Site of Old Town: Lodi

Duane's take

Here's my take on what the official marker has to say about the site of Old Town Lodi, out in Wilson County. Now, before there was a Lodi, before there was a Wilson County, before most of the names we're about to mention were even a gleam in anybody's eye — there was a river, and along that river there was land. And by 1720, that land had a name.

It was known as the territory of the Cayopines, a Coahuiltecan Indian tribe. That's where this story starts. The Spanish missions of San Antonio took notice of this ground early.

It was good river land, and good river land meant good grazing. So the missions pastured their herds here, and for the herdsmen who watched over those animals, adobe huts went up along the bank. Modest shelters.

Practical. The kind of thing you build when you figure you'll be staying a while. Then 1731 arrived, and with it, trouble.

The Apache began raiding the area, and those herdsmen didn't wait around to see how bad it would get. They crossed the river and took refuge inside the stronger walls of Mission Cabras. The adobe huts stayed behind.

The people did not. Something else happened in 1731, too — Canary Island colonists arrived in the broader region, and their descendants would eventually become neighbors on this very land. Names like Jose Maria Flores and Erasmus Seguin.

But we're getting ahead of ourselves. By 1756, the Pena brothers had established Rancho San Eldifonzo Del Chayopin right here on this site, and they held it until 1787. When mission lands were secularized in 1794, a nephew of the Pena brothers applied for the title.

Seemed like a reasonable ask, given the family history. But the award went to Simon and Juan Arocha. That's just how it went sometimes.

The land carried on. Decades passed. And in 1858, a man named Stephen T.

Cook settled here, put in a store, and secured the office of postmaster. The marker notes — carefully, with that one little word — that he may have named Lodi for a town in Mississippi, his old home state. May have.

Not certain. But there's the suggestion, hanging in the air like dust on a dry road. Wilson County was organized in an election held February 13, 1860.

The county needed a sheriff, and the man who stepped into that role was Samuel W. Barker — husband of Josefa Flores, described on the marker as a local aristocrat. First sheriff of a brand new county.

Improved roads came to the area. Things were looking up for Lodi. Then came the Civil War, and when it was over, Wilson County voters made their feelings known.

On December 8, 1867, they designated Lodi the county seat. That is no small thing — county seat means you are the center of the map, the place where business gets done, where records are kept, where the whole machinery of county life turns. Lodi held that honor until 1872, when it passed to Floresville.

And with that, the area reverted to what it had always been good at: ranching. From Cayopine grazing land, to Spanish mission pasture, to adobe huts and Apache raids, to a postmaster who may have been thinking of Mississippi — Lodi burned bright as a county seat for just a few years, and then the land settled back into itself. Out here, the ground has a long memory, even when the towns don't last.

What the marker says

Community in an area known by 1720 as land of the Cayopines, a Coahuiltecan Indian tribe. The site was important to Spanish missions of San Antonio, since here along the river their herds were pastured. For the herdsmen, adobe huts were built. After the Apache Indians began to raid the area in 1731, the herdsmen took refuge across the river within the stronger walls of the Mission Cabras. The Pena brothers had Rancho San Eldifonzo Del Chayopin here from 1756 to 1787, and a nephew applied for title when mission lands were secularized in 1794. However, award was made to Simon and Juan Arocha. Their neighbors (descended from Canary Island colonists of 1731) included Jose Maria Flores and Erasmus Seguin. Stephen T. Cook settled here in 1858, putting in a store and securing office of postmaster. He may have named Lodi for a town in Mississippi, his old home state. Wilson County was organized in an election held Feb. 13, 1860. Samuel W. Barker (husband of local aristocrat Josefa Flores) became the first sheriff of the new county. Improved roads were built here. After the Civil War, Wilson County voters on Dec. 8, 1867, designated Lodi county seat--an honor lost to Floresville in 1872. Area then reverted to ranching. (1971)