Let's Cross Before Dark

Bill Winsor

Description

Let’s Cross Before Dark… A History of the Ferries, Fords and River Crossings of Texas

The state of Texas claims over 12,000 named rivers and streams stretching approximately 80,000 linear miles within its boundaries. In this book, Bill Winsor identifies and locates over 550 named river crossings within the state that once served as vital destinations for Native Americans, European explorers, and Mexican and American soldiers and colonists. Winsor has catalogued their origins and histories. Included in the work are maps of major rivers and their crossings as well as select images of early ferry operations of Texas.

In addition to an alpha index of the crossings, the 625-page book presents an in-depth examination of the roles principal rivers and their crossings assumed in the framing of Texas history. Each of its fourteen chapters explores the founding of these various sites and the characters that brought them to life.

This information, under one cover, presents an incomparable resource for future generations to better understand and appreciate the historical relevance of these vanishing theaters of history. 

Sujets

• Social History
• Histoire
• History

Informations

• Publié par: AuthorHouse
• Date de parution: 30 novembre 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781665565615
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 3 Mo

Extrait

Let’s Cross Before Dark
 
A History of the Ferries, Fords and River Crossings of Texas
 
 
 
Bill Winsor
 
 
 
 

 
 
AuthorHouse™
1663 Liberty Drive
Bloomington, IN 47403
www.authorhouse.com
Phone: [phone]
 
 
 
 
© 2022 Bill Winsor. All rights reserved.
 
No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.
 
Published by AuthorHouse 04/12/2023
 
ISBN: 978-1-6655-6476-2 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-6655-6712-1 (hc)
ISBN: 978-1-6655-6561-5 (e)
 
Library of Congress Control Number: 2022913184
 
 
 
Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.
 
 
 
Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.
Contents
Preface
Acknowledgments
ONE
El Rio de Los Brazos de Dios Le Maligne: “the Wicked One… the Mischievous One”
TWO
El Río Bravo del Norte: Wild and Unpredictable
THREE
European Colonies on the Trinity River Crossings
FOUR
Rio de los Sabinos: River of the Montezuma Cypress
FIVE
El Salado Rio Rojo: The Salty Red River
SIX
Rio Colorado… I am of Red Color
SEVEN
Rio de Magdalena… The Guadalupe River
EIGHT
El Rio de San Antonio de Bexar… A Flowing Coliseum of History
NINE
Vicksburg Veterans Perish in Texas Ferry Disaster McHenry Bayou, Matagorda Island
TEN
A Tale of Multiple Ferries and Two Retreats: General Houston Retreatsfrom Gonzales… General Filisola Retreats from Madam Powell’s
ELEVEN
A Contradiction of Loyalties… Two Tejano Patriots and their River Crossings
TWELVE
El Sabinito y El Muelle Viejo… The Ancient Wharf below the Confluence of the San Antonio and Guadalupe Rivers.
THIRTEEN
TThe Pecos River… “Graveyard of the cowman’s hopes”- Charles Goodnight … Horsehead Crossing of the Pecos – The Most Celebrated and Feared River Crossing in Texas
FOURTEEN
Alpha Index to the Ferries, Fords, and Crossings of Texas
Ferry Regulations
Endnotes
Selected Bibliography
 
 
 

Mexican General Jose Urrea, and the San Luis Potosi Battalion encamped at Cayce’s Crossing leading up to the Battle of San Jacinto. Elliott’s Ferry, near present-day Bay City, replaced Cayce’s Ferry during the Civil War. It was located on the Colorado River.
 
 
 
 

A typical cable drawn ferry of the mid- to late 19th century serving the rivers of Texas. Note the cable harness above the ferry. Draft animals on opposing banks generally powered the ferries.
Preface
E xperiencing Nativity on the Navidad
Many years ago, I had two loyal metal detecting companions that lived in Dallas. Both were slightly older and more experienced at digging than I. We frequently convened at the end of a work day and drove for three to four hours to different historical sites. There, with permission from landowners, we searched for relics. We shared an enduring fascination of early river crossings as they tended to produce layers of artifacts representing multiple episodes of Texas history.
Given our late starts after work, we conducted most of our digs in the dead of night with only the aid of a flashlight. We worked until we were too tired to continue or until we were sure there was nothing else to find, typically arriving back in Dallas around 3:00 a.m. Even so, we were always at our respective offices by the start of business. Occasionally, we would get away on weekends, but that was the exception.
One of the more memorable weekend digs I participated in occurred a few years before the construction of Lake Texana at the Navidad River. I still have vivid memories of that particular expedition. We were on our fifth separate attempt to locate the historic Atascosito Crossing of the Navidad River.
T he Ancient Atascosito Road
The Atascosito Road was among the most prominent trails of early Texas, blazed and mapped by the Spaniards. It began in Refugio and crossed the San Antonio River near the Presidio Nuestra Señora de Loreto de La Bahía. Then it wound northward to the Guadalupe River at De Leon’s Colony (Victoria), and on to the Lavaca and Navidad rivers close to present-day Edna, Texas.
This primeval, low-water crossing of the Navidad River began as a game trail and was a favorite among regional Indians long before European explorations began. Alonso de León, Domingo Terán de los Ríos, Fray Damian Massanet, and Marques de Rubí all used this crossing during their expeditions. 1 Explorers named it for the “Nativity of Christ”, and during its time as a prominent destination, it served multiple caravans of explorers, priests, empresarios, Mexican troops, immigrants, and freedom fighters. Soldiers of the Texas Republic established three temporary bases near the crossing: Camp Independence, Camp Bowie and Camp Preston. 2
During the Texas Revolution, members of Gen. Antonio López de Santa Anna’s Mexican Army encamped at the Atascosito Crossing as they marched to the fields of San Jacinto. 3 In 1863, when the Civil War engulfed the lower coast of Texas, Confederate Gen. John Bankhead Magruder established Camp Davenport at this site to monitor the activities between La Bahía and Houston. 4 Following the war, the crossing became popular with drovers and teamsters transporting cattle and supplies to the Trinity River and Houston City. 5
Narrowing our Search
With the aid of period maps, diaries, and early Texas narratives, my companions and I knew we were in close proximity to this once prominent crossing. Even so, we had not recovered a single artifact to verify its existence. More than once, we came home empty handed.
This particular Saturday was a blustery, raw morning in the dead of winter. By early afternoon, I was stiff from the cold and, in five hours of non-stop searching, had experienced not a single, positive signal. Hungry, cold, and tired–having walked several miles in crisscross patterns over the same ground–I attempted to locate my two comrades with the goal of convincing them it was time to abandon the search. They were off on a different stretch of the river bank, and I decided to wait for them in the brush, out of the windswept, misty rain. As I sought shelter, my detector blared a distinct, sharp signal indicating a non-ferrous metal: the goal of artifact searching. Having hundreds of hours of experience dragging a detector through t he brush, this signal was unmistakable. Following the sound to a point on the ground, I turned out one spade of dirt. A shiny, six-inch fragment of a solid nickel wrist guard and quillion from a sword rolled out of a lump of black gumbo at my feet. I was stunned by this remarkable relic. It was clearly a portion of an early sword guard, likely European.
Discovering the site… Patience and Providence
Adrenalin kicked in. As I moved deeper into the catclaw thicket, I found myself oblivious to the cold, wet wind. Within three feet of my first discovery, another positive, distinctly non-ferrous, signal rang out. The brush was an entanglement of solid brambles and digging was extremely difficult. I employed my entrenching tool and as I removed the first spadeful, a coin lodged within became visible. It was an undated, ¼ Spanish Real. Within a distance of a few feet, I also uncovered three Mexican 1 st battalion buttons. Moments later, another signal produced a ½ Spanish Reale cob coin dated 1687. This coin, struck and trimmed by hand with a cross as its central feature, could have been dropped by a member of Governor Domingo Terán’s expedition as it predates their crossing of the Navidad and encampment. A hole had been drilled in its top to accept a lanyard of twine or leather to be worn around the neck by its owner. 6
In a span of thirty minutes, I had uncovered the sword gua rd, three buttons, two Spanish coins, and an early-Spanish brass heart-shaped martingale breastplate from a horse collar. All of the relics I discovered were encountered within an area the size of a small home. After receiving no other positive signals for almost an hour, I once more became aware of the cold. I selected a gully along the embankment of the river and leaned into the brush to rest. Gazing across the river, I saw a swale, or gully, leading toward my makeshift shelter. Then I knew that this was not only an early campsite, it was likely the Atascosito Crossing of the Navidad River. It seemed obvious as no other depressions (or vaults) cut into the bluffs on either side of the river nearby. Two highly visible, opposing twelve-foot-wide depressions led from the mouth of their swales and met at the stream. They exhibited obvious characteristics of an ancient trace, carved by bison, deer, horses, cattle, and humans over hundreds of years.
It was at that moment that I experienced the “Nativity” of lost generations on the Navidad.
About the Work and People of “Let’s Cross Before Dark”
I am not an academic, but rather an avocational student of Texas history. My fascination and quest for researching the early-Texas river crossings was ignited by my deep admiration and respect of the courage, determination, and sheer bravery of the pioneers and settlers that brought these destinations to life. This intrigue is not inspired by some romantic interpretation of their heroism as much a