Angelina River

The Angelina runs about 110 miles southeast from the junction of Barnhardt and Shawnee creeks in Rusk County to the Neches River, forming the boundary between Cherokee and Nacogdoches counties. In 1847 Moses and Robert Patton bought a steamer named Angelina that carried 350 to 400 bales and made the round trip to Sabine Pass in 15 to 20 days. Around the Civil War the largest boat was the Laura, 115 feet long, built in Evansville, Indiana. Railroads cut traffic in the 1880s, and silting from farming and clear-cutting ended navigation by 1900.

What the plaque says

Angelina River Early Texas artery of travel and transportation. Ran through lands of civilized Indians whose word "Tejas", for friend, gave name to northern part of New Spain, then to the Republic and State of Texas. Here in 1690, Spanish explorers and missionaries found a young girl eager to learn Christianity. For her sweet disposition, she was called Angelina. Her name soon was used for the river where she lived. Though French and Spaniards were enemies, Angelina befriended all, and for years acted as interpreter. Angelina River by 1799 was route for settlers to come from the coast to East Texas. It was crossed by the Camino Real (King's Highway to Mexico) and by Smugglers' Road, for those dodging tax collectors. In the 1830s, John Durst promoted on the Angelina, just south of here, a port for shipping cotton to New Orleans and receiving merchandise in return. Other Texas rivers named by Spaniards include the Blanco, Brazos (river of the arms of God), colorado, Concho, Comal (A Pan), Frio, Guadalupe, Lavaca, Llano, Medina, Navidad, Navasota, Neches, Nueces, Pedernales, Pecos, Rio Grande, San Antonio, San Gabriel, Trinity and San Jacinto. Anglo-American names for streams include Canadian, Pease, Red and Devil's River. (1965)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Caddo Mounds State Historic Site — 12 mi
  Three earthen mounds of an ancestral Caddo village and ceremonial center on the old El Camino Real, settled about A.D. 800 and still sacred to Caddo people, with a grass house and visitor center.

More markers nearby

• Site of Linwood — steps away
• Selman-Roark Cemetery — 2.0 mi
• Candace Midkiff Bean — 2.0 mi
• Old Palestine Baptist Church — 3.0 mi