DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, before Dallas was Dallas — before the brick storefronts and the milled lumber and all the trappings of a proper town — there was just the Trinity River, a stretch of hardwood timber, and some very determined people with axes. Most of the colonists who first put down roots in this Three Forks area of the Trinity came as members of the Peters Colony, arriving after 1841.
They rolled in from Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, Tennessee — and they brought with them something more valuable than gold: the knowledge of how to build a log shelter. Because out here, that knowledge was the difference between surviving a Texas winter and not. And the land itself cooperated, at least in that one respect.
Oak, juniper — folks called it cedar — walnut, ash, bois d'arc, elm. Sturdy building timber in every direction you cared to look. The trees were practically volunteering.
Now, the Peters Colony wasn't running a charity. If you wanted title to your land, you had to earn it. Work at least fifteen acres, and build — and I love this detail — quote, a good and comfortable cabin upon it.
That was the deal. You hold up your end, the land is yours. One man who took that deal was John Neely Bryan, a colonist out of Tennessee.
He arrived near this very site in late 1841, and in 1842 he built himself a log cabin. Right here at the start of what would become Dallas. Things moved fast after that, in the way frontier things do — slow and then all at once.
By 1845, twelve miles to the northwest at Farmer's Branch, the area's first school and church had gone up, built of logs, of course. In 1846, a pair of men named J. W.
Smith and J. M. Patterson hauled goods all the way from Shreveport — one hundred and eighty-four miles to the east — to stock a log store right here in Dallas.
Cedar logs, walnut logs, the whole town was built on timber and sweat. But nothing lasts forever, and Dallas was growing up. Milled lumber started showing up in Dallas buildings by 1849.
Bricks were available by 1860. And then, that same year — 1860 — a fire tore through and destroyed most of the town's original log cabins. Just like that, an entire era of building went up in smoke.
Most of those cabins are gone. But one survived. The cabin you can see nearby was built of cedar logs before 1850 — possibly by a Kentuckian named Gideon Pemberton.
Possibly. The marker leaves a little room for mystery there. What we do know is this: in 1926 it was moved from its original site, seven and a half miles to the east.
It was rebuilt at several locations over the years — including Bryan's designated courthouse site, one block to the southwest, in 1936 — and finally settled on this block in 1971. A cabin that outlived a fire, survived multiple moves, and kept on standing. Built before 1850, still here in 1986 when Texas marked its Sesquicentennial — one hundred and fifty years since 1836.
Some things, if you build them right and from good timber, just refuse to fall down.
What the marker says
Most colonists first settled in this "Three Forks" area of the Trinity River as members of the Peters Colony after 1841. Immigrants from such states as Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, and Tennessee brought with them a tradition of building log shelters. Land title was granted to settlers who worked at least 15 acres and built "a good and comfortable cabin upon it." This region was abundant in oak, juniper (popularly called cedar), walnut, ash, bois d'arc, and elm trees, which furnished sturdy building timbers. John Neely Bryan, a colonist from Tennessee, arrived near this site in late 1841 and built a log cabin in 1842. The area's first school and church was built of logs at Farmer's Branch (12 mi. NW) in 1845. J. W. Smith and J. M. Patterson brought goods from Shreveport (184 mi. E) in 1846 for resale at their log store in Dallas. Milled lumber appeared in Dallas buildings by 1849, and bricks were available by 1860. That year a fire destroyed most of the town's original log cabins. The nearby cabin was built of cedar logs before 1850, possibly by Kentuckian Gideon Pemberton. It was moved from its original site (7.5 mi. E) in 1926 and rebuilt at several locations, including Bryan's designated courthouse site (1 blk. SW) in 1936, and this block in 1971. Texas Sesquicentennial 1836 - 1986