DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker at Red River Station has to say — and friend, it's got a lot to say. Nine miles northwest of where you're sitting right now, in the year 1861, somebody looked out at the Red River country and said: we need a post right here. Right on this major buffalo and Indian crossing.
And so Red River Station came to be. Now think about what was pressing in from every direction. To the north, Union forces massing in Indian Territory.
Out on the plains, Comanche and Kiowa riding hard. And in between — settlers. Families.
Cattlemen. People who had staked everything on this edge of civilization and were not about to give it up without a fight. Local soldiers, determined to guard that edge of settlement, were the first ones in.
Then came the Texas Frontier Regiment Cavalry Company, joining up to hold the line. Families of settlers and cattlemen built log cabins inside the post stockade — because when things get uncertain, you pull your people inside the walls. Now here's where the story gets its teeth.
The Confederates patrolling this area were poorly fed, poorly clothed, and short on horses and ammunition. Short on just about everything a fighting force needs to function. And yet — they patrolled that area effectively.
You hold that thought for a second. Effectively. With what they had.
That's not nothing. January of 1863. Comanche and Kiowa struck at Illinois Bend, fifteen miles east of here.
Fifteen miles. Close enough to hear it, practically. That raid was a reminder of just how thin the line was and how much depended on the men holding it.
After the war, Red River Station found a different kind of traffic — cattle. It became a major cattle crossing, which tells you the geography that made it valuable as a military post made it just as valuable in peace. But the marker doesn't let you forget what came before the cattle drives.
It calls Red River Station a memorial to Texans who served in the Confederacy, erected by the State of Texas in 1963. And the back of that marker — it opens up the whole picture. Texas voted for secession by more than three to one, then turned around and sent ninety thousand troops to fight on every battlefront.
Noted, the marker says, for mobility and heroic daring. Texas served as a storehouse of the south — an important source of supply and a gateway to foreign trade through Mexico. Red River Station wasn't standing alone out here.
It was part of a two-thousand-mile line of frontier and coastline — frontier and coastline — backed by state Rangers, organized militia, and citizens posses scouting out of what the marker calls family forts nearby. Two thousand miles. Defended by Texans.
That's the thing about this stretch of ground. It looks quiet now. But from 1861 to 1865, hungry, undersupplied men on tired horses held a line right here — between the settlements and everything pressing in from the outside.
They made it work with what they had. And the marker's been standing here ever since, making sure you know it.
What the marker says
Established 9 miles northwest 1861 as Civil War outpost near major buffalo and indian crossing. Local soldiers, determined to guard edge of settlement against Indian raids, Union invasion from Indian territory, joined by Texas Frontier Regiment Cavalry Company. Families of settlers, cattlemen built log cabins within post stockade. Poorly fed, clothed and short on horses and ammunition Confederates patrolled area effectively. Comanche, Kiowa raid at Illinois Bend 15 miles east Jan. 1863. Major cattle crossing after war. A memorial to Texans who served in the Confederacy - Erected by the State of Texas 1963; (BACK OF RED RIVER STATION) Texas Civil War Frontier Defense 1861-1865 Texas made an all-out effort for the Confederacy after voting over 3 to 1 for secession. 90,000 troops, noted for mobility and and heroic daring, fought on every battlefront. An important source of supply and gateway to foreign trade thru Mexico, Texas was the storehouse of the south. Red River Station and other posts on this line were backed by patrols of state Rangers, organized militia, and citizens posses scouting from nearby "family forts." This was part of a 2000 mile frontier and coastline successfully defended by Texans. (1963)