DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about this stretch of Grayson County ground — and it's got more history packed into it than you might expect from a quiet roadside spot. Now, before there was much of anything out here, there was a need. A road had to be protected — the Military Road, running all the way from Red River down to Austin.
And in 1840, a man named William G. Cooke rode up and said, in so many words, we're building a fort right here. So they did.
Fort Johnson, they called it. The name wasn't chosen casually. This fort was named in honor of Colonel Francis W.
Johnson — born in 1799, lived all the way to 1888 — and if that name doesn't ring a bell, let me tell you why it ought to. Colonel Johnson commanded the Texas army at the capture of San Antonio. December 10, 1835.
That's not a footnote in Texas history, friend. That's a headline. But Fort Johnson wasn't finished making history just because the walls were up.
Come April 25, 1843, this place served as the rendezvous point for something called the Snively Expedition. Men gathered right here on this ground before they set out — where they were headed and what they were after, well, that's a story for another marker. What we know is this was the launchpad.
And the little settlement that grew up in the vicinity? Folks knew it as Georgetown. Not every place that shapes a republic gets to keep its name.
But it was here. It happened here. And now you know it too.
What the marker says
Established by William G. Cooke in 1840 as a part of the defense of the Military Road from Red River to Austin. Named in honor of Colonel Francis W. Johnson (1799-1888). Commander of the Texas army at the capture of San Antonio, December 10, 1835. Place of rendezvous for the Snively Expedition which set out April 25, 1843. The settlement in the vicinity was known as Georgetown.