Post by 5thgentexan on Jan 15, 2015 8:59:52 GMT -5
Hey! New to the forum and looking forward to it.
I am looking maps which detail Trammel's Trace through NE Texas, specifically Cass County.
I grew up on a ranch in Cass County that has been in the family since 1851. I've heard the term "Trammel's Trace" since I was a kid. There is a Historical Marker where it passed through Hughes Springs where I went to high school. The marker, of course, mentions Crockett, Bowie, Houston, etc. The next marker going north is in Dalton off Highway 77, which is quite a ways. The ranch is located between those points. Viewing old Texas maps between 1856 and 1937 I know the general area the Trace passed. But some maps have it as a straight line, some curved, and some even back-and-forth a bit. As that area has never been developed (where the Trace passed is creek bottom) there is no good reference point, save where it crossed Kelly Creek. The 1856 De Cordova map has the Trace crossing at a bend in the creek, which is very, very similar to a bend depicted on a 1937 Cass County soil map. As some timber has been cleared over the years, and replanted, the creek has changed, and that area in particular is very flooded right now. I would like to know how it proceeded after the crossing.
This spring, I along with my brother and a friend who also grew up in that area are going on a little expedition to see what we can find. My brother remembers my grandfather (1880-1969) showing him an "old road" way back in the woods. They were looking for missing cattle. He said if you kicked around the leaves you could still see hardended wagon tracks. He only remembers the event because Papa also talked about how the Caddo Indians also used the road and he and his brother used to look for arrowheads. My brother thought that was really cool and always remembered it.
On the 1937 soil map there are several roads marked "undeveloped" in that area north of Kelly Creek that line-up very close to the De Cardova map. I would see no reason to clear a new path for a road if one already existed, even somewhat, through those trees. Now, unfortunately, that area is completely dense woods and brush again. There is one stretch of dirt road still in existance that lines-up, too. And is straight as an arrow, which would support the straight-line type map depictions. It takes a hard curve right at the mapped Kelly Creek crossing area and goes west.
We also know where an old east/west road passed in the area that would have crossed the Trace. It ran through what is now a large pasture. We have found wagon parts, rifle shells, old metal cookware, an old lamp, and various other metal artifacts along that road. Would love to find something along the Trace. Or just to know where it was located.
Any help/references greatly appreciated. It's incredible to think about Crockett and his men passing through that area on their way to the Alamo.
I am looking maps which detail Trammel's Trace through NE Texas, specifically Cass County.
I grew up on a ranch in Cass County that has been in the family since 1851. I've heard the term "Trammel's Trace" since I was a kid. There is a Historical Marker where it passed through Hughes Springs where I went to high school. The marker, of course, mentions Crockett, Bowie, Houston, etc. The next marker going north is in Dalton off Highway 77, which is quite a ways. The ranch is located between those points. Viewing old Texas maps between 1856 and 1937 I know the general area the Trace passed. But some maps have it as a straight line, some curved, and some even back-and-forth a bit. As that area has never been developed (where the Trace passed is creek bottom) there is no good reference point, save where it crossed Kelly Creek. The 1856 De Cordova map has the Trace crossing at a bend in the creek, which is very, very similar to a bend depicted on a 1937 Cass County soil map. As some timber has been cleared over the years, and replanted, the creek has changed, and that area in particular is very flooded right now. I would like to know how it proceeded after the crossing.
This spring, I along with my brother and a friend who also grew up in that area are going on a little expedition to see what we can find. My brother remembers my grandfather (1880-1969) showing him an "old road" way back in the woods. They were looking for missing cattle. He said if you kicked around the leaves you could still see hardended wagon tracks. He only remembers the event because Papa also talked about how the Caddo Indians also used the road and he and his brother used to look for arrowheads. My brother thought that was really cool and always remembered it.
On the 1937 soil map there are several roads marked "undeveloped" in that area north of Kelly Creek that line-up very close to the De Cardova map. I would see no reason to clear a new path for a road if one already existed, even somewhat, through those trees. Now, unfortunately, that area is completely dense woods and brush again. There is one stretch of dirt road still in existance that lines-up, too. And is straight as an arrow, which would support the straight-line type map depictions. It takes a hard curve right at the mapped Kelly Creek crossing area and goes west.
We also know where an old east/west road passed in the area that would have crossed the Trace. It ran through what is now a large pasture. We have found wagon parts, rifle shells, old metal cookware, an old lamp, and various other metal artifacts along that road. Would love to find something along the Trace. Or just to know where it was located.
Any help/references greatly appreciated. It's incredible to think about Crockett and his men passing through that area on their way to the Alamo.
