Lohman's Crossing

River fords are a great way to identify old trails: where there's a ford there was a trail or trails converging to that point on either side of the ford. Today's post, Lohman's Ford AKA Lohman's Crossing [1]

Historical Marker

The historical marker for Lohmans Crossing is located in the City of Lakeway (click here for additional details on marker location) and reads: A native of Hanover, Germany, John Henry Lohmans emigrated to Texas in 1842. He settled in Austin where he opened a large dairy farm. In 1867 he moved into this area west of Austin and cleared a farm out of the abundant timberland. Lohmans worked on several road construction projects in the area and privately financed the building of Lohmans Ford Road. Lohmans Crossing Road (.5 mi. W) follows the general path of the early route. Lohmans Ford Road, along with others in the area, was significant in the formation of an early Colorado River crossing network.

The marker is located in the back of the historic Liebelt log cabin (which was relocated to this location); the marker pole is visible in the sidebar photo of the cabin.

In front of the cabin are two graves; more information available on Find A Grave entry for the Strahle cemetery.

 

John Henry Lohman

A good read on J.H. Lohman is Elaine Perkins' book, A Hill Country Paradise? Travis County and Its Early Settlers; it fills in some of the story left untold on the history marker. While the marker says he was born in Germany, there apparently is family disagreement on this point, some stating he was born in Holland. Perkins says that "During the rule of Napoleon the Dutch fell under the rule of France. In 1814 [he] found himself marching with Napoleon's Army on the March to Moscow". He rose to the rank of captain and was with Napoleon at the defeat of the Battle of Waterloo. In 1842, Lohman, his wife and four children, immigrated to America and entered Texas through Galveston, then made their way to Hornsby Bend, here in Travis County, then on to Austin where he established a dairy farm. As to why he left Austin to settle again on the Colorado River near today's Lakeway? A run-in with Indians in Austin left Lohman fearing retribution on him and his family, so he sold the farm and moved. Perkins says that "Although Henry was now over sixty, he personally undertook the building of his new home, which was a large two-story structure of native stone [and that] the house stood for eighty years before being demolished when the Mansfield Dam flooded the Colorado River."

The story about his house being demolished due to the creation of Mansfield Dam is a little puzzling; as we'll see on maps, his patent of land was not affected by the creation of Lake Travis. But as I've written about in another post about the Preece family, there apparently were misconceptions -- some taken advantage of by land speculators -- as to what was going to be inundated by building of the dam. 

 

The Route of Lohman's Ford Road

Notice the marker says "Lohmans Crossing Road (.5 mi. W) follows the general path of the early route". The keyword here I think being "general path". Comparing modern maps vs. old maps the old road appears to be a bit west of the current road.

This Travis County Appraisal District (TCAD) map shows the old land patents around today's Lakeway, including Lohman's patent, as well as today's "Lohmans Crossing Road". Note the current road's placement with respect to the land patents of Lohman and Reinke.

(As an aside also notice the Liebelt patent which is presumably the original location of the Liebelt log cabin).

 

Now compare the above TCAD map with this map snippet from an 1880 map of Travis County [2]. In the 1880 map Lohman's road runs through his property and squarely through Reinke's. So the old road may have been a bit west of today's Lohmans Crossing Road.

Where did it cross the Colorado? By the 1880 map the old road appears to have crossed through the C.A. Haley property, then across the  Colorado River on the property of Wm. Davenport whose patent is also visible on the modern TCAD map.

North of the river the road resumes as today's Lohman Ford Road.

 

Prehistoric Utilization of the Ford?

Prehistoric mortar and pestel unearthed in Lakeway

As noted on the History of Lakeway web pages, Native Americans called this area home before it was settled by the pioneers: "Relics [dating to] about 3,000 BC are inconspicuous to the untrained eye, but plentiful nevertheless. These are rocks charred from campfires, flint weapons, and tools, bones, and the opened shells of mollusks. They are vestiges of the people who occupied the Hill Country and Lakeway from early times until white settlers arrived here in the 1800s.

There are apparently a number of "Indian mounds" in Lakeway. I assume by this they mean burned rock middens. The Lakeway Heritage Trail mentioned on their website will take you by one of these mounds, now in someone's front yard.

From an old trail perspective, it's probably safe to assume Native Americans used Lohman's ford long before it took Lohman's name. One of the things I find interesting about the Lohman's Ford Road on the old 1880 map is where it leads: Flintrock, Texas. The map shows it as Flint Rock P.O., that is post office. Of Flintrock, TX, the Handbook of Texas [3] says a post office was opened there in 1875 with "Paul Reinke" as postmaster. One would assume the Reinke on the 1880 map is, or is related to, the "Paul Reinke" mentioned as postmaster. But more to the point, the handbook says the community took its name from nearby Flintrock Hill "which was named for the abundance of flint in the area." And not just Flintrock Hill; less than 3 miles to the southwest of Flintrock Hill lie Flint Knob and Chalk Knob, said to have been lithic procurement sites -- "flint quarries" -- in prehistoric times. [4]

Ah .. flint. There's a good reason to cross the Colorado River! 

Photos

 View of Flintrock Hill in distance; Baylor Scott & White Medical Center to left.

 

 

 

 

 Panorama looking north from near top of Flintrock Hill. Lohman's Crossing visible in distance.

 In addition to flint, and proximity to the Colorado River, there appear here springs. One appears to start near the north side of Flintrock Hill.

 Another view of Flintrock Hill and part of Yaupon Creek into which the spring at the base of the hill appears to feed.

Part of Yaupon Creek (?) into which the spring feeds on nearby Flintrock Falls Golf Course. As you can tell from the photo, the springs appear to produce an abundance of water.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Footnotes, References

[1] You will find various spellings of John Henry Lohman's name which makes the possessive spelling of his name tricky. I take his name to be John Henry Lohman which agrees with Perkins (p. 18), and is the spelling used e.g. on the 1880 map of Travis County showing original land patents. The historical marker for "Lohmans Crossing" makes it confusing as to whether they are taking his name to be "Lohmans", or whether they are intending the possessive form of "Lohman" but forgot the apostrophe. Other spellings include "Lohmann".

[2] You can find a very legible copy of the 1880 Map of Travis County here: Ford, Reuben W, and August Gast & Co. Map of Travis County, Texas. [St. Louis, Mo.: August Gast & Co, 1880] Map. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2012592087/. (Accessed January 10, 2017.)

[3] Flintrock, TX. Handbook of Texas Online, accessed January 10, 2017, http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hvf92.
 
[4] Flint Knob and Chalk Knob, Texas Beyond History, https://www.texasbeyondhistory.net/plateaus/images/ap2.html