History: Tales of Indians, Settlers in Coke County, TX Edwards Plateau Historical Association Contributed by Jo Collier 29 November 2004 Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/tx/txfiles.htm *********************************************************************** The San Angelo Standard Times - October 19, 1969 TALES OF INDIANS, SETTLERS RING AT HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION MEETING By Dean Chenoweth Robert Lee - Legend, historic fact and nostalgia Saturday turned back history more than a century as speakers for the Edwards Historical Association recalled the history of Coke County, noting that the first man to file a claim on land in the area did so in 1827. He may have been there in 1825. Ulmer Bird, Mrs. Bryan Yarborough and Elton Mims provided the picture of early Coke County, and Jerry L. Rogers of Texas Tech showed pictures of ranch restoration to be conserved in the museum associated with the school. At the end of the business meeting, Brady was chosen as the site for the next meeting. George Stoeppler of Melvin was named president succeeding E. W. LeFevre of Eden. Other officers named are Fred Mathiesen of Fredericksburg first vice president; Mrs. Ralph Wierhausen of Marble Falls second vice president; Mrs. F. Luckenbach of Menard recording secretary; Lee Lair of San Angelo treasurer; Elton Mims of Water Valley historian and A. A. Willman of Mason associate historian. It was voted to change the annual meeting date from the third Saturday in October to the first Saturday to avoid conflicts that has shown this year. It was also voted to have the annual papers published by mimeo- graphing, to avoid higher costs of printing, though it was left to a committee to change this if favorable rates can be obtained otherwise. An extra charge of $1 is to be made for the report, but the membership fee remains at $5.00. Stoeppler extended the invitation for Brady as the host city next year. The vote of acceptance was unanimous. Ulmer Bird of Sanco, oldest post office site in the county, led off with a paper that recalled how the Comanches rode their famed war trail across West Texas nearly 200 years ago, dominating an empty empire. Within 30 years after that Americans filled the country with thousands of people. Area counties grew until 1910. In 1890, year after the county (Coke)was organized, there was a population of 2,059. Livestock provided a livelihood for most, but the range economy was changing to that of the farm. The Snyder O. B. ranch people had put in a corn mill and ground for toll for the settlers, he said. And from that cornmeal they largely subsisted until something could be produced for money. During the 1890s the new gin whistled for more cotton. Population increased to 3,430 at the turn of the century. Sanco, Silver, Edith, Fort Chadbourne flourished, Blackwell and Bronte came on and Robert Lee boomed. There were 6,412 in the 1910 census, the largest ever before or since. From 1942 to 1960, oil production totaled 110 million barrels, and ranchmen worked for oil companies as the livestock industry fell on hard times. He noted that 11 of the plateau counties lost population 11 gained in the period before 1960. The new lake basin has taken 25,000 acres, but assurance of water has inspired building of a new and larger hospital, a bigger school plant, a modern grocery store, a modern pharmacy, new church buildings, new service stations and improvement generally, he said. Mrs. Yarborough, acknowledged as the foremost historian of the county, recalled some folklore, tales of the fence wars, changes in the way of life, early elections, and the pioneer yen for education. Once Coke County had 30 or 31 schools, with one in walking distance of every family. There were 10 school districts in the county in 1890, she recalled. Mrs. Yarborough also noted there have been 15 post offices in Coke County, now only five; there have been five county seats, including those at Ben Ficklin and San Angelo before Coke was taken from Tom Green. Old post offices include Fort Chadbourne, 1859; Sanco, 1888; Hayrick 1889; Edith, 1890; Alpha, 1890; Bronte, 1890; Silver, 1890; Robert Lee, 1891; Stokes, temporary; Juniper, 1893; Tennyson, 1894; Pedro, supposed to have opened in 1895; Nanhattie, 1898; Matalfos, 1900; and Venice, 1902, and it was closed in 1903 when the house burned. She said the present site of Robert Lee was about the center of the Austin & Northern Cattle Co. in which L. B. Harris was interested. Eugene Cartledge, then in San Angelo, was attorney for the corporation. He had wanted Robert Lee as the county seat but Hayrick won the election. Cartledge contested the election on the basis Hayrick was more than nine miles from the center of the county. Cartledge argued for Robert Lee as the center of the county being close to a good water supply. Robert Lee won the judge race and courthouse removal election Jan. 6, 1891 by 47 votes. Mrs. Yarborough closed her remarks. To the Country of the Conchos Came the rumbling covered wagon Like slow winding trains of destiny Across the westward years Bearing muskets Household treasures Iron pots and earthen flagons Bearing all the world holdings of the Texas pioneers." Mims, former president and master of ceremonies related some vignettes of Coke County, noting among other things how Sam Maverick happened to have by coincidence or otherwise lands located in favored places for the location of pioneer forts, even some 47 80-acre plots along the Colorado River in Coke County. He said six of the officers stationed at Fort Chadbourne gravitated to staff history in the Civil War. He also recounted the numerous trails across the country, one the military trail, the Butterfield overland mail trail, and one termed the western trail used by cattlemen, notable among them L. B. Harris said to have driven as many as 65,000 cattle from this area to Kansas markets. Shelving Rock, located on the Mims Ranch near Water Valley, was the site of the encampment of soldiers chasing the Indians to the futile and costly battle at Dove Creek in 1865. Another personal story was that of Betty Putnam, born in Gonzales County, captured by the Comanches and later returned to her family as the result of a treaty exchanging prisoners. She came to this area in 1912 to visit a grand son-in-law, Sam Mims, and while here identified the pecan groves and Shelving Rock as spots she had known as a girl captive of the Indians. Naming some of the big cattlemen of the area, he said six of 53 in the Hall of Fame had once operated in Coke County - Harris, Snyder, Winfield Scott among them. The afternoon session was given to Jerry Rogers, assigned the task of preserving replicas of early ranches and buildings for the 12-acre plot set aside in connection with the museum at Texas Teach. Showing slides of old buildings representative of the decades from the 1860s on, he explained scenes from the time the buffalo populated the area, the arrival of the white men, the varied types of buildings on early ranches, and the response of present owners in donating old buildings typical of the times. From the crude dugouts to mud-covered roofing with shingles added in late years, the pictures provide this generation with a glance at ranch history in the making. Rogers asked the cooperation of Edwards Plateau historians to add anything possible to authentic reproductions. Mims brought with him some exhibits of early wire and fencing, and gave pieces to those seeking to add to their early collections. The Rev. Bill Beaty gave the invocation, Mayor Wilson Bryan the welcome and LeFevre the response. There were 50 in attendance; Lair reported a membership of about 30 and a balance in the treasury of $173.30. Permission granted by San Angelo Standard Times for publication in the Coke County TXGenWeb Archives.