Old Western Miller County, Arkansas Territory

Subject: Old Western Miller County, Arkansas Territory Wed 25 Jul 2007, 12:42 pm

Rivers present themselves as natural boundaries of political and social units, but they do not always behave as consistently as governments would like. There were no Empresarios grasping at the land which stretched southward from the Red River in 1815; no dreams of colonization. There was only a man named Jones in a little outpost where he traded with Indians. He had not been the first to engage in this form of commerce in what, in practicality, was a no-man's land: years before, and about thirty miles distant, the French had set up a rustic camp of exchange where Pecan Bayou meets the Red River. In recognition of Jones' preeminence, when two subsequent traders -- names of William Lawrence and William Hensley -- set up shop in close proximity, they called their tiny claim, 'Jonesborough.' The site which had been favored by the French traders was chosen in the following year (1816) by a trio of men: Walter Pool, Charles Burkham and Clairborne Wright. They titled their cluster of cabins, 'Pecan Point,' and soon were joined there by a dozen families and several more men bent on making trades with the Indians. These self-motivated and determined communities along the Red River comprised the first Anglo-American settlements in what, thirty years hence, would be the state of Texas.

Just who laid valid claim to the territory along the banks of this shifting river has sometimes been unclear, however. The Adam-Onis Treaty already was solidified, but in its youth, the Arkansas Territory gathered up Jonesborough and Pecan Point -- in 1820 -- into its Miller County, which encompassed the whole of its territory west and south of the Red. The settlements were not completely cut off from the land-centered world: a rough road, "laid out by horse thieves," moving their stolen animals between Missouri and Nacogdoches -- and referred to as 'Trammel's Trace' -- was in place. * Encouraged by the creation of the new county, some eighty families were residing in and near the settlements just one year later. They were joined in 1825 by most of the Anglo settlers who had made homes on the north side of the Red River. In an odd and painful chain reaction, these families and individuals had been encouraged to relocate so that the territory would be cleared prior to the arrival of the Choctaws, who soon -- in 1831 -- would be forced to relinquish their homelands in Mississippi. By 1831, Jonesborough had been made the seat of Miller County, Arkansas Territory, the town of Clarksville (the seat of present-day Red River County, Texas) had been founded, and some three thousand people called this Red River region home.

Interestingly, the families of Jesse Burnam, Andrew Robinson and Martin Varner -- along with several others -- had left Red River to join Stephen F. Austin's colony during the early 1820s. Though remaining in the North, the sentiments of many of the pioneers of Jonesboro, Pecan Point and Clarksville began to be swayed toward Mexican Texas. This, in large part, was due to the generous land policies which Mexico extended to its far-flung province. A number of settlers in the Red-River region applied for Mexican land titles. The Texians to the south, in fact, were supported by a militia manned by settlers of what technically was Miller County, Arkansas Territory, when the Revolution was initiated. Not really so unusual for communities on frontiers, the settlers lived with divided loyalties: Pecan Point's Richard Ellis was president of the Convention at Washington-on-the-Brazos which, in 1836, proclaimed Texas as being free from the control of Mexico. His son, meanwhile, represented Miller County in the Arkansas Legislature.

More to come; more to learn; more to share?

Thanks!

Holly

* R. Richardson et al. 'Texas: The Lone Star State' (1943; 1981)

Other sources: Grant Foreman, 'Indians and Pioneers: The Story of the American Southwest Before 1830' (1930)

http://digital.library.okstate.edu/chronicles/v018/v018p012.html
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The woman of the frontier made the best of her situation, for she had developed a respect for the land that gave her freedom as well as the courage to live in it.
~~~ from the perspective of Anne Seagraves

Subject: The Choctaw Trail of Tears Wed 25 Jul 2007, 3:06 pm

Here is a link to a seemingly well-researched and informative article chronicling the steps which led to the most of the Choctaw people's removal from their ancestral homelands in modern-day Mississippi to what is, today, Southeastern Oklahoma. This page also includes a link to the Web-site of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma.

http://www.thebicyclingguitarist.net/studies/trailoftears.htm

Here, also, is the link to Web-site of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians:

http://www.choctaw.org/

The article relating to the Choctaw Indians contained in present Handbook of Texas Online falls flat (imho) and is in need of revision.
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The woman of the frontier made the best of her situation, for she had developed a respect for the land that gave her freedom as well as the courage to live in it.
~~~ from the perspective of Anne Seagraves

The sliver of space stretched out between Jonesborough and Pecan Point cradled Methodism in Mexican Texas. Back when the Red River flowed about half a mile from its current bed (in which direction?) ... past 1908 and into 1816, it is believed by many that the first sermon was preached by a Methodist minister (who?) within the shifting boundaries of our state.

The little settlement of Jonesborough is no more. It experienced a name-change to 'Davenport,' and even most of its structures which carried age were destroyed by fire prior to 1934. Decades ago, the old Cottonwood tree to which early settlers had tied their boats -- itself now cast a-dry from the shifting shoreline -- along the Red River was said still to be living. Nearby, these courageous folk once had stood or sat on blankets while the circuit-rider led them in worship. Also yet bearing leaves at old Jonesborough was a grove of trees which once surrounded the home of a Mr. (Clairborne?) Wright. The Rev. William Stevenson began preaching there in 1817, from which was birthed the founding Methodist meeting in Texas.

Holly

Source: 'Texas Methodist Centennial Yearbook: 1834 - 1934'
_________________
The woman of the frontier made the best of her situation, for she had developed a respect for the land that gave her freedom as well as the courage to live in it.
~~~ from the perspective of Anne Seagraves

Subject: 'Red River Province' Fri 03 Aug 2007, 8:37 pm

In her book, 'Legends of the Red River Valley,' Bright Ray refers to this region as the 'Red River Province.' Does anyone know whether such a province was established officially by the Mexican government?

Thanks for any information,

Holly
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The woman of the frontier made the best of her situation, for she had developed a respect for the land that gave her freedom as well as the courage to live in it.
~~~ from the perspective of Anne Seagraves