Fort Stockton was originally an adobe fort built in 1859 by the United States Army as a means of protecting travelers, freighters and the mail service. It was located near what was known as Comanche Springs, the source of Comanche Creek. It served as a way point on the Old San Antonio Road, the Butterfield Overland Stage route and the Comanche Trail to Chihuahua, Mexico.
Tag: frontier times
Rachel Parker Plummer
Cynthia Ann Parker’s tragic story is better known, but there were other individuals including Rachel Parker Plummer who were taken by the Comanches in the attack on Fort Parker. The battle occurred on May 19, 1836 at a fort near Groesbeck, Limestone County, Texas. At the time, there were thirty or more members of the extended Parker family living in or around the stockade fort. Killed were Silas Mercer Parker, John Parker, Samuel Frost, Robert Frost and Benjamin Parker. Those who were captured included Cynthia Ann Parker, her brother John Richard Parker, Elizabeth Kellogg, Rachel Parker Plummer and her three year old son James Pratt Plummer.
Death of Oliver Loving
Charles Goodnight wrote of the death of his friend Oliver Loving in the book The Trail Drivers of Texas by J. Marvin Hunter. The book is widely available for purchase, and also can be downloaded. In it, Hunter has assembled sketches and observations of the cattle drivers of the 1800s.
Continue reading Death of Oliver LovingJohn Salmon “RIP” Ford, Texas Ranger
John Salmon Ford was born in 1815 in South Carolina. His family later moved to Shelbyville, Tennessee where he studied medicine. Ford came to Texas shortly after the Battle of San Jacinto, arriving in June of 1836. One of his first memories in Texas was to attend a Forth of July celebration in San Augustine in which Sam Houston was honored. Houston was still suffering from his wounded leg, but he gave a rousing speech. Ford joined the Texas Army and served until about 1838 under Col. Jack Hays, participating in many Indian battles. He then set up a medical practice in San Augustine which he operated until about 1844. During this time, he also studied law and passed the bar exam. In 1844, he won an election and began serving in the Texas House. It was Ford who introduced the resolution for Texas Annexation by the United States.
Continue reading John Salmon “RIP” Ford, Texas RangerOlive Oatman
This haunting image is of Olive Ann Oatman Fairchild. Olive was born in 1837 to a Mormon family, one of seven children of Royse and Mary Ann Oatman. Royse had started raising his family in Illinois, briefly moved to Pennsylvania around 1849, and by 1850 had decided to join a wagon train of around 90 fellow believers to go west.
Texas History Notebook 