DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. There's a trail running through Williamson County that's been carrying travelers for a good long while — and the story of how it got walked into existence is worth slowing down for. Back in 1828, the Delaware Indians were moving.
They were pulling up from their home in the Redlands of east Texas, heading all the way south toward present Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. That's a long way to travel, and as they moved, they laid out a trace through this country. Two horsemen could ride it side by side — and that, right there, is where the name comes from.
The Double File Trail. Simple, practical, and it stuck. Now, once a trail like that gets cut through the land, word gets around.
By 1838, the first settlement in all of Williamson County went up right here at the Brushy Creek crossing. They called it Kenney Fort. It served as a way station for travelers and offered protection against Indian raids — two things that mattered enormously to folks trying to put down roots in that era.
Then comes 1841, and Kenney Fort found itself at the center of something bigger. Members of the Santa Fe Expedition assembled right here before heading out. Texas Rangers moved along this route.
Early Anglo-American settlers followed it. Surveying parties used it to get the lay of the land. Explorers passed through.
All of them walking or riding a trace that the Delaware laid down on their long journey south. That's the thing about a good trail — it doesn't belong to just one story. It carries all of them.
What the marker says
As the Delaware Indians moved from their home in the "Redlands" of east Texas in 1828 to near present Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, they laid out this trace. It was named Double File Trail because two horsemen could ride side by side. The first settlement in Williamson County, Kenney Fort, was built here at the Brushy Creek crossing in 1838. It served as a way station and for Indian protection. In 1841 members of the Santa Fe Expedition assembled here. Texas Rangers, early Anglo-American settlers, surveying parties, and explorers also used this important route. (1979)