Trails ...
At the founding of Austin, there were a number of trails being utilized by the Indians that frequented the area. The trails were variously used for trade, acquisition of materials like flint, and migratory hunting and gathering as they followed the seasons, and raiding. In time Austin grew, as did outlying communities, often around the same resources -- such as springs -- that first attracted Indians. Old trails became roads, and what were once Indian camps along those trails became communities. And today the process of the new replacing the old continues. Today superhighways replace or by-pass the old roads. Communities that replaced old campsites have now themselves largely disappeared having been assimilated into the ever expanding Austin City Limits.and Tales ...
There’s a quote I love from the book Believing in Place, attributed to Comanche elder and storyteller Carney Saupitty: “Sacred places become sacred only after some transforming experience has occurred there”. In addition to trails, there are lots of tales of transformative experiences that made people, places, even things (like a meteorite!) special, sometimes sacred, to Austin and Travis County history.As a member of the Travis County Historical Commission, this blog is my attempt to share what I've learned about some old trails and tales in Austin and Travis County. Some posts are full blown articles, some of which have been featured in Michael Barnes' column in the Austin American Statesman, or his books Indelible Austin, volume I and II. Other posts are quick post-it notes of facts I come across that I feel are worthy of a wider audience via search on the internet (as opposed to a dusty book on a shelf somewhere in some archive). And on occasion I just simply cannot help but write a post about some topic that catches my fascination outside of Travis County!
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Great work Richard. Keep it up.
ReplyDeleteThanks Carol. A lot of my effort is now being put on the TCHC blog. https://traviscountyhistorical.blogspot.com/
ReplyDeleteHi Richard. Fascinating to read your blog. August Waechter and Louise Thurm are my Great-Great-Grandparents. I've recently begun some family history research, and your work has been very helpful as not much is known about this branch of the family. I was born, and live, in New Zealand, so it's really only through the efforts of people like yourself that I can discover this sort of information. Keep up the great work, it's much appreciated!
ReplyDeletePaul Waechter
Paul - Great, good to hear from you; so glad you are finding this useful.
DeleteGreat website! Thanks !
ReplyDeleteI am glad to have found this blog from some link on facebook. We (Bill and Joyce Snodgrass) have some land in the Northwest of Travis county that may be part of an old stagecoach path, and evidence of Native American camps were found a few years back. I think the link I was reading involved an 'Indian Marker Tree", though it is possible that our marker is not old enough. It does point to the lowest spot in our creek. Will try to keep in touch with this group as possible and would love to have someone check out our property for historical items, including a very massive Oak Tree.
ReplyDeleteThanks for leaving a comment. And I'm slowing trying to phase this blog out as I transition efforts to the Travis County Historical Commission blog where I'm TRYING to encourage more authors! https://traviscountyhistorical.blogspot.com/
DeleteRegarding the tree, these are the folks to talk with, but yes, age is definitely a part of the equation.
https://txhtc.org/