I believe Colonel Graham kicked this whole Mount Bonnell naming controversy off in a 2003 Galveston News article and later in a few Austin-American
Statesman pieces. His research on the once mysterious Lt. Bonnell is the best source for information on this U.S. Army lieutenant, but there seem to
be a few factual mistakes in his material. It is repeatedly stated that Lt. Bonnell was Gen. Sam Houston's first military aid-de-camp in the Texas Army
and that he was later promoted to a captain, but there appears to be little evidence that Lt. Bonnell actually served under these ranks. Houston had
appointed Lt. Bonnell as his aid-de-camp in Nov. '35, which was approved by the Texas Governor and General Council. However, Lt. Bonnell sent Gen.
Houston a letter stating that he couldn't accept the appointment in the Texas Army because he was still an officer in the U.S. military. It's my opinion
that this infantry lieutenant of almost ten years did not want to resign his U.S. Army commission only to become a secretary for a general in a conflict
that had suddenly ground to a halt. The alleged commission as a captain in the Texas Army is not specific to Lt. Bonnell. There were apparently a few
Bonnells running around the Texas/Louisiana area during the revolution. I think Lt. Joseph Bonnell of the Texas Artillery or Joseph Henry Bonsell are the
most likely candidates for the captain promotion, although neither probably accepted the rank, because there is almost no information on the shadowy
Capt. Bonnell during the war and no Texas muster roll entry for him.
It's also been stated that Joseph Bonnell personally quelled some kind of imminent attack on Gen. Houston's army by the Caddo and their Indian allies in
the days before San Jacinto, but this conflict with the Caddo seems inconclusive at best. Lt. Bonnell even states in a report to U.S. Army General Gaines
in Louisiana that the Caddo are dispersed, but peaceful. There was certainly Anglo gossip of an attack by the Caddo and their allies, but apparently only
rumors of war. The Caddo Tribe was honoring their '35 treaty with the U.S., although they were probably afraid that they would be drawn into the Anglo/
Hispanic conflict. Even if the Caddo had sided with Mexico, would they have been that much of an additional threat to Gen. Houston's force since he had
his two light cannon and Gen. Gaines waiting on the Louisiana/ Texas border?
It's been claimed that Secretary of War Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston described Mount Bonnell for the first time and directed Austin's construction, which
is supposedly implied in a April 21, '39 correspondence to a friend. Johnston stated that: "My agent will set off in a few days to commence the building of
the City of Austin at the foot of the mountain on the Colorado. His escorts will be sufficient to protect the workmen and materials." There are some errors
with these claims. Johnston wasn't the first to describe Mount Bonnell and he doesn't even do so with his generic '39 "foot of the mountain" quote. Every
real student of Austin's creation recognizes the phrases "foot of the mountain(s) or "foot of the hills" as they relate to the city's early history and Travis
County's west topography and knows that they were sometimes used to describe the raised land features from Capitol Hill to the small mountain chain on
the Colorado River, 4 miles northwest of the original city limits. Stephen F. Austin and his agent Samuel M. Williams were probably the first Anglo settlers
to describe Mount Bonnell when they attempted to buy the springs at the "foot of the mountain" for Austin's "mountain home" between 1830 and '33, but
it didn't work out. So far as Gen. Johnston's city building agent, this was certainly town planner Edwin Waller, but he was President M.B. Lamar's man, not
Johnston's and Waller was solely responsible for the planning and building of the public buildings in Austin. As secretary of war Johnston was responsible for
protecting the new capitol city and he didn't do a very good job as many citizens were killed in those first months. In my opinion, Johnston had little reason
or authority to name mountains officially or unofficially on property that he didn't own. More evidence seems to imply that Ed Burleson christened the mount
for his friend George W. Bonnell. I suppose it's a moot point, unless one lives in Austin or has visited Mount Bonnell. The name will obviously remain the same
no matter how much the historical marker's text is changed and sanitized for a fraternal organization's warped view of Texas history.
Joseph Bonnell written by Graham
www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fboatMount Bonnell recently rewritten by Graham
www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/rjm28Bonnell on YT
www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9-Q-495Ae4*
spelling correction