DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker at Potter's Point tells it, and friend, it is some kind of story. Robert Potter — signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence, chief author of the Republic's Constitution, first Secretary of the Navy of the Republic of Texas — settled on Caddo Lake in 1837. Let that resume sink in for a second.
The man helped write the nation, helped build its navy, and then he came out here to this quiet east Texas lake and put down roots. But quiet, it turns out, was not exactly in Robert Potter's nature. He'd already served as a United States Congressman before Texas was Texas.
In 1840 he won election to the Texas Senate. The man could not stop landing in the middle of things — and the middle of things had a way of finding him right back. After the Senate adjourned in 1842, Potter moved to arrest his political foe, a man named William P.
Rose. Now, that is a bold play. And William P.
Rose was not the kind of man who took it lying down. On the night of March 1, 1842, Rose led armed men straight to Potter's home. You can imagine the tension in that darkness — torches, footsteps, the sound of Caddo Lake just beyond the tree line.
At dawn, Senator Robert Potter jumped into the lake. He was going to swim for help. He didn't make it.
He was shot to death in those waters. The man who signed Texas into existence, who wrote the words of its Constitution, who commanded its first navy — died in Caddo Lake on a March morning, trying to reach the other shore. He is buried today in the State Cemetery in Austin.
And this place, this point on the water, still carries his name.
What the marker says
Site of one of most famous events in Texas. Robert Potter-- a signer, Texas Declaration of Independence, a chief author of Republic's Constitution, first Secretary of Navy, Republic of Texas-- settled 1837 on Caddo Lake. A former U. S. Congressman, he won election 1840 to Texas Senate. After Senate adjourned in 1842 he tried to arrest his political foe, William P. Rose. On night of March 1, 1842, Rose led armed men to Potter's home. At dawn Senator Potter jumped into the lake to swim for help, but was shot to death. He is buried in State Cemetery, Austin. (1969)