Sam Woody's Cabin

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, if you want to talk about a life well-lived, you pull up a chair and you listen to the story of Sam Woody, Tennessee pioneer, Texas settler, and a man who apparently had no intention of slowing down. Born in 1826, Sam Woody lived all the way to 1920.

You do that math. That is ninety-four years of hard frontier living, and every one of them earned. Sam made his way to Texas in the 1840s, and by 1854 he had brought his family up to Wise County and set his sights on a stretch of land near Deep Creek.

Now, there was nothing out there. No neighbors to speak of, no roads worn smooth, no town square. This was the first dwelling in the area.

The very first. But here's the thing about Sam Woody: he wasn't the kind of man who made the people around him feel like strangers. After he cut the logs himself, friends and relatives showed up and helped him raise that cabin in a single day.

One day. You get a sense right there of what kind of man he was and what kind of community he kept. And that cabin, sitting near Deep Creek, became something of a crossroads all on its own.

Indians came to trade there; buffalo robes and moccasins, swapped for corn. Frontier travelers passing through knew they would not be turned away, and the house was frequently crowded with guests because of it. That door, apparently, was always open.

Of course, the frontier wasn't just hospitality and trading days. Sam Woody guarded pioneer settlements as part of a Ranger unit, and when the Civil War came (1861 to 1865) he served in the Confederate army. The man cut logs, raised a cabin in a day, kept a trading post of sorts, guarded settlers, went to war, and still made it to 1920.

That cabin near Deep Creek wasn't just the first dwelling in the area. It was the first heartbeat of something, and Sam Woody was the one who got it beating.

What the marker says

Tennessee pioneer Sam Woody (1826-1920) migrated to Texas in the 1840s. He brought his family to Wise County in 1854. This cabin, located near Deep Creek, was the first dwelling in the area. After Woody cut the logs, friends and relatives helped him erect the cabin in one day. Indians came here to trade buffalo robes and moccasins for corn. The house was frequently crowded with guests, for frontier travelers were never turned away. Woody guarded pioneer settlements as part of a Ranger unit and served in the Confederate army during the Civil War (1861-1865). Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, 1970.