DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker at the site of Bird's Fort tells it — let me walk you through it. One mile east of where that marker first stood, and about a mile and a quarter north-northeast of where it sits today in River Legacy Parks, there's a crescent-shaped lake. Quiet now.
But in 1841, that little arc of water was the edge of the known Anglo-American world in what would become Tarrant County. General Edward H. Tarrant — of the Republic of Texas Militia — had a vision.
Bring settlers out here. Build something. Hold the line against Indian raids.
So he authorized a man named Jonathan Bird to establish a settlement and a military post near that lake. Bird's Fort, they called it. First attempt at Anglo-American colonization in all of present Tarrant County.
Now, the folks who answered that call came down from the Red River area. And bless their hearts, they gave it a go. But this land did not make it easy.
Hunger set in. Indian problems pressed hard. And one by one — or in groups — those settlers returned home or drifted off to join other settlements.
The fort didn't hold people long. By August of 1843, Bird's Fort was abandoned. Just a few log structures standing quiet when a group of men rode in — the Jacob Snively expedition.
They had been organized to capture Mexican gold wagons on the Santa Fe Trail, retaliation for raids on San Antonio. A bold mission. Except United States forces had disarmed the whole outfit, and the expedition disbanded right there at that empty fort.
All that ambition, all that firepower — set down in the dirt of an abandoned post. But here's where the story turns. About the same time those men were scattering to the winds, something else was beginning at Bird's Fort.
Something quieter and, as it turned out, considerably more lasting. Republic of Texas officials — General Tarrant himself, and General George W. Terrell — sat down with the leaders of nine Indian tribes.
Nine. They talked. They negotiated.
And on September 29, 1843, they put pen to paper and signed the Bird's Fort Treaty. The terms called for an end to existing conflicts and the drawing of a line — Indian lands on one side, territory open for colonization on the other. A fort built to keep people apart ended up being the place where two worlds tried, at least for a moment, to agree on where the line was drawn.
That crescent-shaped lake didn't care either way. It's still out there, about a mile and a quarter north-northeast, holding its shape while the rest of history moved on around it.
What the marker says
(One mile east) In an effort to attract settlers to the region and to provide protection from Indian raids, Gen. Edward H. Tarrant of the Republic of Texas Militia authorized Jonathan Bird to establish a settlement and military post in the area. Bird's Fort, built near a crescent-shaped lake one mile east in 1841, was the first attempt at Anglo-American colonization in present Tarrant County. The settlers, from the Red River area, suffered from hunger and Indian problems and soon returned home or joined other settlements. In August 1843, troops of the Jacob Snively expedition disbanded at the abandoned fort, which consisted of a few log structures. Organized to capture Mexican gold wagons on the Santa Fe Trail in retaliation for raids of San Antonio, the outfit had been disarmed by United States forces. About the same time, negotiations began at the fort between Republic of Texas officials Gen. Tarrant and Gen. George W. Terrell and the leaders of nine Indian tribes. The meetings ended on September 29, 1843, with the signing of the Bird's Fort Treaty. Terms of the agreement called for an end to existing conflicts and the establishment of a line separating Indian lands from territory open for colonization. (1980) Supplemental: This marker was relocated to River Legacy Parks in 2003. The Bird's Fort site is about 1-1/4 miles north-northeast of this location.