Fort Tenoxtitlan

A Texas-born colonel defied the orders that created the fort. Lt. Col. Jose Francisco Ruiz arrived in 1830 with 100 cavalrymen to enforce the ban on American settlement, then let Sterling Robertson's Tennesseans scatter into Texas rather than arrest them. By July 1831 Francis Smith ran a store here, trading manufactured goods to Indians for beaver pelts and buffalo robes. After Gen. Mier y Teran, who dreamed of a Texas capital here, died by suicide in July 1832, Ruiz evacuated the garrison and Mexican settlers to Bexar that August. The fort site is on private ranch land.

What the plaque says

Fort Tenoxtitlan Founded by Mexico as a bulwark against Anglo-American immigration, this fort and its nearby city were twice proposed for the capital of Texas. Alarmed by the influx of Anglo settlers into Texas, Mexico in 1830 sought to erect a line of forts to keep out the intruders. The ancient Aztec name for Mexico City (originally pronounced "Tex-ox-teet-lan") was given this site; it means "prickly pear place". So hopeful of the fort's success was the military commandant of the region that he envisioned it as the capital of Texas. But Anglo immigration did not cease. Instead it thrived on the friendship of the local soldiers and incoming pioneers. The colonizer Sterling C. Robertson introduced scores of settlers. In 1832 the soldiers were withdrawn and the fort finally defaulted to the Anglos. Subsequently it was a supply center and mustering point for expeditions against the Indians. During its brief life many Texas patriots lived here, including 5 signers of the Texas Declaration of Independence, a martyr of the Alamo siege, and 7 soldiers of the Battle of San Jacinto. Tenoxtitlan was again suggested for the capital of Texas during the Republic, but Austin won out. In 1841, after many Indian raids, the site was abandoned. (1970)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• George H.W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum — 17 mi
  The library of the forty-first president on the Texas A&M campus, opened in 1997, where George and Barbara Bush and their daughter Robin are buried in a family plot on the grounds.
• Lake Somerville State Park and Trailway — 22 mi
  Two park units on an 11,000-acre lake between Austin and College Station, joined by a thirteen-mile trailway for hikers, cyclists and riders with primitive camps along the way.
• Independence and Old Baylor Park — 25 mi
  A crossroads north of Brenham that was the richest town in Texas when it won Baylor University in 1845, refused the railroad, and lost the college to Waco and Belton in 1886.
• Milam County Courthouse and Jail — 27 mi
  Cameron's 1892 Renaissance Revival courthouse and the 1895 St. Louis-built jail beside it, now the county museum, are listed together on the National Register.

More markers nearby

• Elizabeth Chapel Methodist Church — steps away
• Cooks Point United Methodist Church — steps away
• Cooks Point — 1.8 mi
• Near Homesite of Judge Andrew S. Broaddus — 1.8 mi