DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say — and friend, this one's got ambition, hardship, and a little bit of Texas stubbornness baked right into it. In June of 1841, Republic of Texas President Mirabeau B. Lamar had himself a vision.
Santa Fe — then part of Mexico, but claimed by the Republic of Texas — was a place Lamar wanted Texas to reach with its political hand, its military presence, and its commercial appetite. So he commissioned an expedition to go out there and make that happen. Three hundred and twenty-one men answered the call.
Merchants, engineers, infantrymen, and even a newsman — because apparently someone wanted the story told. They packed up a large quantity of trade goods and, just in case diplomacy got complicated, one cannon. On June 19, 1841, they set out from north of Austin, at a place on Brushy Creek known today as Round Rock.
Now, you'd think 321 men with a cannon and a newsman would cut an impressive figure across the Texas landscape. And they did — right up until they hit the Western Cross Timbers of North Central Texas. Dense undergrowth.
Thick, tangled, uncooperative Texas brush, the kind that doesn't much care how many cannons you brought along. The expedition ground nearly to a halt. So they made a decision.
Three miles southeast of right here, those men burned most of their tents, their poles, and what other gear they'd been hauling. Burned it. Left it as smoke rising above the Cross Timbers.
Traveling light now, they forded the West Fork of the Trinity River and crossed near this very site at midday on July 26, 1841. You can almost picture them — ragged, sweating, but still moving west. West is where the hardships multiplied.
Delays stacked on delays. And then, in the fall — before they ever laid eyes on Santa Fe — they were captured. The whole party.
Marched all the way to Mexico City and imprisoned. Most of them were finally released in April of 1842. It is not the triumphant ending President Lamar had in mind.
But here's the thread that ties this story to right where you're standing. One of the guides who survived that expedition was Colonel William Hudson Hunt. When he returned to Texas, Colonel Hunt went back to his surveying profession — the man had skills that outlasted captivity.
And he settled in Wise County. Why Wise County? Because on that very expedition, crossing this stretch of country, he had observed the region's ranching potential.
He saw what this land could be, even in the middle of one of the Republic's most troubled ventures. He built a ranch here. Called it Cactus Hill.
That ranch now lies under the waters of Lake Bridgeport, which tells you something about how many layers of history one piece of ground can carry. Colonel Hunt became a respected community leader. And in 1859, he and others requested a rerouting of the Butterfield Overland Mail stages — south from Cooke County, through Decatur, then west to Jacksboro, and on all the way to San Francisco.
That rerouting brought stagecoaches and freight wagons to this Trinity River crossing, and it brought with it the bridging and ferrying activities that a crossing demands. And out of all that motion and commerce and necessity, the town of Bridgeport was created in 1860. Three hundred and twenty-one men set out to reach Santa Fe and never got there.
But one of them looked out at this river crossing on a July afternoon, saw something worth coming back to, and quietly changed the map of North Texas anyway. Sometimes the expedition that fails is the one that plants the deepest roots.
What the marker says
IN JUNE 1841, REPUBLIC OF TEXAS PRESIDENT MIRABEAU B. LAMAR COMMISSIONED AN EFFORT TO INCREASE TEXAS" POLITICAL, MILITARY AND COMMERCIAL INFLUENCE IN SANTA FE, THEN A PART OF MEXICO CLAIMED BY THE REPUBLIC OF TEXAS. A PARTY OF 321 MEN SET OUT FROM NORTH OF AUSTIN ON BRUSHY CREEK (PRESENT-DAY ROUND ROCK) ON JUNE 19. THIS GROUP INCLUDED MERCHANTS, ENGINEERS, INFANTRYMEN AND A NEWSMAN. THEY TOOK WITH THEM A LARGE QUANTITY OF TRADE GOODS AND ONE CANNON. THE EXPEDITION HAD GREAT DIFFICULTY PENETRATING THE DENSE UNDERGROWTH OF THE WESTERN CROSS TIMBERS OF NORTH CENTRAL TEXAS. THREE MILES SOUTHEAST OF HERE, THE MEN BURNED MOST OF THEIR TENTS, POLES AND OTHER GEAR IN ORDER TO MOVE FASTER. THEY THEN FORDED THE WEST FORK OF THE TRINITY RIVER AND CROSSED NEAR THIS SITE MID-DAY ON JULY 26, 1841. THE MEN ENDURED HARDSHIPS AND DELAYS FURTHER WEST, AND WERE CAPTURED IN THE FALL BEFORE REACHING SANTA FE. THEY WERE MARCHED TO MEXICO CITY AND IMPRISONED. MOST WERE FINALLY RELEASED IN APRIL 1842. ONE OF THE GUIDES WHO SURVIVED THIS EXPEDITION WAS COLONEL WILLIAM HUDSON HUNT. ON RETURNING TO TEXAS, HE TOOK UP HIS SURVEYING PROFESSION. HE SETTLED IN WISE COUNTY, WHERE ON THE SANTA FE EXPEDITION HE HAD OBSERVED THE REGION'S RANCHING POTENTIAL. HIS RANCH, CALLED CACTUS HILL, NOW LIES UNDER THE WATERS OF LAKE BRIDGEPORT. COL. HUNT BECAME A RESPECTED COMMUNITY LEADER AND IN 1859, HE AND OTHERS REQUESTED A REROUTING OF BUTTERFIELD OVERLAND MAIL STAGES TO THE SOUTH FROM COOKE COUNTY TO DECATUR AND THEN WEST TO JACKSBORO AND ON TO SAN FRANCISCO. THE REROUTING LED TO BRIDGING AND FERRYING ACTIVITIES FOR STAGECOACHES AND FREIGHT WAGONS AT THIS TRINITY RIVER CROSSING, RESULTING IN THE CREATION OF THE TOWN OF BRIDGEPORT IN 1860.