DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker says about Old Osage, out there in Colorado County, Texas. Now pull over and listen close, because this little patch of ground has seen more history than most states manage in a lifetime. It starts in 1820 — when Jesse Burnam set up a trading post right here on the Colorado River.
A trading post in 1820 means you are operating on a frontier that has more wild country than it has neighbors, and Burnam was out there doing it. He also ran a ferry across that river, and that ferry turns out to matter quite a lot. Fast forward to 1836, and things in Texas are about as serious as they get.
General Sam Houston needs to move, and he needs to move fast, toward a place called San Jacinto. Jesse Burnam's ferry on the Colorado River is what gets him there. You let that sit for a moment — a ferry on a river, and the whole fate of Texas riding across it.
But here's where the story takes a turn that'll make you wince. Houston needed to cut off Santa Anna. And to do that, he burned the post.
Burned the ferry too. The very things that had just served him, gone — torched to slow the enemy down. Jesse Burnam's trading post, his livelihood, his river crossing, all of it put to the flame by the general it had just helped.
History doesn't always say thank you. The place didn't stay empty, though. Come the 1850s, a town started growing up right here.
They named it for the Osage orange trees in the area — Old Osage. And by 1861, with the Civil War bearing down on everybody, this little town became a recruiting center. It furnished most of Company A, Fifth Texas Cavalry, Green's Brigade.
Most of them. From right here. The park you're standing near sits on land deeded by Edward Austin — set aside for schools and churches.
And it includes a cemetery. The graves of many Civil War veterans rest there, men who answered that 1861 call. Also buried here was William B.
Scates, a signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence. A man who put his name to the document that said Texas would stand on its own. One spot of ground.
A trading post, a ferry, a burning, a town, a war, a declaration. Old Osage didn't just watch Texas history happen — it was the place history kept coming back to.
What the marker says
Site of 1820 trading post of Jesse Burnam. His ferry on the Colorado River helped Gen. Sam Houston reach San Jacinto, 1836. To cut off Santa Anna, Houston then burned post and ferry. Town started in 1850s was named for Osage orange trees. In 1861, Civil War recruiting center. Furnished most of Co. A, 5th Texas Cav., Green's Brigade. This park, on land deeded by Edward Austin for school and churches, includes cemetery and graves of many Civil War veterans. Was also burial site, Wm. B. Scates, a signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence.