Camp Colorado, C.S.A.

Camp Colorado had moved twice before the war. In August 1856 Maj. Earl Van Dorn brought cavalry to Mukewater Creek, and in July 1857 sickness drove the post twenty-two miles north to Jim Ned Creek. Its commanders included Kirby Smith, Sul Ross, John Bell Hood and Fitzhugh Lee. The buildings were adobe with shingle roofs and pine floors hauled by ox team from East Texas, and J. C. Mullins, a Yale graduate, taught school under an elm on the post. H. H. Sackett later reused its stone.

What the plaque says

Surrendered as U.S. outpost beginning Civil War. Became part frontier defense line from Red River to Rio Grande. Headquarters first Texas Mounted Rifles 1861 and Texas Frontier Regiment 1863. Manned by troops and Rangers in state and C.S.A. service to war's end. Valuable duty performed while patrolling and scouting to curb Indian raids and in rounding up draft evaders, deserters. Camp life difficult with constant peril of Indian attack, shortage food, ammunition, supplies and horses. Located 12 miles northeast. A memorial to Texans who served the Confederacy. Erected by the State of Texas 1963

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Lake Brownwood State Park — 23 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

• Colonel James E. McCord — steps away
• Mrs. J. A. B. Miller Public Library Building — 1.1 mi
• Western Trail Marker — 1.1 mi
• Robert M. Coleman — 1.1 mi