio and Laredo Road, the very road that crossed the Nueces at this point, at the Huajuco Crossing. You want to move people, goods, or trouble between San Antonio and Laredo, you came through here. The fort knew it.

Now, here's where the story takes one of those little turns. Fort Ewell was abandoned in 1854. Just like that, the soldiers moved on, the flags came down, and the place went quiet.

You might figure that was the end of it. You would be wrong. Because when La Salle County was organized in 1880, Fort Ewell rose right back up as the chief settlement of the whole county.

The first courthouse stood near this very site, a wooden building, the kind that looks temporary because it is. Sure enough, it was later moved out to La Mota Ranch. And somewhere in the middle of all this frontier business, O.

Henry came to Fort Ewell. Not for glory, not for a story, at least not on purpose. He came for his mail.

Sometimes the most ordinary errand plants itself in the most extraordinary ground.

What the marker says

Established here in 1852, guarded not only the frontier but the main San Antonio and Laredo Road, which crossed the Nueces River at this point, the Huajuco Crossing. The fort was abandoned in 1854, but when La Salle County was organized in 1880 Fort Ewell was its chief settlement. Near this site stood the first court house, a wooden building, later moved to La Mota Ranch. O. Henry came to Fort Ewell for his mail.