Helotes

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm gonna give it to you straight with a little color on the side. The story of Helotes goes back a long way. A long way.

Archeologists will tell you that human occupation of this area dates to about seven thousand years before present. Seven thousand years. Small bands of nomadic Indians, movin with the seasons, followin the food and the game, camped right here in this vicinity.

They didn't leave much behind except the land itself, and the land has a long memory. Now fast forward, as they say, to 1836. Early Texas pioneer John M.

Ross acquired title to this very land, purchasing rights to a Republic of Texas land grant from one Almazon Huston, Quartermaster General of the Republic of Texas Army. That's a man with a title and a land grant to go with it. Ross held onto the property until 1852, when he sold it to Thomas Devine and Francis Giraud.

Those two formed a partnership, surveyed the land, and set about selling it off in smaller plots. Good businessmen know that land is only worth what somebody else will pay for it. Then in 1858, a man named Dr.

George Frederick Marnoch purchased the land that would later become the townsite of Helotes. Now Marnoch didn't build the town himself. Towns have a way of waitin for the right person to come along.

That person turned out to be Arnold Gugger, who purchased property from Marnoch's heirs in 1880 and proceeded to build a home and a Mercantile Store right there. And when you've got a store, you've got a gathering place. When you've got a gathering place, you've got yourself the beginnings of a town.

Gugger became postmaster in 1888, which means the town was real enough now to need a post office. Then in 1908, he sold his land to a man named Bert Hielman, and Hielman opened the town's first dance hall. You put a dance hall at a crossroads in Texas and people will find their way to it.

They always do. Meantime, farms spread out across the surrounding land. Cattle ranches.

Sheep ranches. The whole working landscape of a Texas community taking shape. And Helotes became a popular stop for cowboys driving cattle to auction in San Antonio.

Think about that for a moment. Tired cowboys, a long drive ahead, and right here a town where you could rest, resupply, and maybe hear some music before you pushed on. Many descendants of those early settlers still live in the area today.

Seven thousand years of human presence in one place will do that. Some places just have a way of holdin people.

What the marker says

According to archeologists, human occupation of the Helotes area dates to about 7000 years before present, when small bands of Nomadic Indians who migrated seasonally in search of food and game camped in this vicinity. Early Texas pioneer John M. Ross acquired title to the land here in 1836, purchasing rights to a Republic of Texas land grant from Almazon Huston, Quartermaster General of the Republic of Texas Army. In 1852 Ross sold the property to Thomas Devine and Francis Giraud, who formed a partnership to survey to land and sell it in smaller plots. In 1858 Dr. George Frederick Marnoch purchased the land which later became the townsite of Helotes. The town of Helotes developed around the home and Mercantile Store of Arnold Gugger, who purchased property from Marnoch's heirs in 1880. Gugger became postmaster in 1888, and in 1908 sold his land to Bert Hielman, who opened the town's first dance hall. Many farms and cattle and sheep ranches were established in the area. Helotes became a popular stop for a cowboys driving cattle to auction in San Antonio. Many descendants of early settlers still live in the area. (1992)