DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Old Government Road, out in Crockett County. Now, some roads get built. And some roads just... happen — worn into the earth by ten thousand years of boots and hooves and wagon wheels, each generation inheriting the path from the one before.
The Old Government Road is that second kind. It started, as best anyone can reckon, as pre-Columbian Indian trails — trails that already knew where the water holes were, already knew the easiest line through rough country. Those trails got folded into what folks called the Old Chihuahua Trail, running from San Antonio all the way to El Paso and on down into Mexico.
That was a road with a purpose: goods flowing one direction, silver and gold and leather flowing back the other. Then in the 1840s, somebody had the idea to stretch it further — all the way east to the Gulf Coast port of Indianola, where ships were pulling in loaded with goods from the United States and Europe. Freighters would haul that cargo out along the trail and swap it in Chihuahua for ore of silver and gold, leather goods, and whatever else was worth the journey.
That is a long way to go for a transaction. But out here in Texas, distance is just part of the price of doing business. Now, 1848 is where the road starts to change character.
Water holes and camp sites were marked, and the road was re-charted — this time for U.S. troops sent to protect Texas frontiers from Indian invasions. The Army had arrived, and the Army had opinions about roads. So the posts went up, one by one, strung along that route like beads on a very dangerous string.
Fort Clark, between San Antonio and Del Rio, in 1852. Fort Davis, up in the Davis Mountains, in 1854. And right here — right at this very site — Camp Lancaster was established, and by 1856 it had grown into Fort Lancaster.
Then came Camp Hudson and Fort Stockton, founded in 1857 and 1859. With all that army traffic rolling through, the trail picked up a new name: the Government Road. Seemed fitting.
But here is the thing about a road with a name — it attracts attention. Pioneer settlers came. Adventurers came.
Gold seekers with California on their minds and stars in their eyes came. And — and I want you to sit with this for a second — camel trains in government service traveled this road. Camels.
In Texas. On official government business. The marker says it, and I am not embellishing a single hump.
All of them, every last traveler, made that journey with the very real possibility of encountering Comanches, Apaches, Kiowas, and other Indians along the way. The Army eventually stationed troops in a continuous picket line stretching the full distance from San Antonio to El Paso. That is not a small undertaking.
That is a commitment. And still — still — it was not until 1870 that relatively safe passage was assured on this road. Think about that.
Decades of forts, picket lines, army posts, and camel trains, all just to make it possible to get from one end of Texas to the other without your journey ending somewhere you hadn't planned. The road outlasted the danger, the way roads tend to do. And it's still here — underneath everything — carrying the memory of every soul who ever had to trust it.
What the marker says
Route of march and troop supply on Texas frontier. Followed in part pre-Columbian Indian trails and "Old Chihuahua Trail" that ran from San Antonio to El Paso and Mexico. In 1840s this was extended to Gulf Coast Port of Indianola where imported goods arrived from the United States and Europe, and were freighted out to be exchanged in Chihuahua for ore of silver and gold, leather goods, and other products. In 1848 water holes and camp sites were marked as this road was re-charted for use of U.S. troops sent to protect Texas frontiers from Indian invasions. Army posts were built along this road: Fort Clark, between San Antonio and Del Rio, 1852; Fort Davis, in the Davis Mountains, 1854; Camp Lancaster, at this site, became Fort Lancaster in 1856. Camp Hudson and Fort Stockton were founded in 1857 and 1859. With all the army traffic, trail won new name of "Government Road." Pioneer settlers, adventurers, California-bound gold seekers--even camel trains in government service--traveled this road in spite of frequent encounters with Comanches, Apaches, Kiowas, and other Indians. The Army finally stationed troops in continuous picket line from San Antonio to El Paso. However, it was not until 1870 that relatively safe passage was assured. (1968)