Home of Monroe Dodson

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. You're rolling through Wichita County, and the land out here has a story that starts with one man. His name was Monroe Dodson, and before he ever set foot in Texas, he had already seen a thing or two.

Born in 1844, he was a Tennessean by birth and a Union soldier by service, fighting under General Grant himself. That is not a small detail. That is a man who came up hard and came out standing.

He made it to Texas in 1867, and then, in 1878, he made it here. Right here. And when he arrived, there was nothing.

No neighbor to wave at, no church bell to ring, no school for the young ones. Monroe Dodson was the first permanent settler on this ground. Now, a lesser man might have looked at all that empty and turned around.

Monroe Dodson looked at it and got to work. He helped build a church. He helped build a school.

He helped build a Masonic Lodge. He was putting down roots in every sense of the word. He ran cattle too, and his brand, the Half Circle D, was the second registered in the county.

Second. Someone just barely beat him to it. You get the feeling Monroe Dodson was not a man who lost many races.

He married twice and raised eleven children. He was born in 1844 and lived all the way to 1927, long enough to see the community he had built from nothing grow up around him. The first permanent settler.

The man who showed up when there was nothing here and decided that was about to change.

What the marker says

(1844-1927) Tennessean and former Union soldier under Gen. Grant. Came to Texas 1867, here 1878. First permanent settler here. Helped build church, school, Masonic Lodge. His cattle brand (Half Circle D) was the second registered in the county. Married twice, he had eleven children.