Site of Fort Johnson

The marker says the fort was named for Francis W. Johnson. The Handbook of Texas, which calls it a small, transient post, says it now seems more likely it honored Albert Sidney Johnston, and notes that sources use both spellings. First Infantry companies under John Holliday built it in November 1840 and left in 1841. Edward Tarrant and James Bourland gathered forces here for the Village Creek campaign, and in the winter of 1845 to 1846 Lyman Wight used the fort as headquarters for a band of defecting Mormons.

What the plaque says

Site of Fort Johnson Established by William G. Cooke in 1840 as a part of the defense of the Military Road from Red River to Austin. Named in honor of Colonel Francis W. Johnson (1799-1888). Commander of the Texas army at the capture of San Antonio, December 10, 1835. Place of rendezvous for the Snively Expedition which set out April 25, 1843. The settlement in the vicinity was known as Georgetown.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge — 5.5 mi
  A 1946 refuge on the Big Mineral Arm of Lake Texoma, laid over land bought for Denison Dam and the site of the vanished railroad town of Hagerman, now a winter stop for geese.
• Eisenhower State Park — 5.7 mi
  A bluff-top park on Lake Texoma opened in 1958 on land leased from the Corps of Engineers, in the Red River country of Fort Johnson, Colbert's Ferry and the Butterfield stages.
• Eisenhower Birthplace State Historic Site — 10 mi
  The small frame house beside the Katy tracks in Denison where Dwight Eisenhower was born in 1890, bought by townspeople in 1946 and given to Texas in 1958.
• Choctaw Cultural Center — 19 mi
  The Choctaw Nation's history told from the Chahta side at Calera, with galleries from Nanih Waiya to the Trail of Tears and the reservation today, a living village and daily stickball.

More markers nearby

• Fink — 1.3 mi
• Preston Road/Shawnee Trail — 3.8 mi
• Site of the Trading Post of Holland Coffee — 6.5 mi
• Sophia Porter — 6.5 mi