Travis County has had two locations named Montopolis that differ in their formation and location, causing confusion when the history of the two are conflated. Michael Barnes with The Austin American-Statesman tried to clear up some of the confusion with his story "Montopolis: A Tale of Two Towns" in his book Indelible Austin: More Selected Histories, Waterloo Press, 2018. And we have a historical marker to be installed at the site of the original Montopolis town tract in Govalle Park, 5200 Bolm Road. Historians such as Mary Starr Barkley (History of Travis County and Austin 1839-1899) from the 1960s clearly remembered the original site of Montopolis and its connection to Austin's Republic of Texas era history. But it's obvious today in the 21st century, Austin is in danger of forgetting part of its own origin story.
In this article we'll sort out the true story of the two Montopolis, the old and the new.
Contents:
- Republic of Texas Era Montopolis (North of River)
- From Reconstruction to Today's Neighborhood (South of River)
- The Montopolis Crossing of the Colorado
- References, Footnotes
- Appendices:
A) Common Misconceptions (fact check, myth busters); B) Montopolis
Neighborhood on Early Maps, Texas Almanac, Texas Census of 1887-1888,
Federal Census of 1950; C) Historical Marker Status
By Lanny Ottosen and Richard Denney, Travis County Historical Commission
Republic of Texas Era Montopolis
The original Montopolis was a Republic of Texas era town established by Jesse Cornelius Tannehill (1797-1863). [1],[2],[3] Tannehill’s time in Texas preceding Montopolis is well established.[4] He came to Texas with his family in 1828 first settling near Caney Creek in Matagorda County and by 1829 was in Bastrop County as a member of Stephen F. Austin’s “Little Colony”. In 1836 during the Texas war for independence the Tannehills and other families fled Bastrop as part the “runaway scrape”. Following the war, the Tannehills lived in Huntsville and later in La Grange until 1839.[5]
In 1832 while in Bastrop, Tannehill had received a headright league on the north bank of the Colorado River, east of and adjacent to what would become Austin, and that would become the location of the Montopolis townsite. Planning and surveying of the 800 acre townsite started in 1838 and Jesse moved his family and an enslaved family to the Montopolis tract in early 1839. George W. Bonnell, who recorded his "Observations" while traveling through the Texas frontier in 1838, provided this description while traveling up the Colorado: “[July 24th we then reached] the intended scite (sic) of the new town to be called Montropolis (sic). It is on the east bank of the river, and tolerably pleasantly situated. Some 15 or 20 men are now at work at this place, who expect to have each a cabin erected in a few weeks."[6] Three miles further Bonnell reported arriving at another “new town”: Waterloo.
On July 2, 1839 Jesse Tannehill and five other men entered an agreement defining their Montopolis partnership that was recorded by the Bastrop County Clerk.[7] This document contains the earliest known plat of the original town tract. The original Montopolis town tract was designed with lots for homes, farming, out-lots, and “churches, seminaries of learning and other public buildings … to promote the general prosperity of the place”. Streets were laid out on a grid much like Edwin Waller’s design of Austin. Indeed, evidence suggests Montopolis, as well as Comanche (in Travis County at the mouth of Onion Creek on the Colorado near today's Garfield), aspired to become the capital of the new Republic of Texas, but Waterloo was selected instead. Montopolis did not develop as expected, probably because of proximity to Austin, and by 1841 the Montopolis partnership was dissolved, and land sold. Although the Montopolis partnership had ended, Montopolis as a community persisted; businesses such as Howard’s Montopolis Nursery at the heart of the original town tract preserved the memory of the original Montopolis into the 20th century.[8] Legal documents continued to reference the “Montopolis town tract” into the 20th century.[9]
 |
| Page 500 from the original Bastrop County (Tex.), County Clerk’s Office,
plat of the town of Montopolis, Deed Book C. The deed records "...[the]
Town of Montopolis, including the adjacent farming lands, containing in
all eight hundred acres, it being a part of the Tannahill (sic) League
...". Notice drawing depicting Colorado River's eastern flow: as
recorded, the entirety of the Montopolis town tract was contained within
800 acres of the Tannehill's headright league on the north side of the
Colorado River. The deed was recorded July 2, 1839. Photo courtesy Lanny Ottosen. |
 |
| Jesse C. Tannehill's original townsite of Montopolis in terms of modern landscape. Deed interpretation by Lanny Ottosen, Travis County Historical Commission. GIS mapping by Griffin Price. |
From Reconstruction to Today's Neighborhood
The second Montopolis is a community south of the Colorado River on the Santiago Del Valle grant that began taking shape in Texas' Reconstruction era and into the early 20th century, evolving to become the neighborhood most Austinites recognize today as Montopolis. In 1838 when Tannehill laid out the original town tract north of the river, the area south of the river where the current community exists, was comprised of 9 leagues of the Santiago Del Valle grant. It was still virtually vacant land entirely owned by Galveston founder, Michael B. Menard who sold it to Thomas F. McKinney in February 1839.[10] McKinney would not begin selling portions of it until after Waterloo had been selected as the capital.[11] Tannehill never owned any part of the Santiago del Valle grant, nor was he in any way involved in development or settlement south of the Colorado River, where the current community of Montopolis is located. In the 19th century the earliest post office opened south of the river on the Del Valle grant was Bluff Springs in 1853, followed by Del Valle in 1878, Carl in 1887 and the last was the Montopolis post office opening in January 1897 on the south bank of the river near the ferry crossing; it was discontinued in 1902.[12] While short lived, the post office, along with its location on the Montopolis ford, was the catalyst for the adoption of the name Montopolis for the community that was developing south of the river.
After the turn of the twentieth century citizens of the area known today as the Montopolis neighborhood began to forge their own identity incorporating the name with local businesses. One of the most significant landmarks that identifies the neighborhood was established in 1950 when 70 local residents petitioned the Travis County Commissioners Court to rename two existing 19th century roads from Miller Lane and Boothe Lane to Montopolis Drive.[13] Most of Montopolis proper was annexed by the city of Austin in 1951. Additional portions of the area were annexed during the 1960s and 1970s.[14]
The current Montopolis community contains two cemeteries that have been designated historic by the Texas Historic Commission, the Burditt Prairie Cemetery[15] that includes burials of enslaved persons and their families and the San Jose Cemetery[16] that was established in the early 20th century and reflects the strong Mexican American influence. About 1891 a school for African American children was established in the Colorado School District as school No. 34. The building was destroyed in a storm in 1935. Land was then donated by the St. Edward’s Baptist Church and a second school constructed. That school became part of the Austin Independent School District in 1952, then closed in 1962 as part of city-wide desegregation.[17]
 |
| First
page of 1950 petition by seventy residents to rename existing roads
Montopolis Drive: "[request] That the name of this Roadway extending
from Montopolis Bridge on the North to Burleson Road on the South be
changed of record and hereafter known as MONTOPOLIS DRIVE, which is
descriptive of its location, and that markers bearing this name be
placed at intervals along said roadway;" |
 |
| 1950 Travis County Commissioners Court Minutes granting approval to rename existing roads Montopolis Drive. Click to enlarge. |
The Montopolis Crossing of the Colorado
The common thread joining old and new Montopolis is the historic river crossing become ferry then bridge of the same name. The name "Montopolis" as a river ford dates to the Republic of Texas era Montopolis townsite.[18] The crossing is older than either of the two Montopolis. Indigenous people lived in and traveled through the area for thousands of years prior to the arrival of Europeans. Historic El Camino Real de los Tejas, established by the Spanish along Native American trails, skirted the eastern edge of today's Montopolis neighborhood fording the Colorado east of today's Montopolis Bridge.[19]
During Reconstruction one of Texas' best economic resources was an abundance of longhorn cattle that could be sold in Kansas and other markets to the north. The Montopolis ford was one of the main crossings of the Colorado for the Chisholm Trail, in use from about 1867 to 1884. As historian Mary Starr Barkley wrote, "Cattle drives through Austin were a common sight, and the cattle bawled as they crossed at the two main crossings, Montopolis and Shoal Creek". In 1878 the Galveston Daily News echoed news from Austin: "TRAVIS COUNTY. Austin Statesman, March 30: On Sunday last three droves of cattle, of 2500 to 399 head each, crossed the river at Montopolis ford, and in the past week about 15,000 head have crossed that point."[20]
The old Montopolis bridge is on the National Register of Historic Places.[21]
 |
| One
of many medallions that were installed in Austin, including the
Montopolis bridge, to mark the route and commemorate the Chisholm Trail.
This photo if of the one on Longhorn Dam. The disposition of the
Montopolis Bridge medallion is unknown pending completion of conversion
of the old bridge to a pedestrian bridge. |
 |
| In 2020 Travis County Historical Commission met with National Park Service to kick off plan for signage on the Montopolis pedestrian bridge to recognize the Montopolis crossing as part of the El Camino Real de los Tejas. All in conjunction with El Camino Real de los Tejas National Historic Trail Association, and Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority. |
References, Footnotes
[1] Tannehill’s first name is variously spelled “Jessie” and “Jesse.” Tannehill descendants support the "Jesse" spelling citing the text on the burial marker in the Texas State Cemetery
[2]
Montopolis Historical
Marker. Texas Historical Commission, marker number 22517, marker year
2019. Marker application is on file with the Austin History Center, and
available on-line through the Travis County Archives.
[3] We have been
unable to find a primary source for Montopolis meaning “City on a Hill” and
indeed the town tract is anything but a hill, located on the bank of the
Colorado. “Mont” may have been a reference to this area which was often
described as being at the foot of the mountain. But that too is speculation. See Appendix A.
[4] The motivation for the timeline is the persistent myth about Tannehill having been in Travis County in 1830 establishing Montopolis nearly a decade before Austin.
[5] History of Texas together with a biographical history of Milam, Williamson, Bastrop, Travis, Lee and Burleson Counties (Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1891), 298; University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth846133/.
[6] Telegraph and Texas Register (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 4, No. 46, Ed. 1, Wednesday, May 1, 1839 Page: 3
[7] Bastrop County (Tex.), County Clerk’s Office, plat of the town of Montopolis, Deed Book C:499-504. Also Travis County Deed Records: Deed Record Transcript 1 Page: 238 (plot and agreement) https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth787611/m1/324/
[8] Barkley, Mary Starr (1963). History of Travis County and Austin 1839-1899. Waco, Texas: Texian Press. pp. 4, 5, 9–10.
[9] Travis County Clerk's Office, partner contributing to The Portal to Texas History. University of North Texas Libraries. https://texashistory.unt.edu/explore/partners/TCCO/ accessed June 5, 2022. Search on "Montopolis town tract" in quotes. Results include only documents that have been scanned. Older handwritten documents that have not been transcribed will not appear. Some documents with misspellings (like "Mentopolis") may be missed by search unless the OCR corrections were made.
[10] Travis County Deed Records: Deed Record Transcript 1 Page: 131 - 1839.02.08 Michael B. Menard to Thomas F. Mckinney. Online https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth787611/m1/217/?q=record%201
[11] Barkley, Mary Starr (1963). History of Travis County and Austin 1839-1899. Waco, Texas: Texian Press. p.9. Barkley comments "Many who had gotten grants in the Travis County area in the 1830s did not settle them. One of these was the Del Valle grant made to Don Santiago del Valle in 1832, which was a long time in being settled." See also Appendix B.
[12] John J. Germann and Myron Janzen, Texas Post Offices by County (Houston: J.J. Germann, 1986). Also Handbook of Texas entries for each community.
[13] Special Session of the Commissioners Court July 19, 1950 and the accompanying petition signed by area residents,” Travis County (Tex.), County Clerk’s Office, Commissioners Court Minutes 4:148.
[14] Montopolis. Handbook of Texas.
[15] Texas Historical Commission, Burditt Prairie Cemetery, Cemetery ID Number TV-C105, HTC Designation Date 3/11/2004
[16] Texas Historical Commission, San Jose Cemetery, Cemetery ID Number TV-C009, HTC Designation Date 7/25/2000.
[17] Travis County Historical Commission (2014). “African American Rural Schools Of Travis County 1930s-1940s”. https://www.traviscountytx.gov/historical-commission/reports
[18] Travis County Clerk Records: Commissioners Court Minutes A, p.16. June 2, 1840 the minutes report "...establishment of a Ferry (sic) across the Colorado River a short distance above [the] crossing at Montopolis...". This is one of the first documented Republic of Texas era references to the Montopolis crossing. Accessed June 4, 2022. For clarification, as alluded to in the minutes, the actual ferry may have been further upstream ("above") from the crossing. See more at Montopolis Historical Marker application. Texas Historical Commission, marker number 22517, marker year 2019, p.10.
[19] El Camino Real de los Tejas National Historic Trail Association. See "Interactive Trail Maps". In 2020 Travis County Historical Commission met with members of the National Park Service (NPS) from Santa Fe, NM who were in Austin working with El Camino Real de los Tejas National Historic Trail Association to document and commemorate the trail's route through Travis County. Working in conjunction with the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority, signage is planned as part of the Montopolis pedestrian bridge recognizing the crossing as part of El Camino Real de los Tejas. https://www.elcaminorealdelostejas.org/interactive-maps/
[20] Barkley, Mary Starr (1963). History of Travis County and Austin 1839-1899. Waco, Texas: Texian Press. p. 259. Barnes, Michael. "Looking for Fords on the Colorado", Austin American Statesman, Lifestyle's Austin360 section, October 12, 2016. The Galveston Daily News. (Galveston, Tex.), Vol. 37, No. 8, Ed. 1 Tuesday, April 2, 1878. Accessed June 4, 2022. University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, crediting Abilene Library Consortium.
[21] Texas Historical Commission. Montopolis Bridge, National Register Listing, site atlas number 2096001118. Recorded by NPS 1996.
Appendix A: Common Misconceptions (fact check, myth busters)
Myth #1 Tannehill started Montopolis neighborhood in 1830 .. and it had a casino!
Here's
something you are likely to find on the internet: "Jesse Tannehill
started the Montopolis neighborhood in 1830 when he built a cabin on a
hill. Some variations have him starting a casino. One older news
article said it was a Greek restaurant ("Montopolis" sounds like a Greek
restaurant, right?). Let's break this one apart:
- As discussed, there have been two Montopolis, not one.
- Tannehill had nothing to with the neighborhood south of the river. Tannehill's Montopolis is north of the river; the neighborhood south.
- Tannehill
didn't start his Montopolis in 1830; he didn't even get his headright
grant until 1832. Montopolis planning started in 1838, then as a
partnership deed and surveyed town tract was legally recorded 1839 at which time he and family moved to his headright.
- There
was obviously no casino or Greek restaurant, but the "casino" is a
great example of how absolute nonsense gets started then spreads through
the internet via bots and copy and paste.
Myth #2 Montopolis = City on a Hill ?
Does Montopolis mean "City on a Hill"? Montopolis was apparently formed from "mont" Latin for "mountain" and "polis" Greek for "city". We have found no primary evidence the intended meaning was "City on a Hill". That is not to say that was not the proprietors' intention, but we've found no evidence of it. Nor have we found its origin; "City on a Hill" may be like some of the myths that surround Mt. Bonnell: not true, source unknown, but often repeated. The Montopolis town tract adjacent to Austin is certainly not hilly; indeed it was historically prone to flood before the dams were built. The bend in the Colorado where Austin and Montopolis sat was commonly referred to as being "at the foot of the mountains"; it is the edge of the Balcones Escarpment. The 1887-88 Texas Census used this description for Travis County: "The city of Austin, the metropolis of the county and the capital of the State, is beautifully located at the foot of a range of mountains." Stephen F. Austin and many others made references to this area as being at the foot of the mountains. Perhaps Montopolis was a reference to this "foot of the mountains" ("Mountain City"). Alternatively, there was in the 19th century a tendency to use flowery names for towns, like "Waterloo"! See Daniel Walker Howe's*, “Classical Education in America” Wilson Quarterly (Spring 2011) for interesting insight into the rise and fall of ancient Greek and Latin study in America. Howe states “Americans loved Greek and Roman names for new towns”. Waterloo, Montopolis: we may be reading too much into the names.
* From correspondence with Daniel Walker Howe as part of the state historical marker application research with respect to the origins of the name "Montopolis". Howe is Rhodes Professor of American History Emeritus at Oxford University and professor of history emeritus at the University of California, Los Angeles. His book What God Hath Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815-1848 won the Pulitzer Prize for History in 2008.
Myth #3 Actual location of Tannehill's Montopolis is open to historical interpretation
Another misconception: the location of Tannehill's original Montopolis is open to historical interpretation (hence it could have been the neighborhood). It is a legally recorded partnership deed (to use today's lingo) with a surveyed town tract. Like the deed to your house, it is a legal document that is specific to where it was. It would be like the deed to your house not saying where your house was located. Deeds into the 20th century used the "Montopolis town tract" for reference. The who, when and where of the first Montopolis is legally defined. Full stop.
Again, you are able to read the record yourself. See Travis County Deed Records: Deed Record Transcript 1 Page: 239 Transcript of the original full deed of the "Town of Montopolis" filed July 2, 1839. The town tract is entirely within the Tannehill league on the north side of the river.
Myth #4 Photo of the old Montopolis Courthouse, oldest in Travis County
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| Austin History Center PICA-04664 |
From a book on the Montopolis neighborhood published 2014 is this photo with a caption, quote "... the old Montopolis courthouse, said to have been the first courthouse in Travis County." The photo is archived with the Austin History Center and on-line via Portal to Texas History crediting AHC: Old Courthouse in Montopolis, Travis County.
Inspection of the actual back of the photo at the AHC says "Old
courthouse east of Montopolis. Said to be the first court house".
There are a number of problems with this photo but especially the claim from the book. The photo does not say it was the Montopolis Courthouse, rather that it was a (some) courthouse east of Montopolis. Nor does the photo say it was the first courthouse in Travis County; that was added by the book's author.
The
photo simply reads (inscription added by AHC staff) "Said to be the
first court house" but gives no jurisdiction (the first where?) or
source of the claim. Austin has been the county seat of Travis from day
one (formed out of
Bastrop County in 1840) so the first county courthouse was in
Austin. Some rural district court perhaps? Because Austin is the county
seat, Judge Bob Perkins with the Commission doubts the building was ever
used for district or county cases; that would have been in Austin.
Maybe a rural Justice of the Peace? Maybe a confusion over a rural
building associated with County Commissioners Court?
Is
the reference to Montopolis on the north or south side? On the north
side east of Montopolis are some of Travis' oldest communities: Hornsby,
Webberville. On the south side east of Montopolis would be Del Valle.
Was it the oldest rural "courthouse" of Hornsby, Webberville, or Del
Valle? Nor is it clear that the building wasn't perhaps moved to some
location east of Montopolis and was the oldest "courthouse" of somewhere else.
 |
| Back of PICA 04664 courtesy Austin History Center. Photos says "Old court house east of Montopolis". It does not say "old Montopolis Courthouse" |
 |
| PICA
04663 courtesy Austin History Center. AHC says this is additional info
is for photo PICA 04664. Says "Old court house east of Montopolis Said
to be first court house". Photo does not say it is the first courthouse in Travis County. Was it the oldest rural district courthouse east of Montopolis for say Hornsby, Webberville, or Del Valle? |
Appendix B: Montopolis Neighborhood on Early Maps, Texas Almanac, Texas Census of 1887-1888, Federal Census of 1950
Maps,
census and the Texas Almanac provide a way to track the evolution of
the community that is today's Montopolis neighborhood over time. That's
what we'll do here.
1838 GLO Map #83006 "Bastrop District" Map. We start with a map just prior to the formation of Austin. This map of the "Bastrop District" includes today's counties of Bastrop, Travis, Hays, Comal, Blanco, and Williamson. The map says it is a certified copy of "the oldest and only Bastrop District Map on file in this Office ... Map copied is believed to be dated ca. 1838." The map shows Waterloo (the future Austin), Comanche, the J.C. Tannehill headright league, and the Santiago de Valley (sic) grant. Tannehill's Montopolis is not shown (it was recorded 1839) nor is the Montopolis neighborhood of today shown on the Del Valle grant.
GLO Map #83006 of Bastrop District. Map can be a bit confusing as it compiles the various counties; look for Waterloo. Recall Travis was originally part of Bastrop County. https://s3.glo.texas.gov/glo/history/archives/map-store/index.cfm#item/83006
1887-1888, Texas Census. Montopolis is not referenced in the Texas census of 1887-1888 as a "principal town" of Travis while others such as Manchaca and Merrelltown (sic), both with populations of only 50 persons, are (Foster p.216). This "forgotten census" is of some importance because many of the records of the federal census of 1890 were lost or damaged in a fire, and it focuses specifically on Texas.
Foster, L. L. (2002). Forgotten Texas Census: First Annual Report of the Agricultural Bureau of the Department of Agriculture, Insurance, Statistics, and History, 1887-88. p.216. https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth296841/
1894-1902 USGS, GLO, Travis County Road maps. The earliest map with the place name "Montopolis" south of the Colorado seems to be a USGS 1894 topographic map of Austin and Travis County referencing the "Montopolis Ferry", i.e. the ferry at the Montopolis river ford (PCL). But the ferry was named for the crossing, not a community. We know because that same year, 1894, a GLO map shows small communities east of Austin along the Colorado such as Del Valle, St. Elmo, Garfield, Hornsby, Dunlap, and Webberville but the community of Montopolis south of the river is absent (Pressler). Neither does Montopolis appear on the survey of Travis County roads 1898-1902 while other communities with and without post offices do (Map of Travis County Roads 1898-1902).
Perry-Castañeda Library (PCL) Map Collection, Historical Maps of Texas Cities. 1894 Texas Austin Sheet, USGS Topographic Map. https://maps.lib.utexas.edu/maps/historical/historic_tex_cities.html
Pressler, Herman. Travis Co. [Austin, Tex.: General Land Office, 1894] Map. https://www.loc.gov/item/2012592086/ Accessed May 2, 2022
Map of Travis County Roads 1898-1902, surveyed by John E. Wallace, plotted by Charles K. McDonald. Available online at Travis County Archives accessed June 18, 2022
1904 Texas Almanac. A post office named Montopolis was later established in 1897 (discontinued in 1902) on the south bank of the ferry / bridge crossing. The Texas Almanac, first published in 1857, makes no mention of a Montopolis community until the 1904 issue when the 1900 US Census data was reported, 1900 being the only census when the post office was in operation.
Ramos, Mary G. and Elizabeth Cruce Alvarez, “Texas Almanac,” Handbook of Texas Online, accessed May 22, 2022, https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/texas-almanac. Texas Almanac online at Portal to Texas History.
USGS 1896-1910. Coincident with the post office in 1897-1902, USGS shows Montopolis with a small number of buildings (the post office area) clustered around the south end of the bridge 1896-1910 editions. Little else is indicated in the way of buildings in what is today the boundaries of the Montopolis neighborhood. The 1910 edition is the last of that series based on the original 1896 survey.
USGS, Historical Topographic Map Collection https://ngmdb.usgs.gov/topoview/
Circa 1930s Travis County Topographic and Road Maps. By the 1930s, Montopolis is a regular feature on various county maps, such as the Topographic and Road Map Travis County, Prepared by the Travis County Engineering Department, l932
Texas State Archives Map
Collection, https://www.tsl.texas.gov/apps/arc/maps/
1946-1948 Census Map for 1950. The 1946 Travis enumeration districts map used for the 1950 census does not show Montopolis while including many of its neighbor communities. The map was surveyed 1946 and revised 1948.
Census, 1950. Travis Enumeration Districts. Map prepared by Texas State Highway Department et.al. 1946-1948. On the census page click on ED Map. https://1950census.archives.gov/search/?county=Travis&page=2&state=TX
USGS 1954. Fast forward to the 1954 series of USGS maps; as with the 1946-1948 census enumeration districts map prepared by the Texas State Highway Department, Montopolis is not shown on the map.
USGS, Historical Topographic Map Collection https://ngmdb.usgs.gov/topoview/
USGS 1955. This year is a milestone for Montopolis on the USGS maps. Starting in 1955 the USGS introduces the Montopolis Topographic Quadrangle Map. This rise in recognition may be tied to the start of annexation by the City of Austin.
USGS, Historical Topographic Map Collection https://ngmdb.usgs.gov/topoview/
Appendix C: Historical Marker Status
A marker recognizing the original site of Jesse Tannehill's Montopolis town tract was approved by the Texas Historical Commission in 2019, Marker Number 22517, to be installed in Govalle Park, 5200 Bolm Road. Marker casting and installation was delayed by Texas' marker foundry permanent closure (The Southwell Co. of San Antonio), the process of selecting a new foundry, followed by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Since
initial approval, work with the National Park Service and El Camino
Real de los Tejas National Historic Trail Association to recognize the
trail's route through Travis County was on-going, including recognition
of the Montopolis crossing as part of El Camino Real de los Tejas.
The original marker didn't arrive until mid 2022 at which time a
decision had been made to recast the marker to recognize the Indigenous
Peoples of Texas that lived in and traveled through Austin and the role
the Montopolis crossing played in Native American and El Camino's
history. Additionally the revised marker will recognize the fact that the Tannehills brought an enslaved family to Texas.
The new marker will hopefully go up in 2023 in Govalle Park,
near the center of the original Montopolis town tract.
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