Historical Marker
Colorado County
Columbus, Colorado County · Texas
Erected 1936
People lived in what is now Colorado County for some 12,000 years before colonists came. Archaic hunters lived on deer, bison, roots and nuts, and later the Coco branch of the Karankawa and the Tonkawa hunted here. Europeans passed through early. La Salle's party camped on Skull Creek on January 20, 1687, beside a village the French called the Hebemes, and Alonso De León probably crossed the county in 1689 searching for Fort St. Louis. Martín de Alarcón went through in 1718, and the Marqués de Rubí crossed the Colorado near present Columbus in 1766 and 1767.
What the plaque says
Colorado County A part of Stephen F. Austin's First Colony. Created March 17, 1836. Organized in 1837. The river traversing the region was called "Colorado" (Red) by Spanish explorers who mistook it for the reddish Brazos. From the river, the county took its name. Columbus, the county seat.
Where it stands
29.71938, -96.55220 · Directions
More markers nearby
- Site of Robson's Castle and Columbus, Texas, Meat and Ice Company — 0.6 mi
- George Glenn — 0.6 mi
- Homesite of Fannie Baker Darden — 1.0 mi
- The Rev. Jacob Scherer — 1.1 mi