Old Bear Creek Texas Ranger Camp

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Out here in Kimble County, on the banks of the Llano River, there's a story that starts in October of 1877. And it doesn't waste any time getting interesting.

This was the site of Old Bear Creek Texas Ranger Camp, established that month as a patrol base for Company E of the Frontier Battalion, Texas Rangers. Thirty men. One lieutenant: a man named N.

O. Reynolds. And a stretch of country that had, shall we say, developed a reputation.

See, this particular patch of Texas had become something of a popular refuge. Cattle thieves, horse thieves, murderers, mail robbers; the Llano River area was drawing a crowd, just not the kind any decent settler wanted for neighbors. So the Rangers set up camp, and within a few weeks, many of those wanted men found themselves captured.

A few weeks. Thirty men. You do the math on how busy Lieutenant Reynolds kept his unit.

But it wasn't only outlaws keeping the camp on edge. In 1878, the Rangers here helped fight off one of the last Indian raids in the area. One of the last.

There's a weight to that phrase worth sitting with: the tail end of an era, playing out right here along the Llano. The camp stayed in use until the mid-1880s, and what it left behind wasn't just captured criminals and a quieter river valley. The protection that came out of Old Bear Creek opened the way for peaceful settlement in Kimble and the counties nearby.

Thirty men, a patrol camp, and a few hard years; and after that, people could finally put down roots and stay.

What the marker says

Established October 1877 as patrol base for Co. E, Frontier Battalion, Texas Rangers, on the lookout for Indians and outlaws along the Llano River. Area was popular refuge for cattle and horse thieves, murderers, mail robbers-- and within a few weeks many were captured by the unit of 30 men commanded by Lt. N. O. Reynolds. The Rangers in 1878 helped fight off one of the last Indian raids in the area. Ranger protection given from this camp (used until mid-1880s) opened the way for peaceful settlement in Kimble and nearby counties.