Indian Activity on Walnut Creek
Walnut Creek figures into a lot of Indian stories of early Austin. The following account is of interest with respect to trails as this section of Walnut Creek ("about three-quarters of a mile away") would have been part of the Camino Real de los Tejas:
A Stampede. A few men decided to take the horses out to graze in the early morning .. The animals were grazing towards Walnut Creek about three-quarters of a mile away, and were nearing the timber, when several Indians dashed out, yelling and blowing whistles. The horses snorted and started on a run, when an Indian on horseback rushed in ahead of them, and leading off up the creek, the remaining Indians following (Brown, Chapter 5, p. 3)
Indians Camped at the "Regular Crossing" of the Colorado
Smithwick was among the Rangers that participated in the following strike against a camp of Indians on the Colorado, and recorded in his Evolution of a State (p. 113):
Given the prominence of the Shoal Creek crossing, the Rangers surely had an established route from the fort to the crossing. And recall, Jenkins indicated the Rangers seem to recognize the hill atop which the Indians were camped. If indeed they were on Brown's "Trail Going North", that was an old trail the Rangers would have been familiar with, after all, that was known as Old San Antonio Road, the route to San Antonio. The stage would years later run this trail to and from Austin and San Antonio. So the Rangers likely had knowledge of the route they needed to follow. But what was that route?
Barkley (p.9-10) describes the route by which early settlers entered Austin from Webberville. Travelling on today's FM 969 / Old Webberville Road, passing by Fort Colorado, turning south on Webberville Road to its' intersection with 7th Street, east on 7th until about the "900 block" (near where the French Legation would later be), then south toward 5th Street, then west over to Congress. This was the "route of Lamar on his triumphant entry into Austin as President of the Republic of Texas in the fall of 1839". The previous year, 1838, then Vice President Mirabeau Lamar stopped at Fort Colorado to procure an escort of Rangers before proceeding to Jacob Harrell's cabin near the Shoal Creek crossing of the Colorado. Lamar was on the buffalo hunt that famously led to his decision to recommend that location as the site of the future capital of Texas. And just a year previous to Lamar's buffalo hunt, Smithwick's Rangers needed to travel from Fort Colorado to the Shoal Creek crossing.
The Shoal Creek crossing and Congress Avenue are very close to one another so it may well be Smithwick's Rangers traveled a similar route along Webberville Road from the fort to the Shoal Creek crossing. If so, the route to the Indian campsite near present day St. Edwards University might have looked something like the following map. The measured distance of this route is 9 miles, close to the 10 miles given by Brown.
One evening early in the spring of 1837 we were out on the parade, which was lighted by the silvery rays of a crescent moon, whiling away the time between supper and taps ... The festivities were brought to a sudden close by a bright flame that suddenly shot up on a high knoll overlooking the present site of Austin from the opposite side of the river. Fixing our eyes steadily on the flame, we distinctly saw dark objects passing and re-passing in front of it. Our scouts had seen no sign of Indians, still, we knew no white men would so recklessly expose themselves in an Indian country, and at once decided they were Indians. Hastily summoning Captain Andrews, we held a consultation as to the measures to be adopted for their capture. We surmised they had but just struck camp, otherwise they would have known their camp fire could be seen from the fort. The Indians, being on the other side of the river near the [or their, see Galveston Daily News article below] regular crossing, Captain Andrews suggested that we take an early start and intercept them at the ford .. [but] .. I urged that we start at once and surprise them in camp.… Selecting fifteen of the best mounted men, we were soon ready to start. The moon was getting low, and having the river to cross, we made all haste to get across before it went down. With the disappearance of the moonlight clouds blew up, obscuring the stars and making it difficult to keep on our course. We had the river to guide us, however, and, having scouted the country till we were familiar with every hill and ravine, we moved slowly forward. .. Picking our way through the brush, and stumbling over rocks, we watched and listened for any sign that might indicate discovery …In this way we consumed the greater part of the night.
The Rangers attacked the camp of sleeping Indians about day-break. The Indians were routed, one Indian wounded and one Ranger killed, with all Indian horses and "camp equipage" going to the Rangers. What we don't know from Smithwick's story is the ford of the Colorado at which the Indians were camped.
Jenkins in Recollections (p. 50) recounts this story, saying "The soldiers knew the hill from which the light gleamed..", but adds nothing as to where the Indians were camped.
Brown in Annals of Travis County provides a bit more detail on the story (pp. 6-7). Brown says the "regular crossing" was the Shoal Creek crossing, and says "the scrimmage here recited must have occurred not far from the present site of St. Edward's College. The distance from the fort to the scene of the fight, as the crow flies, must have been about five miles, while the distance traveled by way of the ford, must have been fully ten miles".
Brown's verbiage ("the scrimmage here recited must have occurred") may indicate some speculation on his part. Never the less, it's the best historical account of the location we have.
Brown's verbiage ("the scrimmage here recited must have occurred") may indicate some speculation on his part. Never the less, it's the best historical account of the location we have.
Trail of Indians
So the ford at Shoal Creek was what Smithwick considered the "regular crossing" of that time, and by "regular" we might assume most frequently used. This combined with the fact that the Indians were also camped near St. Edward's College on South Congress hints that the Indians may well have been headed north on Brown's "Trail Going North".Trail of the Rangers
Barkley (p.9-10) describes the route by which early settlers entered Austin from Webberville. Travelling on today's FM 969 / Old Webberville Road, passing by Fort Colorado, turning south on Webberville Road to its' intersection with 7th Street, east on 7th until about the "900 block" (near where the French Legation would later be), then south toward 5th Street, then west over to Congress. This was the "route of Lamar on his triumphant entry into Austin as President of the Republic of Texas in the fall of 1839". The previous year, 1838, then Vice President Mirabeau Lamar stopped at Fort Colorado to procure an escort of Rangers before proceeding to Jacob Harrell's cabin near the Shoal Creek crossing of the Colorado. Lamar was on the buffalo hunt that famously led to his decision to recommend that location as the site of the future capital of Texas. And just a year previous to Lamar's buffalo hunt, Smithwick's Rangers needed to travel from Fort Colorado to the Shoal Creek crossing.
The Shoal Creek crossing and Congress Avenue are very close to one another so it may well be Smithwick's Rangers traveled a similar route along Webberville Road from the fort to the Shoal Creek crossing. If so, the route to the Indian campsite near present day St. Edwards University might have looked something like the following map. The measured distance of this route is 9 miles, close to the 10 miles given by Brown.
The Hill From Which the Light Gleamed
A final point about Smithwick's story that is worth examining: Could the Rangers in fact see a campfire on a hill near present day St. Edwards from the fort, some 5 plus miles away?
In Anne Thiele Holder's book about the Tannehill family, Tennessee to Texas, in describing a fictionalized conversation, Jesse Tannehill says "At the fort site, you can see as far as eight-ten miles in any direction". Today it's hard to visually confirm that from the site of Fort Colorado a hill by St. Edwards would be visible: Views are now obstructed by neighborhood trees and houses, and especially by the plethora of high rise buildings that now occupy downtown Austin.
Still, modern GIS provides hope. GIS tools are now available to allow one to analyze what geographical features are visible from a given location. Archeologists have use of such tools to analyze the prehistoric landscape. One such tool freely available on the internet is "Hey Whats That" (as in, "Hey, what's that peak there on the horizon?"). Below is a visibility cloak map created using the application. The X in the upper right marks the general local of Fort Colorado. The cross-hairs in the lower right mark the spot of a hill on the St. Edward's campus. Red indicates points which could (but for trees, houses and high rise buildings) be visible based altitude and curvature of the earth. Clearly, many elevated areas on the south bank of the Colorado might have been visible from the fort, especially if we consider that the Rangers might have been using an elevated position, say from the top of one of the fort's buildings or stockade.
Smithwick's story rings true!
In Anne Thiele Holder's book about the Tannehill family, Tennessee to Texas, in describing a fictionalized conversation, Jesse Tannehill says "At the fort site, you can see as far as eight-ten miles in any direction". Today it's hard to visually confirm that from the site of Fort Colorado a hill by St. Edwards would be visible: Views are now obstructed by neighborhood trees and houses, and especially by the plethora of high rise buildings that now occupy downtown Austin.
Still, modern GIS provides hope. GIS tools are now available to allow one to analyze what geographical features are visible from a given location. Archeologists have use of such tools to analyze the prehistoric landscape. One such tool freely available on the internet is "Hey Whats That" (as in, "Hey, what's that peak there on the horizon?"). Below is a visibility cloak map created using the application. The X in the upper right marks the general local of Fort Colorado. The cross-hairs in the lower right mark the spot of a hill on the St. Edward's campus. Red indicates points which could (but for trees, houses and high rise buildings) be visible based altitude and curvature of the earth. Clearly, many elevated areas on the south bank of the Colorado might have been visible from the fort, especially if we consider that the Rangers might have been using an elevated position, say from the top of one of the fort's buildings or stockade.
Smithwick's story rings true!
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| Red indicates what is visible from Fort Colorado |
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| A view from the St. Ed's Main Building hill looking north to general direction of Ft. Colorado |
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| An article by Noah Smithwick from Galveston Daily News 1897 |
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| 1839 Austin & Vicinity Map shows trail from Tannehill league (location of Fort Colorado) entry |
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