DUANE
Duane's take
Here's the story as the official marker tells it — and believe me, this one earns every word. Nicholas Bluntzer. Born October 29, 1835, in the French province of Alsace.
Died September 5, 1901, out on the South Texas plains he helped shape. In between those two dates, the man lived enough life for three ordinary people. He came to Texas at age nine — nine years old — traveling with his parents and a wave of other Alsatian families under the leadership of a colonizer named Henri Castro.
That's a long way from Alsace for a child, and Texas in the 1840s was not exactly rolling out a welcome mat. The Bluntzer family put down roots in DeWitt County, along a stretch of Coleto Creek that would eventually grow into the town of Meyersville. Now, young Nicholas didn't spend his early years sitting still.
In 1856 and 1857, he was out riding as a scout in a punitive expedition in West Texas — an expedition led by none other than Colonel Robert E. Lee — against Comanche Indians. Whatever that country asked of a man, Bluntzer apparently had it to give.
Then in 1858, he married Justina Peters. And then the war came. As a member of the Confederate army, Nicholas Bluntzer was present at the last battle of the Civil War — Palmito Ranch, May 1865.
The very last battle. History has a funny sense of timing, and Bluntzer had a front-row seat to it. After the war, he turned his attention to land.
He became an influential rancher, acquiring large tracts across Nueces and other counties. He invested in Corpus Christi real estate. And in the 1890s, near this very site, he established a large cotton-growing operation.
A settlement grew up around it. People had to call it something, so they called it Bluntzer. When Nicholas Bluntzer died in 1901, he was buried in a San Patricio Cemetery.
But the story didn't end there. The Bluntzer home, not far from this site, stayed in the family all the way until 1961 — when it was bequeathed to the Sisters of the Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament. And in 1967, Nicholas Bluntzer was posthumously inducted into the South Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame.
A boy from Alsace, a scout under Lee, a soldier at the last battle of the Civil War, a rancher who put his name on the map — literally. That's the marker's account of Nicholas Bluntzer, and it's one worth pullin' over for.
What the marker says
(October 29, 1835-September 5, 1901) A native of the French province of Alsace, Nicholas Bluntzer came to Texas at age nine with his parents and other Alsatian families led by colonizer Henri Castro. The Bluntzer family settled in DeWitt County, in an area along Coleto Creek which would become the town of Meyersville. In 1856-57 Bluntzer served as a scout in a punitive expedition led by Col. Robert E. Lee against Comanche Indians in West Texas. In 1858 he married Justina Peters. Later, as a member of the Confederate army, he participated in the last battle of the Civil War at Palmito Ranch in May 1865. After the war Bluntzer became an influential rancher, acquiring large tracts of land in Nueces and other counties. He also invested in Corpus Christi real estate. He established a large cotton-growing operation near this site in the 1890s. A settlement grew up in the area and was named Bluntzer. Upon his death in 1901, he was buried in a San Patricio Cemetery. The Bluntzer home not far from this site remained in the family until 1961, when it was bequeathed to the Sisters of the Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament. Nicholas Bluntzer was posthumously inducted into the South Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame in 1967. (1967)