DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, the exact original location of Fort Inglish is unknown — and maybe that's fitting, because some stories are bigger than any one spot on a map. What we do know is this: somewhere out here in what is now Fannin County, the settlement that would become Bonham began.
And it began because of one man with a land grant and a plan. Bailey Inglish — born 1797, died 1867 — had himself a 1,250-acre grant from the Republic of Texas. Before all that, he'd been sheriff of Miller County, Arkansas.
A lawman. A man who knew how to hold a line. And in 1837, he led a train of settlers west by oxcart to this very site.
Now, you think about that for a moment. Oxcarts. 1837. Texas still a Republic, the frontier still very much unsettled, and here comes Bailey Inglish rolling in like he already owns the place — which, to be fair, the Republic of Texas had said he did.
Once they arrived, they didn't sit around marveling at the scenery. They built a log stockade and a blockhouse, fitted out with gun ports for community defense. These folks were not naive about where they'd landed.
And sure enough, by 1841, the fort had seen what the marker calls a typical fight — which tells you something right there about the nature of life on that frontier. In that fight, the Indians were repulsed. But before it was over, they had captured two young boys who'd been out hunting cows near the fort.
Now, I don't want to rush past that. Two boys. Out looking for cows.
That's the kind of errand that sounds ordinary until it isn't. The marker does give us a measure of relief — those boys returned later. But the weight of that moment deserves a breath before we move on.
The settlement went by the name Bois d'Arc in 1840 — named for the timber country around it. But in 1843, the town was renamed to honor a hero of the Texas War for Independence: Colonel James Butler Bonham, born 1807, died 1836. The town has carried that name ever since.
A land grant, an oxcart train, a stockade with gun ports, two boys who came back — that's how the story of Bonham began, out here in Fannin County, at a spot the marker itself admits we can no longer pin down exactly. Some beginnings are like that. The place fades.
The story holds.
What the marker says
(exact original location unknown) Spot where settlement of town of Bonham began. On 1,250-acre land grant of Texas Republic to Bailey Inglish (1797-1867), former Miller County, Ark., sheriff who led train of settlers traveling by oxcart to this site in 1837. Here they built a log stockade and blockhouse with gun ports for use in community defense. In a typical fight (1841), the Indians were repulsed, but captured two young boys hunting cows near the fort. (The boys returned later.) Called Bois d'Arc in 1840, town was renamed (1843) to honor Texas War for Independence hero, Col. James Butler Bonham (1807-1836).