DUANE
Duane's take
Here's what the official marker has to say, and I'll do my best to do it justice. The West Fork of the San Jacinto River, Montgomery County — and friend, this is a river with a long memory. Before anyone wrote a word of Texas history, the Patiri and other Indians were already living along these banks — back in what scholars call the Archaic and Neo-American periods.
They had this place figured out long before the rest of the world came lookin'. Then came the Spanish, riding in during the 1700s, and somebody had to put a name on this river. Now the marker says it was named either for hyacinths — the flower — or for the saint on whose day it was discovered.
Either way, San Jacinto. Two good stories, and the river keeps both of 'em. Pioneers from the United States were settling along the San Jacinto before Stephen F.
Austin even founded his colony to the west — and that colony came in 1821. When those settlers decided they wanted to join Austin's venture, he took this area into his colony in 1824. Just folded it right in.
But here's where the river earns its world fame. Down along the lower channel of the San Jacinto — April 21, 1836 — General Sam Houston and Texas volunteers fighting for freedom met Mexican Dictator Santa Anna and his 1,700 troops. And Santa Anna lost.
The San Jacinto gave its name to one of the most consequential battles on this continent, and the river just kept on flowin'. After that, prosperity moved in. From 1845 to 1861, riverside farms became full plantations, and cotton made its way downriver by keelboat along the San Jacinto.
Slow and heavy and headed to market. Now, picture this valley in those years — sandhill cranes overhead, bear moving through the woodlands. That all lasted until the timber industry took the trees, somewhere in the years 1880 to 1930, and when the woodlands vanished, so did the wildlife that called them home.
But then, in 1936, reforestation began. The timber industries came back. Small game came back.
The land has a way of tryin' again. Today there's a lake where much of this history used to breathe. Makes it a residential and recreational paradise, the marker says — and it may well be — but that lake covers things that deserve a moment of remembrance.
Grandma Ed'Ards fishing hole. Indian Camp Creek. The White Sugar Sand Crossing.
Gone under the water, but not entirely gone if someone's still sayin' their names. And the river doesn't stop there. Downriver, after this West Fork and the East Fork come together, the San Jacinto flows on to form part of the Houston Ship Channel — the link between the Port of Houston, the Gulf, and the high seas.
A river that sheltered the Patiri, carried Spanish explorers, floated cotton bales, and witnessed the defeat of Santa Anna... ends up connected to the whole wide ocean. Turns out this river was always going somewhere.
What the marker says
Patiri and other Indians lived here in Archaic and Neo-American periods. When Spanish incursions began in the 1700s, the river was named either for hyacinths or for the saint on whose day it was discovered. Pioneers from the United States settled on the San Jacinto before Stephen F. Austin founded his colony to the west in 1821. Upon their wish to join him, he took this area into his colony in 1824. The San Jacinto won wold fame when beside its lower channel Mexican Dictator Santa Anna with 1700 troops was defeated on April 21, 1836, by General Sam Houston and Texas volunteers fighting for freedom. Riverside farms became plantations, often shipping cotton by keelboat down the San Jacinto, in 1845-61. Until woodlands vanished during the years 1880-1930, sandhill cranes and bear abounded. Reforestation, begun in 1936, brought back timber industries and small game. The lake now makes this a residential and recreational paradise, but covers such landmarks as Grandma Ed'Ards fishing hole, Indian Camp Creek, and the White Sugar Sand Crossing. Downriver, after this fork and the East Fork unite, the San Jacinto forms part of the Houston Ship Channel, the link between Port of Houston, the Gulf, and the high seas.