Ward County

Thomas William Ward lost more than a leg in Texas service. On March 2, 1840, as he loaded a cannon for Austin's independence celebration, it fired early and shattered his right arm, which was amputated near the shoulder. Five months later he was elected Austin's second mayor. As consul in Panama he handled the problems of more than 80,000 Americans crossing the isthmus and clashed with Cornelius Vanderbilt, which cost him the post. Austin elected him mayor again in 1852 and 1864. He died of typhoid fever in 1872 and is buried in the State Cemetery.

What the plaque says

Ward County Formed from Tom Green County; created February 26, 1887, organized March 29, 1892. Named in honor of Thomas William Ward, 1807-1872, at the storming of Bexar, December, 1835; Commissioner of the General Land Office, 1841-1848; United States consul at Panama, 1853-1856. Barstow, County Seat.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Million Barrel Museum — 12 mi
  An oil reservoir that could not hold oil, then a water park that lasted one day, now a museum in Monahans with the story of the Pyote bomber base beside it.
• Roy Orbison Museum — 16 mi
  A volunteer-run room in the oil town where Roy Orbison spent his high school years, opened on request, with a guitar he played and his tinted prescription sunglasses.
• Monahans Sandhills State Park — 16 mi
  A small corner of a 200-mile dune field east of the Pecos, where fresh water lies just under the sand and a forest of shin oak grows no higher than your knee.

More markers nearby

• Rattlesnake Bomber Base — 3.8 mi
• Willow Springs — 9.2 mi
• Million Barrel Tank — 12 mi
• Roy Orbison — 16 mi