Military Roads in Texas

Duane's take

The official marker for Military Roads in Texas is what I'm bringin' you now. Kinney County's version, straight from the Texas Historical Commission's own inscription. Now, before there were highways, before there were railroads, before there was even a Texas worth speakin' of, there were trails.

And the thing about trails is they don't start from nothing. The routes that moved troops across early Texas often followed old Indian trails; and usually amounted to little more than deep wagon ruts carved into the earth by sheer repetition and necessity. One of those routes runs right through this part of the country.

The Chihuahua Road, joining Fort Clark with other southwest posts, was widely used from 1850 to 1880. Thirty years of boots and hooves and iron wheels grinding the same path into the same ground. But the Chihuahua Road carried more than soldiers.

Part of it overlapped with the Comanche War Trail; and along that stretch moved women, children, and horses stolen by Indians from Mexico, heading north. That's not a detail the marker softens, and neither will I. Now, go back even further (way back to the Spanish era) and you find El Camino Real, the Old San Antonio Road, opened in 1691 to connect Louisiana to Mexico.

That road had a head start on everything else by a century and a half. Then 1836 came, and with it the Republic of Texas. Settlers demanded forts for protection from Indians, and the roads followed the forts.

A main supply road laid out in 1840 tracked what is now the Austin-Dallas highway. Four years later, in 1844, the Central National Road linked the Trinity and Red Rivers. And here's the detail I love most about that one: its rules required all trees along the route to be cut twelve inches or less from the ground.

Somebody wrote that down. Somebody argued about it. Twelve inches.

Not eleven, not thirteen. Twelve. From 1848 to 1860, U.S. surveys spread a whole network of military roads across west central Texas.

In 1849, Captain Randolph B. Marcy blazed a West Texas trail that California gold hunters used to chase their fortune westward. The famed U.S. 2nd Cavalry turned the Fort Belknap to San Antonio Road into a genuine military artery in the 1850s.

The Civil War brought its own kind of road: the cotton road, running supplies from Mexico into Texas when the Union blockade was squeezing the Confederacy from the sea. And then came Captain R. S.

Mackenzie's Indian campaigns in the 1870s, pushing trails across the staked plains, opening up country that had resisted roads for generations. But by 1881 (a blink after Mackenzie was still riding) the railroad had begun to replace Texas' once-famous military routes. All those ruts, all those blazed trees cut twelve inches from the ground, all those trails worn deep by stolen horses and cavalry mounts and gold-seekers' wagons; quietly, steadily, rendered obsolete.

The railroad didn't need to follow the old Indian trails. And Texas, one more time, moved on.

What the marker says

The routes that moved troops in early Texas often followed old Indian trails, usually were little more than deep wagon ruts. This one, the Chihuahua Road joining Ft. Clark with other southwest posts -- was widely used, 1850-1880. The Comanche War Trail, part of the Chihuahua Road, carried women, children, and horses stolen by Indians from Mexico to the north. The Spanish era opened El Camino Real (the Old San Antonio Road) in 1691 to join Louisiana to Mexico. After 1836, Republic of Texas settlers demanded forts for safety from Indians; a main 1840 supply road followed present Austin-Dallas highway. Central National Road, 1844, linked Trinity and Red Rivers. (Its rules required all trees to be cut 12 inches or less from ground). From 1848 to 1860, surveys by U.S. led to a network of military roads in west central Texas. In 1849, Capt. Randolph B. Marcy blazed a West Texas trail used by California gold hunters. Famed U.S. 2nd Cavalry made Ft. Belknap - San Antonio Road a military artery in 1850s. During Civil War, supplies moved from Mexico to Texas over the cotton road. The Indian campaigns of Capt. R.S. Mackenzie in 1870s opened trails across the staked plains; but by 1881, the railroad had begun to replace Texas' once-famous military routes. (1968)