DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it — and friend, this one's worth every mile. Now, most men spend their lives trying to earn a title. John O.
Meusebach, born in 1812, had one handed to him at birth — baron, no less — and in 1845 he set it down on the table like a man pushing back from a meal he'd already finished. He was going to be a Texan, and a baron had no place in that sentence. So he walked away from the title and walked straight into one of the biggest jobs on the frontier.
As commissioner-general of the German Emigration Company, Meusebach had a mandate: settle the Fisher-Miller land grant. There was just one thing standing between those German colonists and that land — it was the hunting ground of the Comanche. In 1846, undaunted, he founded Fredericksburg as the gateway into that territory.
Now here's where the story turns on a single, deliberate gesture. To win the trust of the Comanche, Meusebach rode out and emptied his firearms. Just like that.
No shot fired, no threat made — a man with an unloaded gun in Comanche country, betting everything on a handshake. And it worked. A treaty was made.
The colonists would be allowed unmolested settlement. The Comanche gave him a name that has outlasted every title he ever refused — El Sol Colorado. The Red Sun.
By 1851 he was a state senator. In 1854 he issued the colonists' headrights. He lived in Loyal Valley and, when his time came in 1897, was buried near Cherry Spring.
Somewhere along the way, he took his family motto and added three words to it: Texas forever. That'll do.
What the marker says
(1812-1897) To be a Texan, Meusebach gave up title of baron in 1845. As commissioner-general, German Emigration Company, he founded Fredericksburg in 1846 as gateway to Fisher-Miller land grant, hunting ground of the Comanche. By emptying his firearms, he won trust of Indians and made treaty to provide for unmolested settlement. Indians called him "El Sol Colorado" (The Red Sun). State senator, 1851. In 1854 issued colonists' headrights. To his family motto, he added "Texas forever." Lived in Loyal Valley. Buried near Cherry Spring.