DUANE
Duane's take
The way the marker tells it — and I'm taking my cue straight from the official record on this one — this story starts on the water. Eighteen fifty-four. One small sailing ship.
A hundred Polish families — eight hundred souls — crossing an ocean. Nine weeks at sea. Not one of them spoke a word of English.
Not one. Now, you stop and sit with that for a moment, because what comes next doesn't get any easier. They landed at Galveston, and then they walked.
Two hundred miles. Through South Texas, in the direction of a place called Panna Maria. And they made it — they arrived in time for Christmas Eve Mass.
That's the kind of detail that has a way of sticking to your ribs. They didn't arrive in the spring when the weather was forgiving. They arrived for Christmas Eve Mass.
From there they toiled at manual labor. That's the marker's own language, and I'm not going to dress it up any fancier than that, because it doesn't need it. Then came 1909.
The White Deer Land Company put out offers, and those Polish families — or their children, or their children's children — responded. They migrated here, to Carson County. More came after, from Washington State, Nebraska, Wisconsin.
The colony grew. And on May 13, 1913, they completed their first Catholic church, right on this very site. That church was the capstone of a journey that had begun on a crowded sailing ship six decades before.
Today, the marker tells us, their descendants include some of the most outstanding citizens of Texas. Eight hundred people on one small ship. Two hundred miles on foot.
A Christmas Eve arrival. That's not a footnote in Texas history — that's the whole story.
What the marker says
In 1854, 100 Polish families (800 persons) came to America in one small sailing ship--a voyage of 9 weeks. None spoke English. From Galveston they walked 200 miles to Panna Maria in South Texas, arriving for Christmas Eve Mass. There they toiled at manual labor. In 1909, in response to White Deer Land Co. offers, they migrated here. Later the colony had additions from Washington State, Nebraska, Wisconsin. Their first Catholic church, completed May 13, 1913, was on this site. Today their descendants include some of the most outstanding citizens of Texas.