Path of the Pioneers: Bastrop to Austin (Part V)

Joseph Rogers, Rogers Hill Cemetery

Joseph Rogers came to Texas in 1831 with his parents, James and Joseph Rogers, from Tennessee. They settled on land including what is now called Rogers Hill, near the intersection of present day FM 969 and Decker Lane.

Joseph was granted his own league in Travis  County in 1832. He served as first lieutenant of Tumlinson's Rangers. John W. Wilbarger (brother of Josiah Wilbarger) says Joseph Rogers was one of the party that discovered Josiah Wilbarger near Pecan Springs, present day Austin after having been scalped in 1833:

The relief party consisted of Joseph Rogers, Reuben Hornsby, Webber, John Walters and others. As they approached the tree under which Wilbarger had passed the night, Rogers, who was in advance, saw Wilbarger, who was sitting at the root of a tree. He presented a ghastly sight, for his body was almost red with blood. Rogers, mistaking him for an Indian, said: "Here they are, boys." Then Wilbarger rose up and spoke, saying: "Don't shoot, it is Wilbarger."

Rogers was killed by Indians in the fall of 1837. He and several others had traveled to "Fort Prairie .. for the purpose of procuring ammunition for the settlers on the lower Colorado". Returning to Hornsby's Bend, they were attacked by Indians. Caught on open prairie they tried to outrun their attackers. Wilbarger says "The savages were mounted on good horses, but Rogers was upon a very poor animal, and they soon overtook and killed him". Jenkins says he was killed by lance. Joseph Rogers was buried in a cemetery on his parent's land, Rogers Hill Cemetery, atop Rogers Hill (30.278803, -97.639029). (Wilbarger, Depredations, pp. 261-262) (Jenkins, Recollections, pp. 46, 263) (Barkley p. 5)

A painting by George Catlin -- "Comanche (right) trying to lance Osage warrior (left)", 1834 -- provides an example of the type of mounted attack to which Rogers was subjected.

On a recent visit to Rogers Hill Cemetery I was unable to locate the grave of Joseph Rogers. Much of the cemetery is inaccessible and or hidden beneath the growth of weeds.

Built in 1836, Fort Colorado (also know as Coleman's Fort or Fort Coleman) predated the city of Austin. Built on a high hill about 5 miles east of the future site of Austin, the fort had good visibility of the Colorado River to the south, and Walnut Creek to the east.

The State of Texas erected a historical marker near the site of Fort Colorado in 1936. The marker reads:

Site of Fort Colorado (Also called Coleman’s Fort). June, 1836 - November, 1838. Established and first commanded by Colonel Robert M. Coleman. Succeeded by Capt. Michael Andrews And Capt. William M. Eastland. An extreme frontier outpost occupied by Texas Rangers to protect Anglo-American civilization from savage Indians in this vicinity.

Fort Prairie

Fort Prairie was a community that grew up around the site of the old fort in the 1880s taking its name from the former Fort Colorado. Fort Prairie appears on some old maps of Austin providing indication of the fort's location.

USGS Map of Austin from 1902 showing location of Fort Prairie

Coleman Springs

Gunnar Brune (Springs of Texas) states that soldiers from the fort used the water from nearby Coleman Springs, and that the springs were also a favorite Indian campground in earlier days. The springs are now located on land associated with the Austin Wildlife Rescue, at 5401 E Martin Luther King Jr Blvd, Austin, TX. (30.285276,-97.674621).

Coleman Springs

Strategic Location of the Fort

The fort was built to protect settlements such as Hornsby and Webberville, just to the east. But it was surely no accident that the location of the fort was in close proximity two key Indian trail fords across the Colorado River: Shoal Creek and the ford east of today's US 183 bridge, the one said to have been part of Camino Real de los Tejas.

On the map below, diamonds show the settlements of Hornsby and Webberville on what was the main east-west trail (now FM 969 / Webberville Road) from Bastrop to Waterloo (the settlement predating Austin). Circles show the segment of the Camino Real crossing the Colorado, up Walnut Creek and over to Manor. A square shows the ford at Shoal Creek. Fort Coleman sat strategically to both protect Anglo settlements and to attack Indians utilizing these trails and fords.