DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Town of Pettus, Bee County. Now, every town's got a story, and Pettus has got layers — cattle, steam, oil, and a president who stopped just long enough to water his train. Let's unpack it.
It starts back in the 1850s, when a man named John Freeman Pettus set up a sprawling ranch about four miles south of where the town stands today. He wasn't just anybody passing through. His father was one of Stephen F.
Austin's original three hundred colonists — the foundational names of Texas settlement — and John Freeman carried that heritage into cattle and horse breeding on an extensive scale. The little community that gathered nearby had been going by the name Dry Medio, after a creek in the area. During the Civil War, the place was renamed for Pettus himself.
But here's the thing about Pettus — it slept. The community sat in the vicinity of two significant Indian skirmishes in Bee County, one in 1859 and another in the 1870s, and through all that, the town just... waited. It had all the ingredients, but no spark.
The spark arrived in 1886, and it came on iron rails. That year, the tracks of the San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railroad reached the site, and Pettus woke up fast. Almost immediately it became the cattle shipping center for the surrounding area.
That same year, a pioneer citizen named John S. Hodges laid out the townsite and donated land for streets and for the railroad's right-of-way. That was no small gesture — he was essentially handing the town its future.
For years after that, the railroad stockyards and the depot were places of flat-out bustling activity. Freight trains rolled in for loading, and wood-burning steam engines pulled up to take on water. Picture that — the hiss of steam, the bellow of cattle, the whole spectacle of a working railroad town in its prime.
And in 1909, the presidential train of William H. Taft stopped right here at the Pettus water tank. The President of the United States, pausing at this spot in South Texas so his train could drink.
That water tank stood as a final monument to the age of steam railroading in Pettus — until 1965, when it was razed. Then came oil. In 1929, the Houston Oil Company brought in its well, known as No. 1-Maggie Ray McKinney, and from that moment forward Pettus stepped into yet another chapter.
It earned its title — oil capital of Bee County — and has played a continuing, useful role in the Texas economy ever since. One town. Ranching roots going back to Austin's first colonists.
A Civil War renaming. Indian skirmishes on its doorstep. A railroad that finally rang the alarm.
A presidential visit at the water tank. And then oil. Pettus didn't rush its story — it just kept adding to it.
What the marker says
Oil capital of Bee County, Pettus was settled in the 1850's when John Freeman Pettus set up his sprawling ranch about 4 miles south of here. The son of one of Stephen F. Austin's first 300 colonists, Pettus was an extensive cattle and horse breeder. The town, previously called "Dry Medio" for a nearby creek, was named for him during the Civil War. The community was in the vicinity of two important Indian skirmishes in Bee County in 1859 and the 1870's; but the town slept until 1886, when the tracks of the San Antionio & Aransas Pass railroad reached this site. It then awoke to become the cattle shipping center for the area. In the same year, John S. Hodges, a pioneer citizen, laid out the townsite and donated land to be used for streets and S.A. & A.P. right-of-way. For years the railroad stockyards and depot were places of bustling activity as freight trains came for loading and wood-burning steam engines took on water. In 1909 the presidential train of Wm. H. Taft stopped at the Pettus water tank. The tank--a final monument to steam railroading here--was razed, 1965. In 1929 the Houston Oil Co. brought in its well "No. 1-Maggie Ray McKinney" and from that time Pettus has played a continuing useful role in Texas economy. (1968)