Brown County

This was the range of the Penateka, the Honey-Eaters, the southernmost band of the Comanche (Numunuu) and the one that apparently led the advance into the southern plains. The first Europeans came in 1723, when Spanish soldiers under Capt. Nicolas Flores y Valdez chased Apaches here to recover stolen horses and captives, and another Spanish expedition followed in 1759. Henry S. Brown led Anglo-Americans in to recover stolen livestock in 1828. Surveyors came in 1838, and in 1856 Welcome W. Chandler, John H. Fowler and others settled along Pecan Bayou and Jim Ned Creek.

What the plaque says

Created August 27, 1856; Organized March 21, 1857. Named for Capt. Henry S. Brown; came to Texas in 1824; Indian trader and fighter, commanded a company at the Battle of Velasco, member of the Convention of 1832; county seat, Brownwood 1856; moved to new site of same name, 1867. (1936)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Lake Brownwood State Park — 9.2 mi
  A CCC park on a reservoir that filled in a single flood before its dam was done, with stone cabins, a hilltop dance pavilion and a grand staircase climbed by dancers arriving by boat.

More markers nearby

• City of Brownwood — steps away
• Welcome William Chandler — 0.8 mi
• Camp Collier, C.S.A. — 0.8 mi
• Greenleaf Fisk — 0.8 mi