Tracing native trails across Austin

This is a post of an article that ran in the Austin American Statesman, October 24, 2015, by Michael Barnes, about work I've done on old Indian trails in and around Austin, Texas. I've added some additional side-bar photos beyond what was feasible in original article. Some additional footnotes added as well.

Michael's article wound up in his latest book, Indelible Austin volume II, 2018

Tracing native trails across Austin

USGS 1896 map with old Indian trails in and around Austin

You’ve heard of the butterfly whose wingbeats, ultimately, started a hurricane? What about the ant whose tiny track became a freeway?

Like humans — and water, for that matter — land insects tend to follow the path of least resistance. Their tracks are sometimes followed by small mammals, then beaten wider and deeper by larger mammals, and ultimately blazed by humans with their lumbering livestock.
During their “entrada” into Texas, Spanish explorers retraced established American Indian trails. Their “caminos,” in turn, were followed by Anglo-Americans, African-Americans, German-Americans and other settlers.

These trails almost always became roads, and some were eventually converted into railroads or freeways. Now, modern highways often bypass the ancient tracks and trails because, with engineering and construction advances, they can — and often should — preserve what’s there. Early railroads, however, almost always followed those paths of least resistance whenever possible.

Richard Denney, an avocational historian of uncommon diligence, has closely studied Austin’s earliest byways.

“Among history nuts, there are some who are particularly fascinated with old trails,” Denney says. “There is actually a name these people sometimes call themselves: ‘rut nuts.’”

Swales and ruts are the physical remains of old trails.

The transient nature of Denney’s upbringing in a military family made him all the more keen to dig into the history of Austin when he settled in the area in 1972. He also was curious about his family’s roots here — his mother’s relatives go back to pre-Civil War Central Texas in little towns such as Smithwick, Liberty Hill, Briggs and Florence.

"Defeat Hollow near the Oasis on Lake Travis was named for an encounter between one of my ancestors, Joel Harris, an early settler on Hudson’s Bend, and Indians, probably Comanches, hence the source for Comanche Peak next to the Oasis,” Denney says. “I have another ancestor — a great-great-grandmother — whose burial location was once lost to the family’s collective memory. Turns out, she was buried right here in Austin as a Confederate widow in the Texas State Cemetery.”

There’s no field guide to the native trails of Austin. Yet Denney has assembled considerable data from a number of sources and synthesized them into a rough map. First clue: The multipronged El Camino Real de los Tejas of the Spanish period, which is well-documented, likely followed some of those paths created by Indians.

Frank Brown’s unpublished “Annals of Travis County and the City of Austin: From the Earliest Times to the Close of 1875” — available in typescript at the Austin History Center and other libraries — describes a trail used by American Indians running south to north in Austin, which Brown called, naturally, the “Trail Going North,” adding that “this trail was found here by the first white explorers that visited the site now occupied by the capital city.”

So where was the Trail Going North? South of the river, it looks to follow South Congress Avenue. North, it predicts the path of MoPac Boulevard (Loop 1) and other major modern roads.

Then there’s the Mount Bonnell Trail to the northwest.

Denney says that Julia Lee Sinks, author and historian, was an early settler who arrived in 1840. She lived on West Pecan Street — now West Sixth Street — and wrote of “the beaten track of the Indians into town from the pass of Mount Bonnell.”

Bigfoot Wallace, a famous Texas Ranger, Denney says, lived in the rock shelter on Mount Bonnell for a period and recalled it being “right on the old Indian trail leading down to Austin.”

Denney emphasizes that these two corridors were used by Indians not just for raids but also for trade in such things as flintrock.

More hints physical and historical

1936 historical marker for Fort Colorado

Other clues help trace the trails: Forts such as Fort Colorado — first put down at the mouth of Walnut Creek in the 1830s [1], then moved north to a spot near present-day Martin Luther King Boulevard and Webberville Road — were sited to allow soldiers to intercept the movement of Indians. Also, river fords, such as the one across the Colorado at Shoal Creek, would have been shared by Indians. Last, the recorded locations of interactions of settlers and Indians can tell us a lot.

Newspaper article from 1844 about Simpson children

“Here’s one of my favorites: In 1842 [2], early Austin suffered what one might call the ‘Yogurt Shop Murders’ of its day,” Denney says. “A Mrs. Simpson, living on West Pecan about three blocks west of Congress, had two children — a daughter 14, a son, 12 — abducted by Indians while the children were in the adjacent valley (Shoal Creek). The path of the Indians and the abducted children took them from Sixth Street to Mount Bonnell, where they eluded the pursuit of an Austin posse, and finally to Spicewood Springs near the intersection of what is now MoPac and Spicewood Springs Road.”

The Simpson girl was killed at Spicewood Springs, but the boy, who was later ransomed, provided firsthand details on the trail taken.

De Cordova's 1856 Map of Texas showing road to Hamilton Valley.

In 1853, the Travis County courts designated certain pre-existing roads as “public highways” in order to assign responsibility for their maintenance. One such road ran from Austin to “Hamilton Valley,” which is today Burnet. The road as it left Austin was in part described as “continuing up the foot of the mountains with the Indian trail.”

That now roughly comports with U.S. 183 to the northern suburbs.

 

 

The domain of the Comanches

The 1894-1896 U.S. Geological Survey provides another piece of evidence: The area west of Shoal Creek was considered the domain of the Comanches. And it’s likely some roads in existence as early as 1894 reflected trails already in place. This was especially true west of the Balcones Escarpment. The USGS survey confirmed that in Travis County, “nine-tenths of its inhabitants are found … east of the Balcones scarp, the Edwards Plateau country to the west being but sparsely populated.”

So roads out west, way off the original Austin grid, likely had belonged to Indians.

Coleman Springs near old Fort Colorado

Gunnar Brune’s “Major and Historical Springs of Texas” and “Springs of Texas ” identify springs in Travis County known to have been used by Indians. Archaeology and geology provide the locations of sources of flint — or chert — known to have been valued by Indians, so trails leading to the Bee Cave area, as well as to Brushy Creek and the Georgetown region, probably predate European settlement.

Possible "Indian Marker Tree" on MoPac

“In 2014, the Texas Historic Tree Coalition came to Austin to look at what might be — and I stress ‘might be’ — what are called Indian marker trees,” Denney says. “These are trees culturally modified by Indians here in Austin to mark trails or otherwise significant locations.”

Some trees might have been markers at Camp Mabry, which sits at the crossroad of two trails: Frank Brown’s “Trail Going North” and the trail from Mount Bonnell into Austin.

“One such tree located on MoPac again interestingly sits at the ‘Y’ in two trails,” Denney says. “Brown’s Trail and what I call the Hamilton Valley Trail, borrowing the name used by the Travis County courts and old maps before 1858, when Hamilton Valley was renamed Burnet.”

Signal Hill near Leander, Texas

Several hills in Travis and Williamson counties are called “Pilot Knob,” a name given to navigational landmarks. The two in Travis both lie on Brown’s Trail, one south of Austin near the airport, one north off Loop 1 near the old Merrilltown Cemetery. The one south by Austin-Bergstrom International Airport would have been a navigational aid for the Camino Real. Travis County also has two “Signal Hills,”a name often given to rises historically associated with Indian smoke signaling or signal fires.

Some of Denney’s Indian, Spanish and settler trails were were later used to drive cattle to market — including the famous Chisholm Trail, which came through Austin. These lines were later picked up by Texas railroad and highway builders.

Those chapters, however, must wait for other articles here.

Footnotes

[1] While alternate locations have been cited (e.g. McGhee's Austin's Montopolis Neighborhood) historical and even archaeological evidence indicates its location near present-day Martin Luther King Boulevard and Webberville Road.
[2] 1842 has been reported by some authors, but probably happened in 1844 given the Congress of the Republic of Texas passed a resolution to appropriate a ransom that same year.

Texas Ranger Dick Preece's "Comanche Trail" (updated 8/1/2019)

" .. A few miles from the Preece ranch lay the southern terminus of the bloody Comanche Trail with its northern end being seven hundred miles away in Western Kansas. The Comanches still claimed three-fourths of Texas as their hunting ground. Once they raided Austin, slain and ridden off with Lone Star flags waving mockingly from their saddle-horns.. On the Comanche Trail grandfather perfected scouting as a somewhat forbidden art. Forbidden because his father mindful of the Indian danger, issued stern instructions for his younger boys to pot quails and jackrabbits elsewhere .. As the years went by .. The Comanche Trail faded. But a spur of the Texas Trail, which connected with the Chisholm Trail of the the longhorns ran near his ranch. He became one of the main suppliers of horses for the big drives of Texas cattle to Kansas..." 



Note, recent updates to this blog 8/114/2019:

• Additional review of deeds and census showing an expanded family ranch
• William Martin Preece, Sr & wife are living on the Preece family ranch on the Colorado River in 1860; discuss possible burial in the Enochs Cemetery, AKA Steiner Ranch Cemetery
• News articles concerning the family
• Link to a video reviewing 1837 & 1964 aerial photos of Comanche Peak and parts of the Preece Ranch https://youtu.be/l3l9zxHSnwE
• 1964 aerial photo showing location of cabin (though not the cabin itself) that was part of the Preece family ranch. 
• Identification of the Preece ranch marks and brands 
• William Martin Preece, Jr. death
• Mary E Preece Hancock obit
• Family relations -- Preece, Enochs, Hancock -- relative to Enochs & Hancock Cemetery

A number of years ago I was able to track down and purchase a copy of Real West (Volume VII, Number 38, Nov. 1964) that had the article "My Grandfather, Dick Preece", written by his grandson Harold Preece. That article, and the quote above, set me on a quest to research Dick Preece, his time in Texas, Comanche trails near his ranch, and the spur of the Chisholm Trail near his ranch.

While this is not intended as a genealogy piece, a bit of genealogy research was needed to try to sort through land records associated with the ranch. And sorting through the Preece family genealogy can be confusing. There are variations in the surname spelling: Preece vs. Priest vs. Price; references that use first names, some middle, some nick names (Dick Preece; Little Will; etc.). And there are two sets of seniors and juniors: William Martin Senior & Junior; Richard Lincoln Preece Senior & Junior; plus yet another William Martin Preece son of Richard Lincoln Preece. It makes for a real challenge sorting through land records, and through family trees that sometimes just simply get it wrong.

So with apologies to any genealogy I may have gotten wrong, here's a brief history of Dick Preece, Texas Ranger, and the Preece family ranch on the Colorado River:

Click here for a link to map with key locations in this blog

Maps and photos are from Google Maps; Texas GLO; Portal to Texas History; Austin History Center; Denver Public Library Digital Collections

1838, Coming to Texas; Bull Creek Gets a Name

Among the early Anglo settlers to the hill country west of Austin were William Martin Preece (1800-1870 or 71), wife Mary Elizabeth Giddens (various spellings; 1810-1878), and son Richard Lincoln Preece (1833-1906) -- AKA Dick Preece. A popular story associated with the Preece family is that the name “Bull Creek” is often attributed to the killing of a -- or even "the last" -- male buffalo on Bull Creek, either by William Martin Preece, or by his son Dick. In his article, “My Grandfather, Dick Preece”, Harold claims it was his great-grandfather, William Martin Preece, while in other materials on file at the Austin History Center he cites his grandfather, Dick Preece.

See more at https://txcompost.blogspot.com/2017/07/bull-creek-where-did-name-come-from.html

1850 Census

 The 1850 census provides a snapshot of the family. Notice the confusion over surname "Priest" vs. "Preece".

Looking ahead, William Martin Preece, Sr. dies in Sept. 1870 (or maybe 71), and his wife Mary Elizabeth Giddens Preece dies in 1878. It is known they died intestate, i.e. did not leave a will. So in 1892 their heirs have proof of heirship documented. [Travis County Deed Records: Deed Record 105, p.40]

The heirs are (using maiden names for females to compare with census; the document provides both maiden name and married name) Elizabeth Preece, Rachel Preece, Mary Preece, Wayne P. Preece, Taylor W. Preece, plus Frank Preece & Nancy Preece (neither of whom are on the 1850 census .. Frank born 1852 after the census. Nancy?).

And because William Martin Preece, Jr. (Dick's brother Little Will) is killed in a gun accident in March 1870 his son, William Martin Preece III, is specified as an heir.

Completely absent from the document, for reasons unknown, is Richard Lincoln Preece, and yet he was alive until 1906.

1849 - 1861, Texas Ranger Years; Preece Ranch; Comanche Trail

Harold Preece's article says that "At fifteen, grandfather could cut sign on Comanches when other frontiersmen [could not]. Under the tutelage of .. Big Foot Wallace, he developed into the best shot of the Travis County hills" and by the time he was 16 (1849) he was an "unenlisted volunteer" with Ranger patrols, and officially joining the Texas Rangers at age 22; about 1855. Dick Preece's younger brother, William Martin Preece Jr., also served as a Texas Ranger.

Chief Horseback ca. 1869-74

Harold says that in the mid-1850s, before the Civil War, "From the Colorado River to the San Saba the powerful Comanches struck, with its war parties enlarged by bands of Kiowas, Apaches, and Caddoes" and names Comanche Chief "Horse Back" (also spelled "Horseback") as arch enemy of Dick Preece. While the Penateka Comanche were the prevalent band in the Hill Country, Chief Horseback seems to have been a Nokoni with a more northerly range. Find A Grave's entry for Chief Horseback says "His younger days were filled with raiding and terrorizing white settlers. He led a great raid into Texas in 1864, going as far as Gainesville". Gainesville, TX is about 65 miles north of Fort Worth. So any dealings between Dick Preece and Chief Horseback were likely not in the immediate Travis County Hill Country the Preece's called home.

But the location of Dick Preece's ranch suggests he probably did have opportunity to deal with the Penateka Comanche closer to home. By 1859 Dick Preece is acquiring land of his own. The General Land Office records show that in 1859 Richard Lincoln Preece patented 160 acres along the Colorado River, in the area of what we now associate with River Place / Steiner Ranch subdivision, and across from today's Commons Ford Ranch Park [2]. While the land patent is dated 1859, he was living on and improving the land in 1856 (3 years previous), had it surveyed in 1857, then final patent in 1859.

Santa Monica Springs ca. 1890

Santa Monica Spring was located on this property. Brune (Springs of Texas) says Santa Monica Springs were once the basis for Comanche and Tonkawa Indian campgrounds. Gelo (Comanche Land and Ever Has Been) called them “a watering place” for the Comanche (Gelo's location of the springs is off). The springs are only about 4 miles south of Comanche Peak (Comanche Peak is near today's Oasis restaurant on Lake Travis) and Defeat Hollow, the location of an encounter between Joel Harris, an early settler to Hudson Bend, and Indians, probably Comanche. As the name of the Commons Ford Ranch Park suggests, the springs were probably located near a ford of the Colorado (early maps also show a ferry nearby). So Dick Preece's ranch probably had a Comanche trail running through it, south from Comanche Peak, crossing the Colorado at Santa Monica Springs.

Moore expedition history marker in Colorado City, TX

So might this be the "bloody Comanche Trail" about which Harold Preece wrote "its northern end being seven hundred miles away in Western Kansas". Probably not. Any Comanche trail running through the Preece Ranch, located on the banks of the Colorado River, probably followed the Colorado River itself, northwest to its headwaters; the Comancheria of the Penateka Comanche, the southern most band of the Comanche that frequented the Texas Hill Country.

It was after all the headwaters of the Colorado River around what is now Colorado City, TX where the expedition of Colonel John H. Moore headed on its punitive strike against the Penateka Comanche in their own homeland in 1840 in revenge for the sacking of the town of Linnville earlier that same year.

Maybe Harold's description of a trail through the ranch originating in Western Kansas was a bit of artistic license, or a conflation of Dick Preece's dealings with Nokoni Comanche Chief Horseback, the Chisholm Trail (which did indeed run into Kansas), and known Comanche trails around the ranch, albeit probably related to the Penateka trails northwest up the river.

1860 Preece Family Ranch Expands; 1860 Census

In 1860 Dick Preece and brother-in-law Joseph Hancock, married to his sister Mary Preece Hancock that same year, acquire the Abner C Conley grant to the east of Dick Preece's land. See Travis County Deed Records: Deed Record 40 Page: 557.

1860 R.L. Preece & Joseph Hancock acquire the Abner C Conley grant

In the 1860 census, first names are abbreviated to first letter of first name, so Richard Lincoln Preece is "R. Preece", but you can use ages and gender against 1850 & 1870 census to make sure you have the right persons.

In 1860 dwelling/family 428/428 is William Martin Preece, Sr. and wife Elizabeth. The very next dwelling/family 429/429 is Richard Preece, brother William Martin Jr., sister Rachel, brother Wayne, and Frank. Two generations of Preeces still together, but brothers and sisters are living in a separate dwelling.

One of the issues with census data is that it is sometimes hard to figure out where the family is actually located. The 1860 census is key for the Preece family. Remember that Dick Preece received a patent in 1859 for his land. To receive that patent he had to have been living on and improving the property for three years prior. So he was on the property in 1856; the GLO document tells us it was surveyed in 1857; the patent was given in 1859. This provides some certainty where Dick Preece was. And the census tells us by association who else was living with him (brothers and sisters), and next door (his parents). The Preece family is in 1860 on the Colorado River.

Another way to confirm their location is to look at neighbors in the census. Dwelling/family 425/425 are the Enochs, as in Enochs Cemetery AKA Steiner Ranch Cemetery. Jason Asbury Enochs (1824-1898) and wife Eliza Harriet Wade Enochs (1830-1873) are buried in that cemetery, and names, ages, gender line up with dwelling/family 425/425.

In 1856 Jason A. Enochs acquires all (or part? looks to be 260 acres of the original 320, but my deed sleuthing abilities are limited) of the William A. Hadley patent [GLO Abstract #365; Survey #460]. That property is below today's Mansfield Dam, about 2 miles NW of Dick Preece's 1859 patent, and about the same distance north of the Enochs cemetery. Eliza's father is Edmund B. Wade whose patent [GLO Abstract # 813; Survey # 47; Patented 1856] is just east of the Enoch's cemetery. Edmund B. Wade and family also appear in the 1860 census, dwelling/family 433/433. There are other Wades in the cemetery.

Keep Enochs / Steiner Ranch Cemetery in mind; we'll revisit shortly.
The cemetery is located off today's S. Quinlan Park Rd (30.334967, -97.922183), under two miles from Dick Preece's land. 
https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/2371347/steiner-ranch-cemetery
http://www.austintxgensoc.org/cemeteries/enochs-cemetery/

Ancestry.com for Edmund B. Wade:
https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/16801167/person/432013270775/facts

1861-1865, Civil War

During the Civil War, the Preece family, like many in Texas[3], opposed secession from the Union, but secede Texas did. After secession, pro-Union men were being discharged from the Texas Rangers, and this included Dick Preece and brother William Martin Jr. (AKA "Little Will").

Refusing to join the confederacy, Dick Preece found himself a fugitive; Harold Preece says the remote location of the ranch and "caves" of Bull Creek provided a base for Union loyalists resisting the Confederacy. Dick Preece served in an outfit called the "Texas Mountain Eagles", a Union guerrilla outfit fighting the Confederacy which became the First Texas Cavalry of the Union army (Zelade p.166), a fact inscribed on his tombstone.

Time and again, Harold says, Confederate irregulars invaded the hills west of Austin looking for boys and men to conscript, and cattle to help feed the Confederate cause. But time and again, Dick Preece, "chieftain of the Unionist irregulars", stopped them. Harold called the area we now know as Bull Creek an "unsurrendering patch of the United States", and Dick Preece the "very symbol of the Loyalist counter rebellion"

 Dick Preece's exploits as a guerrilla fighter against the confederacy were documented in another Harold Preece article, "Eagle of the Mountains: The true story of Ranger Dick Preece, who challenged Comanche and outlaw", Texas Rangers, Dec 1949. I was recently able to buy a copy of this magazine and will be writing more about it at some point, as well as donating the copy to the Briscoe Center's "Richard Lincoln Preece Papers".

1867 - 1884, Chisholm Trail Years

At the close of the Civil War, one of Texas' best economic resources during reconstruction was an abundance of longhorn cattle that could be sold in Kansas and other markets to the north. The Chisholm Trail was in use from about 1867 to 1884. A feeder branch of the Chisholm Trail is said to have passed by the Preece ranch. And during this period of cattle drives, the Preece family ranch was growing.

GLO records show that in 1869 William Martin Preece acquired two additional surveys along the Colorado, shown here marked sections 457 & 450. The survey marked section 553 is the one acquired by Dick Preece in 1859. For reference, notice on this map that the River Place Country Club is located on the northern end of section 450.

W.M. Preece (Sr.?) acquires two W.R.Hobbs grants.

The GLO map below gives a better sense of the lay of the land in 1870, i.e. the neighbors or sparsity thereof, at a time the Chisholm Trail was running. The square property northwest of Dick Preece was granted to a Frank Brichta but indications are never occupied as it was later patented by E.S. Hughes.

 https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth89020/m1/1/

GLO map from 1870 showing the Preece family ranch

 

1868-1870 Preece Ranch Marks & Brands

During this period three marks and brands were filed for by the Preece family.

• September 14, 1868 William Martin Preece, Jr. acquires the mark and brand P4
• September 31, 1868 William Martin Preece, Sr. acquires the mark and brand P2
• May 14, 1870 Richard Preece acquires the P6 mark and brand 

In a news article titled PREECE REUNION, the P6 ranch of Dick Preece is referenced giving us some indication that is how the ranch was known [Austin American-Statesman, 27 Jul 1939, p.6]

Marks and brands are recorded in Travis County Clerk Records: Marks and Brands Record 1, p.337

1870 Death of William Martin Preece, Jr.

March 30th, 1870, William Martin Preece, Jr. was killed. A news article out of Galveston reported "Wm. Preece, late Lieutenant 1st Texas Cavalry, U.S.A., (Gov/ Davis' old regiment) while getting into his crib through a small door, was instantly killed by the accidental discharge of his pistol. He was a son of old uncle Bill Preece, of Travis county. He lived near Round-Rock." [The Galveston Daily News, 6 Apr 1870, p.3]

1870 Census

While the GLO records show that in 1869 William Martin Preece acquired the two W.R. Hobbs grants, there is a question of whether it was Sr. or Jr.

The 1870 census (uses "Priest") shows that the families of William Martin Preece Sr, Richard Lincoln Preece, and Taylor Preece (now 23, married with one child) are consecutive families / dwellings (note there is an error in the transcription; when you look at the original handwritten document Richard Priest is corrected to show he is with Catherine, his wife, as a separate dwelling/household). This suggests it was likely Sr. that purchased the Hobbs grants, and was likely living on the land. One would think also, had Jr. patented the land while Sr. was still alive, the patent would have spelled that out.

It is the Hobbs grant that borders Panther Hollow on the east. While William Martin Sr. and wife died intestate, Dick Preece appears to have gained ownership or responsibility of this property, probably after his mother's death in 1878, as records show him responsible for taxes on the property in 1885 [Travis County Deed Records: Tax Deeds 77 p. 71]. 

1870 William Martin Preece, Sr. Passes; Question About Burial

William Martin Preece, Sr. and wife were recorded in the 1870 census on August, 15, 1870. Just a month after the census was recorded, September 14, William passed away (some sources list his death as 1871); oral history says he died of a stroke while fishing. And recall that William Martin Preece, Jr. was killed earlier that year (March) by accidental self inflicted gun shot.  1870 was a bad year for the Preece family.

That William Martin Preece, Sr. & wife Elizabeth are per the census in 1870 living on the Preece family ranch on the Colorado River brings into question where he was buried, and her in 1878.

Find A Grave (as of this writing 8/14/19) lists them both as buried in the Singleton Family Cemetery, AKA Post Oak Bend Cemetery (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/26475945).  But as one person comments on the Find A Grave entry (19 Aug, 2012) "Sorry, but I could not find headstones for William and Mary [Elizabeth]. There are a number of unmarked graves and they must be two of them".

An alternate explanation is that they weren't buried there. This Singleton cemetery is a straight line distance of about 11 miles from the Preece family ranch. But because of the Colorado River, travel distance would be double that going by way of Anderson Mill (avoiding a ford of the Colorado, but fording several major creeks), and triple if you went by way of Lohman's ford, which would involve fording the Colorado to boot. A long, long days travel at best in 1870 to transport the body by horse and wagon. And this is September in Texas, so heat, and possible floods, definitely a consideration. Given the remoteness of that part of Travis County, and the mortuary customs of that time, I just don't think this would have been done.

Alternate Burial Locations: Enochs and Hancock Cemetery

A letter written by Louise Preece, Dick Preece's granddaughter, Harold Preece's sister, dated July 2, 1968, provides an alternate location for their burial [4]. She is speaking about the family's eventual move from the ranch on the Colorado as a result of the completion of the dam of 1893, and the creation of Lake McDonald (more on that below). Parenthesis are hers, emphasis mine:

They had moved (dad's people) from the Colorado River around Bee Cave (near Austin) to Bull Creek. They let their lands on the Colorado go, but they could not take those first graves. Today most of the stones are gone and some are lying around broken up by the cattle of our once land. It is now Steinle's (sic) Ranch. There were such quaint stones too--it was a large cemetery.

From her reference to Steiner Ranch (and at the time of the writing it was still a ranch, not the subdivision of the same name today) it is clear she is talking about the Preece family ranch outlined here along the Colorado River. The reference to Bee Cave? As the crow flies it is about 4 miles from the Preece ranch to Bee Cave, and while today there are no crossings of the Colorado to make a direct route to Bee Caves, based on old maps a more direct route via fords or ferry was possible (close to Santa Monica Springs).

But what about the reference to the cemetery? From Louise Preece's letter she clearly thinks some of the Preece were buried on or near the old Colorado River homestead, i.e. what is today Steiner Ranch / River Place. There are two candidate cemeteries:  Enochs Cemetery (AKA Steiner Ranch Cemetery), and Hancock Cemetery. The graphic below shows the relationship between families -- Preece, Enochs, and Hancock -- and known burials in these two cemeteries. Given William Martin Preece, Sr. and wife had been living and ranching on the Preece family ranch since at least 1860 (census, deeds), it just makes more sense he, then she, was buried close to the ranch.

Daughter Mary E. Preece Hancock's obit from 1904 says "remains will be interred in the family burying ground, fifteen miles north of Austin" [Austin American-Statesman, 17 Sep 1904, p.8]. The obit indicates she was not survived by her husband, Joseph Hancock, so the "family burying ground" may well be Hancock Cemetery (some have suggested she was buried in the Preece Cemetery on FM 2222, but the 15 miles doesn't jive with that). William Martin Preece Sr. and wife's great grandchildren are buried in Hancock. The problem with Hancock Cemetery is we simply don't know how far back that cemetery dates. Enochs on the other hand has confirmed burials as early as 1873; and some of the unmarked graves could well be earlier. 

https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/2371347/steiner-ranch-cemetery
http://www.austintxgensoc.org/cemeteries/enochs-cemetery/
https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/282741/hancock-cemetery
http://www.austintxgensoc.org/cemeteries/hancock-cemetery/

Chisholm Trail

Zelade (p.166) says the Preece ranch was served by the post office at Running Brushy (now Cedar Park), run by Harriet Cluck. George and Harriet Cluck settled at Running Brushy with their family in the early 1870s having returned from a cattle drive on the Chisholm Trail. Running Brushy post office was established in 1874. George and Harriet are both buried at the Cedar Park Cemetery on land set aside from their farm for a family burial ground, and deeded to the community in 1912. The old Cedar Park Cemetery provides a good reference point for the location of the original Running Brushy community.

Route from Preece Ranch across Jollyville Plateau; USGS 1896 map

As Harold Preece's article says, "a spur of the Texas Trail, which connected with the Chisholm Trail of the the longhorns ran near his ranch. He became one of the main suppliers of horses for the big drives of Texas cattle to Kansas...". What would have been the route of a trail from Dick Preece's ranch connecting with the Chisholm Trail?

When you drive R.M. 620 today, you are likely on the feeder trail Dick Preece would have used to connect his ranch with the old Chisholm Trail. If we look at modern day map, R.M. 620 (R.M. stands for "Ranch to Market"; an indicator of that roads use even in more modern times) runs from near the Preece Ranch all the way to the Chisholm Trail crossing of Brushy Creek in Round Rock, near where the actual "round rock" is located. R.M. 620's route is largely determined by a geographical feature of that area: the Jollyville Plateau, a flat, level land bridge of sorts providing a path through the canyon lands created by Colorado River, Bull Creek and West Bull Creek.

R.M. 620 intersects with Chisholm Trail near its crossing of Brushy Creek

1893, First Colorado Dam

Of Dick Preece's children one was David Preece (Harold Preece's father), born 1871, and as an old man he wrote about the family's life (some of his writings are archived at the Austin History Center; see also Zelade). David Preece writes about the coming of the first dam across the Colorado River, completed in 1893 saying ".. smart town lawyers, crooked as a dog's hind leg, swarmed the hills talking about the dam to be built across the Colorado that would flood our range. They said we'd better sell our river bottom holdings while we could still get something for them". 

By 1893 the 60 foot high Austin Dam, AKA The Great Granite Dam, was completed creating what was known as Lake McDonald. The dam later failed in 1900 during torrential rains. But the location of the dam, Lake McDonald and the Preece ranch can be seen on the USGS 1896 topographic map. On this map, as a reference point, Santa Monica Springs was on the banks of the Colorado River on Dick Preece's patent of 1859.

In 1894, an article in the paper [Austin American-Statesman, 2 Apr 1894, p.2 ] mentioned Santa Monica Springs, Dick Preece and the rising waters of the Colorado River after the dam was completed:

Recent rises in the river has washed the banks at Santa Monica Springs until several feet have disappeared .. "Uncle Dick" Preece, who lived at [Santa Monica Springs] for many years [said] that at the time the two big coves were washed out below the springs there had been a big rise and he had passed over the field inspecting it. He returned to his house and presently heard a rumbling, roaring noise, and on going out discovered the two big coves just as we see them today.

The two "coves" may well be the inlets at the mouth of Panther Hollow Creek in today's River Place.

Another article from 1895 [Austin American-Statesman, 8 Dec 1895, p.14] lists compensation paid to R.L. Preece for damages to land as a result of the lake ($485). J.A. Hancock ($570; probably his brother-in-law married to sister Mary) is also listed. In 1874 Dick Preece had sold his half of the Abner C Conley grant to his brother-in-law and sister. Remember that parcel of land was bought in 1860. [Sale to J.A. Hancock, Deed Record 40-559].

Family on the Move

Fearing loss of land due to the rising waters of a dam across the Colorado, the Preece family (and many others!) over time, sold their holdings along the Colorado and moved to properties along West Bull Creek. The motive was not just the loss of land due to rising water; the creation of Lake McDonald eliminated fords of the Colorado forcing families to look for alternate routes to destinations like Austin. Imagine today the problems caused when a bridge over a creek, river or the lake washes out.

GLO records show a variety of tracts of land granted/patented/acquired by the Preece family up and down R.M. 2222 (not meant to be a comprehensive list).

Dick Preece's son, Richard Lincoln Preece, Jr (AKA Byrd Preece) was one of Nichols School's trustees. Nichols was known as one of the "mountain schools". The school was located on today's 2222 across from 3M.

Page from the 1936 Defender, a yearbook of Travis County rural schools

1906, The Preece Cemetery

Richard L. Preece 1833-1906, Preece Cemetery

After his death in 1906 Dick Preece was buried along West Bull Creek, at the Preece Cemetery, on Vaught Ranch Rd. Austin, TX, just off RM 2222 [6].

The letter written by Harold Preece's sister, Louise Preece, dated July 2, 1968, provides a fascinating read about the Preece Cemetery [4]. The "big dams" referenced here are the current Highland Lake dams which did indeed require relocation of some cemeteries.

In the 1930's the big dams were built, and the descendants of the pioneers were told they would have to get out as the land was condemned. The cemeteries were moved, thank goodness; but our Preece cemetery was not touched. It is on Bull Creek, just below the site where great Uncle Wayne Pulaski Preece built his house and donated the land for the cemetery. It is said that at night Uncle Wayne would leave his grave and walk cross the wide front porch and enter a little side room where he slept. I heard foot steps one night (don't smile at this, for such things are known to happen in our family); The sound of the foot steps went across the porch and entered the side room; then the footsteps returned and went down toward the cemetery from which they came. We were all sleeping in the same room. I wondered why no one said anything. Years later it occurred to me that perhaps I as the only one who heard them) I never did mention it to anyone then. The cemetery was on a limestone embankment, and it Is said that one or two parsons (sic) dug up for reburial had turned to stone. A geologist later said the bodies had ossified--or at any rate, they did change because of the effect of the limestone on them. Mother said she must never be buried there, as she wanted to be able to rise on the Judgment Day. She died in 1972, and is buried at the foot of the mountains, in Austin Memorial Park, where my father was buried in 1956 with a WOW service. He had hunted on the land which later became a cemetery, and said he wanted to lie there. On his gravestone are the words, "I shall I look unto to the hills from which cometh my help." Mother who hated the hills has on he gravestone, "I shall not pass this way again." Uncle Wayne's place was built on the site of a Comanche hunting ground. The early pioneers there, including my people, fought the Comanche's (sic); and one Giddens cousin was killed. We children used to pick up arrow heads, and my uncle Byrd (another Richard Lincoln Preece) found an Indian grave in which the body had been buried in a sitting position. It was not on our place, though. The body was that of an Indian of course.

The burial discovered by her uncle turns out to have been reported in the newspaper: Austin American-Statesman, 8 Mar 1932, p.10. "Indian Skeleton Found in Cave Near Here". R.L. Preece, Jr. (AKA Byrd Preece), reported finding a burial in a cave on the Preece property along West Bull Creek. Archeologists and/or anthropologists from UT were called in. The article goes on to say "It is also of interest that the cave is located on the old Comanche trail, which runs through the back-yard adjoining the house of Mr. Preece"

 

Today, The Legacy of Dick Preece

If you are interested in learning more about the Preece family and their early days in Travis County, the University of Texas’ Briscoe Center for American History is home to the “Richard Lincoln Preece Papers, 1859-1919”, which comprises correspondence, printed material, legal and financial documents, etc. pertaining to Dick Preece’s experiences as a soldier serving in the Civil War and as a rancher following the war.  (click here for The Guide to the Richard Lincoln Preece Papers, 1859-1919).

For safe keeping I donated my copy of the Real West magazine with Harold Preece's article to the Briscoe Center. An on-line copy is available at Internet Archive.

I have also donated to the Briscoe my copy of Texas Rangers, from Dec 1949, with Harold Preece's article  "Eagle of the Mountains: The true story of Ranger Dick Preece, who challenged Comanche and outlaw". An on-line copy of that article is available at Internet Archive.

Additional materials are also available at the Austin History Center.

 

More Photos 

1964 aerial photo of Panther Hollow, today's River Place park. Per oral history & deed boundaries, shown is the general location of a cabin (though probably not the cabin itself) thought to have been part of the Preece family ranch is shown. Per USGS maps and aerial photos, the road shown was the original road into Panther Hollow.

Hill Country view toward the Colorado River including parts of Dick Preece's ranch.

A view of the Colorado River (Lake Austin) about 1.75 miles downstream from Santa Monica Springs

Pecan bottoms like these at Woodland Park at River Place, just east of the Preece Ranch, would have been ideal Comanche camp grounds providing water, shelter and nuts

Entrance to the Preece Cemetery on R.M. 2222

Panorama of the Preece Cemetery with Richard Lincoln Preece's tombstone center with flag

Enochs Cemetery AKA Steiner Ranch Cemetery where William Martin Preece, Sr. and wife may have been buried. The cemetery is a short distance from the Preece family ranch and there are many unmarked burials here. The true extent of the cemetery may indeed extend beyond the current chain link fence.

Headstone of J.A. Enochs.

Eliza Harriet Wade, wife of J.A. Enochs. Died 1873. But were there earlier burials here, including perhaps William Martin Preece, Sr. in 1870?

 

Footnotes 

[1] Priest is an alternate spelling of Preece. The Find A Grave website has two entries for William Martin. See Find A Grave website entry for William Martin Priest and also Find A Grave website entry for William Martin Preece; same person, same cemetery.

[2] As I've noted in another post, "Commons" is likely a corruption of "Cammans" as in P.H. Cammans, the original owner of that tract of land where the park is today located.

[3] Many counties in the Texas hill country voted against secession, e.g. Travis, Williamson, Burnet, Mason, Gillespie, Blanco

[4] This letter by Louise Preece shows up copied in several places on the internet, including the Genealogy.com website (http://www.genealogy.com/forum/surnames/topics/price/14893/) and on Find A Grave for William Martin Priest; see [1]

[5] Enoch Cemetery, AKA Steiner Ranch Cemetery, is close to the Preece family ranch. While Find A Grave has William Martin Preece, Sr and wife buried in Post Oak Bend Cemetery, AKA Singleton Family Cemetery, that could simply be an error made by the person who logged the burial.

[6] As noted already, William Martin Preece Sr. is not buried at the Preece Cemetery. He and wife are listed as buried at the Singleton Family Cemetery. Google Maps lists it as Post Oak Bend Cemetery, Marble Falls, TX 78654.