Colonel William B. Ochiltree

The Handbook of Texas records that delegates to the 1861 Secession Convention were often chosen by voice vote at public meetings, in elections that did not meet the minimal standards of the day; that about 70 percent of the members were slaveowners; and that on February 1 it voted 166 to 8 to secede. Voters ratified the ordinance on February 23 by 44,317 to 13,020. Ochiltree, a Whig elector in 1848, strongly supported disunion, his Handbook biography says. He left his regiment in 1863 because of ill health and practiced law at Jefferson until his death in 1867.

What the plaque says

Secretary treasury and last attorney general Republic of Texas. Secession Convention delegate 1861. Influential member Provisional Congress which drafted Confederate Constitution, mobilized manpower, set up financial structure, elected political leaders. Resigned to raise 18th Texas Infantry. Led troops to Arkansas in 1862 when regiment called in campaign to repel Union forces from state. A memorial to Texans who served the Confederacy Erected by the State of Texas 1963.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Museum of the Plains — 1.1 mi
  Perryton's four-acre museum of the wheat country at the top of Texas, with an 1899 depot, five historic buildings and a life-size Hank the Cowdog, whose author grew up here.

More markers nearby

• George Morgan Perry — steps away
• Ochiltree County — 1.1 mi
• Gray Community Church — 1.1 mi
• Ochiltree Townsite — 7.9 mi