DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm gonna do my best to do it justice. Way out here in Chambers County, the land remembers a man named James Taylor White — and if you listen close, the whole sweep of early Texas history kind of runs right through his ranch. White was born in 1789, fought in the War of 1812, and then in 1828 he packed up from Louisiana and headed into southeast Texas.
He had an eye for land and an instinct for cattle, and what he built out here was one of the largest herds of Longhorn cattle in this entire corner of the state. Now, when you've got a ranch that size, people tend to gather around it — and gather they did. In June of 1832, area colonists came together right here on White's ranch and signed what became known as the Turtle Bayou Resolutions.
Those resolutions were written to protest the actions of Captain Juan Davis Bradburn, commander of Mexican troops over at Anahuac, about nine miles to the southwest. It was an early sign — the marker calls it exactly that, an early sign — of the growing dissatisfaction with Mexican governmental policies that were limiting the rights of colonists. Just words on paper, some might've said.
But Texas has a way of turning words on paper into something larger. Four years on, that dissatisfaction had grown into the Texas Revolution itself, and when General Santa Anna's forces came advancing across the land, folks were running scared. White opened up his ranch — provided aid and shelter for settlers fleeing those advancing forces.
And then, when the Republic of Texas needed to feed an army, White supplied the cattle to do it. The man wasn't just a rancher. He was a resource.
After the revolution settled down, White started doing something that would echo for generations: he began driving his cattle overland to markets in New Orleans, using sections of the Opelousas Trail. Those early cattle drives he made preceded the development of the post-Civil War routes — the famous ones, the Dodge City Trail, the Chisholm Trail. The trails that built the legend of the Texas cowboy.
White was walking that road before the legend had a name. He died in 1852 and was buried near his home — two hundred yards south of where that marker stands today. And here's the detail that'll stay with you: his cattle brand, the Crossed W, was inherited from his father back in 1806, and it is still used by members of the White family.
The land changes. The trails get new names. But some things just keep on going.
What the marker says
A veteran of the War of 1812, James Taylor White (b.1789) migrated to this area from Louisiana in 1828. As a rancher, he developed one of the largest herds of Longhorn cattle in southeast Texas. On White's ranch in June 1832, area colonists signed the Turtle Bayou Resolutions. Written to protest the actions of Captain Juan Davis Bradburn, commander of Mexican troops at Anahuac (9 mi. SW), the resolutions were an early sign of the growing dissatisfaction with Mexican governmental policies which limited the rights of colonists. Four years later, during the Texas Revolution, White provided aid and shelter for settlers fleeing the advancing Mexican forces under General Santa Anna. He also helped the Republic of Texas by supplying cattle for the Texas army. Following the revolution, White began driving his cattle overland to markets in New Orleans. His early cattle drives, utilizing sections of the Opelousas Trail, preceded development of post-Civil War routes, including the Dodge City and Chisholm trails. White died in 1852 and was buried near his home (200 yds. S). His cattle brand, the "Crossed W", inherited from his father in 1806, is still used by members of the White family. (1980)