DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker at Sugarloaf Mountain has to say — and friend, it's quite a story. There's a place in Milam County where Little River meets the Brazos, and rising up near that confluence is a mountain capped in red sandstone rock. It's called Sugarloaf Mountain.
You see it and you understand immediately why every traveler, for hundreds of years running, looked at it and thought: that's my marker. That's how I know where I am. Long before any settler ever set eyes on it, this place was home to one of the largest American Indian gatherings in the region.
They called it Rancheria Grande de los Ervipiame — a great village drawing together remnants of twenty-two nations. Twenty-two. The dominant members were the Ervipiame themselves, but people from across that wide country had come together here, near the red rock, near the confluence of those two rivers.
In time, some of the Ervipiame entered the San Antonio Missions. Most, though, joined with the Tonkawa, the Mayeye, and the Yojuane tribes and carried their lives forward in other directions. And here's the thing about Sugarloaf Mountain that keeps echoing down through the centuries — it was never just a pretty rock.
It was a landmark on the old road system, part of what would be identified as El Camino Real, the King's Highway. Travelers used it until 1790. Then, in the 1820s, a similar route came back into use, running from San Felipe to the Waco Indian Village — the place that would later become Waco.
The trails kept finding their way back to Sugarloaf because the land itself had laid them out. Early American settlers learned of those Indian trails and used them when they traveled. The mountain was the kind of fixed point that a moving world arranges itself around.
Now, in 1866, Texas Governor J.W. Throckmorton sent a letter to the Department of Indian Affairs granting the Tonkawa people a league of land in this very area. It sounds like a generous gesture — except by then, the Tonkawa had already been relocated to Oklahoma in the 1850s.
They never received their land. A grant sent to people who had already been pushed beyond reach. The mountain changed hands.
Developers James Jackson and Jon Holloway purchased the land containing Sugarloaf Mountain, divided it, and resold it. And then — and this is the part that'll make you set down your coffee cup — someone got an idea. There were believed to be treasures buried up in that red sandstone cap.
So they started digging. They removed the top of the mountain. But public outcry rose up loud enough that the digging stopped.
The mountain stands today, a little shorter than it once was, carrying that wound quietly. Sugarloaf Mountain is now recognized by Milam County, the State of Texas, and the National Parks Service as an important landmark. And in 2004, El Camino Real de los Tejas was designated a National Historic Trail in Texas — that old road that used this mountain as its guidepost finally receiving its own formal recognition.
But maybe the weight of it all comes down to this: many from the Tonkawa Native American Tribe believe that Sugarloaf Mountain is the site of the origins of their people. The beginning place. And they were granted a league of land here in 1866, long after they were already gone.
Red sandstone. Two rivers meeting. Twenty-two nations.
A road that lasted centuries. Some landmarks hold more history than they have room to carry — and Sugarloaf Mountain is one of them.
What the marker says
SUGARLOAF MOUNTAIN SUGARLOAF MOUNTAIN IS LOCATED NEAR THE CONFLUENCE OF LITTLE RIVER AND BRAZOS RIVER AND IS CAPPED WITH RED SANDSTONE ROCK. A LARGE AMERICAN INDIAN GROUP LIVED IN A VILLAGE KNOWN AS RANCHERIA GRANDE DE LOS ERVIPIAME. REMNANTS OF TWENTY-TWO NATIONS COMPRISED THE GROUP, BUT THE ERVIPIAME WERE THE DOMINANT MEMBERS. SOME OF THE ERVIPIAME LATER ENTERED THE SAN ANTONIO MISSIONS, BUT MOST JOINED THE TONKAWA, MAYEYE AND YOJUANE TRIBES. EARLY AMERICAN SETTLERS LEARNED OF THE INDIAN TRAILS AND USED THEM WHEN TRAVELING. SUGARLOAF MOUNTAIN WAS AN IMPORTANT LANDMARK ON THE OLD ROAD SYSTEM, LATER IDENTIFIED AS PART OF EL CAMINO REAL OR "THE KING'S HIGHWAY," AND WAS USED UNTIL 1790. DURING THE 1820s, A SIMILAR ROUTE WAS USED THAT TRAVELED FROM SAN FELIPE TO THE WACO INDIAN VILLAGE, WHICH LATER BECAME WACO. IN 1866, TEXAS GOVERNOR J.W. THROCKMORTON SENT A LETTER TO THE DEPARTMENT OF INDIAN AFFAIRS GRANTING THE TONKAWA PEOPLE A LEAGUE OF LAND IN THE AREA, BUT THEY WERE ALREADY RELOCATED TO OKLAHOMA IN THE 1850s AND NEVER RECEIVED THEIR LAND. DEVELOPERS JAMES JACKSON AND JON HOLLOWAY PURCHASED THE LAND THAT CONTAINED SUGARLOAF MOUNTAIN WHICH THEY DIVIDED AND RESOLD. DURING THIS TIME, THE TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN WAS REMOVED BECAUSE IT WAS BELIEVED TO HOLD TREASURES BUT AFTER PUBLIC OUTCRY, THE DIGGING STOPPED. THE MOUNTAIN IS RECOGNIZED BY MILAM COUNTY, THE STATE OF TEXAS AND THE NATIONAL PARKS SERVICE AS AN IMPORTANT LANDMARK. MANY FROM THE TONKAWA NATIVE AMERICAN TRIBE BELIEVE THAT SUGARLOAF MOUNTAIN IS THE SITE OF THE ORIGINS OF THEIR PEOPLE. IN 2004, EL CAMINO REAL DE LOS TEJAS WAS DESIGNATED AS A NATIONAL HISTORIC TRAIL IN TEXAS.