DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker at Mount Bonnell has to say — and friend, this one's got more story packed into a single limestone hill than most counties can claim. Rising seven hundred and seventy-five feet above sea level, Mount Bonnell stands over Austin like it's been keepin' watch since before Texas was Texas. And in a way, it has.
The mountain takes its name from George W. Bonnell, a man who came to Texas in 1836 with others to fight for Texas independence. That alone would be enough for most men.
But Bonnell was not most men. He served as commissioner of Indian Affairs in the Republic of Texas under President Sam Houston. Then in 1839 he moved to Austin, and by 1840 he was publishin' a newspaper called the Texas Sentinel.
A fighter, a statesman, a publisher. Still not done. In 1841 he joined the Texan-Santa Fe expedition — one of the more punishing ventures of that era.
He was captured. But he was released, and what does he do? He turns right around and joins the Mier expedition in 1842.
That is either the definition of courage or the definition of stubbornness, and in Texas those two things have always been close neighbors. George W. Bonnell was killed in camp on the Rio Grande on December 26th, 1842.
The mountain carries his name forward. Now. The very same year Bonnell moved to Austin — 1839 — a frontiersman by the name of W.A.A.
Wallace, better known as Bigfoot Wallace, was out near this same stretch of country. And Bigfoot had himself a moment. While crossin' a narrow ledge fifty feet above the river, he came face to face with an Indian.
One ledge. Two men. Fifty feet of nothing below.
Bigfoot Wallace killed the man he met there. That's the marker's account, and it doesn't soften it. But Bigfoot's time around Mount Bonnell wasn't finished.
He took refuge in a cave on that mountain to recover from what the marker calls — and I love this word — flux. Now flux is an old term for a serious intestinal sickness, and it laid him low long enough that the world moved on without him. Specifically, his sweetheart moved on without him.
He was missing so long she eloped with someone else. Bigfoot Wallace survived Indian encounters on fifty-foot ledges and came out the other side. The cave took his girl.
Sometime in the mid-1800s, a group of Mormons built a mill on the Colorado River at the foot of Mount Bonnell. The river had other plans. A flood destroyed the mill, and the Mormons moved on west.
The mountain remained. By the 1850s and 1860s, Mount Bonnell had become a place for picnics and outings. And legend has it that an excursion to the place in the 1850s inspired the popular song Wait for the Wagon and We'll All Take a Ride.
The marker calls it legend, so we'll call it legend — but it's the kind of legend that feels right for a hill this old. And then there's 1898. As a stunt — the marker's word, stunt — Miss Hazel Keyes slid down a cable stretched from the very top of Mount Bonnell all the way to the south bank of what was then Lake McDonald below.
Just let that image sit with you. A cable. From the summit.
Over the water. And a woman who decided she was going to ride it. Mount Bonnell has been the site of violence, loss, industry, legend, and sheer human spectacle — sometimes all at once.
And the marker notes, almost casually at the end, that it was a site of picnics and outings in the 1850s and 1860s. As it is today. Seven hundred and seventy-five feet above sea level, and it's still drawing people up.
Some things don't need much explaining.
What the marker says
Rising 775 feet above sea level, this limestone height was named for George W. Bonnell, who came to Texas with others to fight for Texas independence, 1836. Was commissioner of Indian Affairs in Republic of Texas under president Sam Houston. Moved in 1839 to Austin; there published the "Texas Sentinel", 1840. Member Texan-Santa Fe expedition, 1841. Was captured but released in time to join Mier expedition, 1842. Was killed in camp on Rio Grande, Dec, 26, 1842. Frontiersman W.A.A. "Bigfoot" Wallace killed an Indian he met face to face while crossing a narrow ledge 50 feet above river, 1839. He also took refuge in a Mount Bonnell cave to recover from "flux", but was missing so long his sweetheart eloped. In the mid-1800s Mormons built a mill on the Colorado river at foot of Mount Bonnell. Mill was destroyed by flood and the Mormons moved on west. Mount Bonnell was site of picnics and outings in 1850s and 1860s. As it is today. Legend has it that an excursion to the place in the1850s inspired the popular song "Wait for the Wagon and We'll All Take a Ride". As a stunt in 1898, Miss Hazel Keyes slid down a cable stretched from the top of Mount Bonnell to south bank of then Lake McDonald below. (1969)