Republic of Texas' Santa Fe Expedition in Wise County

The plaque follows the column to the Trinity; the Handbook of Texas follows it to the end. After mistaking the Wichita River for the Red, the Texans lost weeks, then ran short of food and water below the Caprock. Capt. William G. Lewis, one of the advance party, persuaded his comrades to lay down their arms on September 17, 1841, and the main force surrendered October 5 near present Tucumcari without a shot. The prisoners were marched to Mexico City. Their treatment became a diplomatic dispute between the United States and Mexico before most were released in April 1842.

What the plaque says

Republic of Texas' Santa Fe Expedition in Wise County IN JUNE 1841, REPUBLIC OF TEXAS PRESIDENT MIRABEAU B. LAMAR COMMISSIONED AN EFFORT TO INCREASE TEXAS' POLITICAL, MILITARY AND COMMERCIAL INFLUENCE IN SANTA FE, THEN A PART OF MEXICO CLAIMED BY THE REPUBLIC OF TEXAS. A PARTY OF 321 MEN SET OUT FROM NORTH OF AUSTIN ON BRUSHY CREEK (PRESENT-DAY ROUND ROCK) ON JUNE 19. THIS GROUP INCLUDED MERCHANTS, ENGINEERS, INFANTRYMEN AND A NEWSMAN. THEY TOOK WITH THEM A LARGE QUANTITY OF TRADE GOODS AND ONE CANNON. THE EXPEDITION HAD GREAT DIFFICULTY PENETRATING THE DENSE UNDERGROWTH OF THE WESTERN CROSS TIMBERS OF NORTH CENTRAL TEXAS. THREE MILES SOUTHEAST OF HERE, THE MEN BURNED MOST OF THEIR TENTS, POLES AND OTHER GEAR IN ORDER TO MOVE FASTER. THEY THEN FORDED THE WEST FORK OF THE TRINITY RIVER AND CROSSED NEAR THIS SITE MID-DAY ON JULY 26, 1841. THE MEN ENDURED HARDSHIPS AND DELAYS FURTHER WEST, AND WERE CAPTURED IN THE FALL BEFORE REACHING SANTA FE. THEY WERE MARCHED TO MEXICO CITY AND IMPRISONED. MOST WERE FINALLY RELEASED IN APRIL 1842. ONE OF THE GUIDES WHO SURVIVED THIS EXPEDITION WAS COLONEL WILLIAM HUDSON HUNT. ON RETURNING TO TEXAS, HE TOOK UP HIS SURVEYING PROFESSION. HE SETTLED IN WISE COUNTY, WHERE ON THE SANTA FE EXPEDITION HE HAD OBSERVED THE REGION'S RANCHING POTENTIAL. HIS RANCH, CALLED CACTUS HILL, NOW LIES UNDER THE WATERS OF LAKE BRIDGEPORT. COL. HUNT BECAME A RESPECTED COMMUNITY LEADER AND IN 1859, HE AND OTHERS REQUESTED A REROUTING OF BUTTERFIELD OVERLAND MAIL STAGES TO THE SOUTH FROM COOKE COUNTY TO DECATUR AND THEN WEST TO JACKSBORO AND ON TO SAN FRANCISCO. THE REROUTING LED TO BRIDGING AND FERRYING ACTIVITIES FOR STAGECOACHES AND FREIGHT WAGONS AT THIS TRINITY RIVER CROSSING, RESULTING IN THE CREATION OF THE TOWN OF BRIDGEPORT IN 1860. (2012)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Wise County Courthouse — 9.1 mi
  J. Riely Gordon's granite Romanesque courthouse of 1895-96 in Decatur, built after fire destroyed the Second Empire courthouse and set off a fight over the county seat.
• Fort Richardson State Park and Historic Site — 23 mi
  The northernmost post of the Texas frontier line, outside Jacksboro, where a stone hospital and six other buildings stand from 1867 and a later Guard unit became the Lost Battalion.

More markers nearby

• Bridgeport Coal Mines — 1.3 mi
• Hunt, Col. William Hudson — 1.6 mi
• Toll Bridge & Old Bridgeport — 3.0 mi
• Indian Captives Dot and Bianca Babb — 4.8 mi