DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Near this site ran the Old Houston Road — and friend, that road had stories baked into every rut and crossing long before you or I came along. It was the link.
The link from Old Spanish Texas all the way through to Austin Colony, and on to the ports of Houston and Galveston. Freight, passengers, commerce, ambition — all of it moved along this corridor. Vital, the marker calls it.
And that word is exactly right. This road was alive with necessity. In the early days, the streams weren't bridged — they were forded.
Or swum. You read that correctly. Swum.
It was common, they say, for a carriage to overturn in a river. Common. And here's the detail that stops you cold: it was uncommon for no one to be injured.
That's not a misprint. Overturning was the rule. Walking away unscathed was the exception.
Adults, wisely, often rode horseback. The sleds and wagons — those were for the children and the baggage. Make of that what you will.
Now, nothing stays hard forever, and in 1852 the Buffalo Bayou, Brazos and Colorado Railroad got started. By 1860, it had built all the way to Alleyton, and just like that, the long haul to Houston got a little shorter, a little kinder. But the road wasn't done serving.
When the Civil War came — 1861 to 1865 — the Old Houston Road carried armies. It carried goods. It carried cotton, moving up from the coast, in from east Texas, in from Louisiana.
The whole weight of a conflict passed over this ground. So the next time you roll through Bexar County and the land looks quiet and unbothered, remember what this stretch of earth has seen. Rivers that swallowed carriages.
Railroad iron pushing west. And the boots of soldiers headed somewhere none of them chose. The Old Houston Road carried all of it.
What the marker says
Near this site. Link from Old Spanish Texas to Austin Colony and ports of Houston, Galveston. Vital to freight and passenger travel. In early days, numerous streams were forded or swum. It was common for a carriage to overturn in a river, uncommon for no one to be injured. Adults often rode horseback. Sleds and wagons hauled children, baggage. The Buffalo Bayou, Brazos & Colorado Railroad, started in 1852, built to Alleyton by 1860, shortned the way to Houston. In the Civil War, 1861-65, used for armies, goods, cotton, from coast, east Texas and Louisiana.