Sisterdale

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it — and friend, this one's worth telling. Sisterdale, Kendall County, where the Hill Country holds onto its stories like it holds onto water: carefully, and not for long if you're not paying attention. The Pinto Trail ran right through here — an ancient Native American road connecting Spanish missions in San Antonio to lands north, crossing the Guadalupe and its local tributaries.

Folks had been moving through this corridor for a long, long time before anyone thought to stay. But stay they did, and the staying started with some trouble. In October of 1839, Henry Karnes led a contingent of Galveston volunteers out this way — their stated purpose, and I'm quoting here — 'to quell Indian disturbances upon our frontier.' A man named William R.

Sisty was killed on that expedition. Not in battle, not in ambush — by the accidental discharge of his own rifle. The nearby creeks were named Sisty's Creeks in his honor, which is a solemn kind of thing, a man remembered by the water.

Now hold onto that, because the water's about to get a new name. The Adelsverein — that's the organization that brought German settlers to Texas in the 1840s — sent wave after wave of educated, idealistic, occasionally difficult people into the Hill Country, and some of the most interesting of them landed right here. In 1847, an engineer named Nicolaus Zink built his home on the 1280-acre William F.

Wilson survey, becoming the first settler of what would become Sisterdale, and later the first settler of what would become both Blanco and Kendall Counties. He got there first. Then came the families — Ottmar von Behr, George F.

Holekamp, Julius Dresel, Carl Beseler, Ernst Kapp, and others. They looked around at their new home and noticed the landmarks nearby already had names: Bosom Hill, Sister Hills, Twin Sisters. Von Behr took stock of all that and suggested the settlers name their village Sisterdale — and while they were at it, change the name of those local creeks from Sisty's to Sisters.

Just like that, Sisty's Creeks became Sisters Creek. Von Behr also became the first postmaster of Sisterdale, officially, on October 23, 1847. Now this community was never platted the way most towns were.

No grid, no lots, no courthouse square. Instead it was a series of large farms, populated largely by German immigrants — many of whom had fled after the failed German revolution of 1848. Sisterdale was what the Hill Country called a Latin settlement, so named because its well-educated citizens often read and debated in Latin.

Yes. Latin. Out here in the cedar and the limestone, men were arguing philosophy in a dead language, which, depending on your temperament, is either remarkable or exactly what you'd expect from people who left everything behind for an idea.

In 1854, a visitor named Frederick Law Olmsted came through and was impressed with their free-thinking intellects. Sisterdale today remains a historic and scenic Hill Country locale — a place where the trail kept moving, but some very particular people decided to stop.

What the marker says

Abundant natural resources and a well-traveled pathway made this area one of the earliest frontier Hill Country settlements. The Pinto Trail, an ancient Native American road between Spanish missions in San Antonio and lands north, was a conduit here, crossing the Guadalupe and its local tributaries. Pre-settlement, Henry Karnes led a contingent of Galveston volunteers "to quell Indian disturbances upon our frontier" in October 1839. William R. Sisty was killed on that expedition by the accidental discharge of his rifle, and the nearby creeks were first named Sisty’s Creeks in his honor. The Adelsverein brought German settlers to Texas in the 1840s, and engineer Nicolaus Zink built his home here in 1847 on the 1280-acre William F. Wilson survey, becoming the first settler of what would become Sisterdale as well as the later-organized Blanco and Kendall Counties. The families of Ottmar (Ottomar) von Behr, George F. Holekamp, Julius Dresel, Carl Beseler, Ernst Kapp and others came soon after. Since nearby landmarks were named Bosom Hill, Sister Hills and Twin Sisters, von Behr suggested the settlers name their village Sisterdale, while also changing the name of the local creeks from Sisty's to Sisters. Von Behr became the first postmaster of Sisterdale on October 23, 1847. The community was not platted but instead a series of large farms populated by German immigrants, many of whom were part of the failed German revolution of 1848. Sisterdale was also one of the Hill Country's Latin settlements, so named because its well-educated citizens often read and debated in that language. 1854 visitor Frederick law Olmsted was impressed with their free-thinking intellects. Sisterdale remains a historic and scenic Hill Country locale. (2014)