Gaines Ferry | |
---|---|
Location | Pendleton, Texas / Louisiana |
Coordinates | 31°20′50″N93°57′10″W / 31.34722°N 93.95278°W |
Area | 0.1 acres (0.040 ha) |
Built | circa 1795 |
Gaines Ferry was a ferry on the Sabine River, between what is now Sabine Parish, Louisiana and Sabine County, Texas, at the eastern terminus of Texas State Highway 21, and the western terminus of LA 6. Much of the early history of New Spain, France, Mexico, the Republic of Texas, the United States, including the American Civil War, and the U.S. states of Texas and Louisiana, involve some aspect of Gaines Ferry. It was a major highway to the west and cattle trail east, a port of entry for the Republic of Texas, and a transportation road for military supplies and soldiers during the American Civil War that included transporting cotton to Mexico. Gaines Ferry was the northern entry for many colonists heading to Texas, and it was named after James Gaines who purchased it in 1819. The ferry saw continuous service until 1937.
The ferry, formerly Chabanan Ferry circa 1795, was a major crossing between what was to become the states of Texas and Louisiana, across a point where the Gaines-Pendleton Bridge is now located, at the site of the old town of Pendleton, [1] near Milam, Texas. The road leading to the ferry was part of the El Camino Real highway, a series of roads in Louisiana that converged at, or near, the crossing. The road ran from Natchitoches, Louisiana, across the Sabine via the ferry into Texas, through Milam, historic San Augustine and Nacogdoches and then to Mexico City. It was also referred to as the King's Highway, the Old San Antonio Road and also the El Camino Real de Los Tejas or El Camino Real de los Tejas National Historic Trail.
The Sabine river was a matter of contention between countries, states, and governments for years. Long a disputed boundary, the issue was left unresolved by the Treaty of Fontainebleau that ceded it from France to Spain, the Third Treaty of San Ildefonso ceding it back to France, and the 1803 Louisiana Purchase agreement ceding it to the United States. The Neutral Ground (Louisiana) military agreement of 1806 created the Sabine Free State during the interim and the Adams–Onís Treaty of 1819, that was not ratified until 1821, was supposed to be the solution. The Mexican independence of Texas from New Spain provided further fuel to the dispute, but this was settled with Texas's independence from Mexico.
James Taylor Gaines [2] was born November 14, 1776, Robert Thomas in Culpeper County, Virginia but changed his name in 1810. He was a member of the famed Pendleton family that included a double first cousin, General Edmund Pendleton Gaines, a great uncle, Edmund Pendleton [3] and cousins, Nathaniel Pendleton, John Penn, and John Taylor of Caroline, and was a distant cousin to James Madison. Edmund P. Gains was involved in the arrest and presentation for prosecution against Aaron Burr. Aaron Burr was the second cousin of Dr. Timothy Burr, the owner of Burr's Ferry, and founder of Burr Ferry, about 35 miles down river.
Although history is lacking on his education James Gaines was extremely well educated. Aside from owning a ferry, [4] he also owned a mercantile store, an Inn, was a captain and raised and commanded Alabama and Coushatta Indians troops in the Gutiérrez-Magee expedition, fought in the War of 1812, served as alcalde in 1824, sheriff in 1828, and was Post Master for years. Gaines was a leader in the forces opposing Haden Edwards in the Fredonian Rebellion and the brief Republic of Fredonia. After building the first house, purchasing the ferry, and building a second house for in-laws, he enlisted Thomas Stuart McFarland [5] to survey for a town and named it Pendleton. He sold the ferry and lands in 1843, after owning it over 23 years, and moved to Nacogdoches, where he was a signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence and helped write the Constitution of the Republic of Texas. He then served as a senator in the Republic of Texas in the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth congresses, representing Shelby, Sabine, and Harrison counties. He owned and operated a hotel in Texas for a time then he decided to move to California.
James Gaines decided to follow two sons Edmund and John B. and arrived on the steamer Ecuador in San Francisco on August 23, 1850. There they discovered gold and formed the Mount Gaines Gold Mine that still exist today. He died November 12, 1856, and was buried in Oakland, California.
The ferry remained in operation until becoming unneeded in 1937 with the installation of a bridge on what was to become Texas Farm-to-Market #1. The original house, built in 1815, was sold and became known as the Gaines-McGown House. It was destroyed in 1969 with the filling of Toledo Bend Reservoir. The second house was sold to Martha Oliphin and has become known as the Gaines-Oliphint House that was listed on the National Register of Historic Places [6] August 18, 1977.
The Republic of Texas was a sovereign state in North America that existed from March 2, 1836, to February 19, 1846. It shared borders with Mexico, the Republic of the Rio Grande, and the United States of America.
The Sabine River is a 360-mile (580 km) long river in the Southern U.S. states of Texas and Louisiana, From the 32nd parallel north and downstream, it serves as part of the boundary between the two states and empties into Sabine Lake, an estuary of the Gulf of Mexico.
Sabine Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2020 census, the population was 22,155. The seat of the parish is Many.
The Fredonian Rebellion was the first attempt by Texans to secede from Mexico. The settlers, led by Empresario Haden Edwards, declared independence from Mexican Texas and created the Republic of Fredonia near Nacogdoches. The short-lived republic encompassed the land the Mexican government had granted to Edwards in 1825 and included areas that had been previously settled. Edwards's actions soon alienated the established residents, and the increasing hostilities between them and settlers recruited by Edwards led Víctor Blanco of the Mexican government to revoke Edwards's contract.
Thomas Jefferson Rusk was an early political and military leader of the Republic of Texas, serving as its first Secretary of War as well as a general at the Battle of San Jacinto. He was later a US politician and served as a Senator from Texas from 1846 until his suicide. He served as the President pro tempore of the United States Senate in 1857.
The Old San Antonio Road was a historic roadway located in the U.S. states of Texas and Louisiana. Parts of it were based on traditional Native American trails. Its Texas terminus was about 35 miles (56 km) southeast of Eagle Pass at the Rio Grande in Maverick County, and its northern terminus was at Natchitoches, Louisiana. The road continued from Texas through Monclova to Mexico City.
The Long Expedition was an 1819 attempt to take control of Spanish Texas by filibusters. It was led by James Long and successfully established a small independent government, known as the Republic of Texas. The expedition crumbled later in the year, as Spanish troops drove the invaders out. Long returned to Texas in 1820 and attempted to reestablish his control. In October 1821, Long was defeated by Spanish troops, captured and sent to Mexico City where he was killed by a guard.
Edmund Pendleton Gaines was a career United States Army officer who served for nearly fifty years, and attained the rank of major general by brevet. He was one of the Army's senior commanders during its formative years in the early to mid-1800s, and was a veteran of the War of 1812, Seminole Wars, Black Hawk War, and Mexican–American War.
Los Adaes was the capital of Tejas on the northeastern frontier of New Spain from 1721 to 1773. It included a Franciscan mission, San Miguel de Cuellar de los Adaes, and a presidio, Nuestra Señora del Pilar de Los Adaes. The name Adaes derives from the indigenous Adai people, members of the Caddoan confederacy of Indians who were the people the missionaries aimed to convert to Christianity. The presidio and mission were established to counter French influence in Louisiana territory and defend New Spain from possible invasion or encroachment by the French. In 1763 Louisiana came under the control of Spain and the Los Adaes outpost was no longer necessary for defense. In 1773 the Spanish closed the mission and presidio and forced the population to move to San Antonio.
The Runaway Scrape events took place mainly between September 1835 and April 1836 and were the evacuations by Texas residents fleeing the Mexican Army of Operations during the Texas Revolution, from the Battle of the Alamo through the decisive Battle of San Jacinto. The ad interim government of the new Republic of Texas and much of the civilian population fled eastward ahead of the Mexican forces. The conflict arose after Antonio López de Santa Anna abrogated the 1824 Constitution of Mexico and established martial law in Coahuila y Tejas. The Texians resisted and declared their independence. It was Sam Houston's responsibility, as the appointed commander-in-chief of the Provisional Army of Texas, to recruit and train a military force to defend the population against troops led by Santa Anna.
Fort Jesup, also known as Fort Jesup State Historic Site or Fort Jesup or Fort Jesup State Monument, was built in 1822, 22 miles (35 km) west of Natchitoches, Louisiana, to protect the United States border with New Spain and to return order to the Neutral Strip. Originally named Cantonment Jesup, the fort operated from 1822 until 1846. After the abandonment of the fort in 1846, the United States federal government continued to own the abandoned fort site until the privatization of the site in 1869.
The El Camino Real de los Tejas National Historic Trail is a national historic trail covering the U.S. section of El Camino Real de Los Tejas, a thoroughfare from the 18th-century Spanish colonial era in Spanish Texas, instrumental in the settlement, development, and history of Texas. The National Park Service designated El Camino Real de los Tejas National Historic Trail as a unit in the National Trails System in 2004.
The Yowani were a historical group of Choctaw people who lived in Texas. Yowani was also the name of a preremoval Choctaw village.
The Bowl ; John Watts Bowles was one of the leaders of the Chickamauga Cherokee during the Cherokee–American wars, served as a Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation–West, and was a leader of the Texas Cherokees.
Texas Cherokees were the small settlements of Cherokee people who lived temporarily in what is now Texas, after being forcibly relocated from their homelands, primarily during the time that Spain, and then Mexico, controlled the territory. After the Cherokee War of 1839, the Cherokee communities in Texas were once again forcibly removed to Indian Territory in present-day Oklahoma. When Union troops took control of Cherokee territory in 1863, many "Southern" Cherokees fled to Texas, but after the war, most of them returned to their homes in Indian Territory. Others are part of the multitribal Mount Tabor Indian Community, or Tsalagiyi Nvdagi Tribe which have received commendations for their contributions to the State of Texas.
Burr Ferry is an unincorporated community at the junction of LA 8 and LA 111 south, in Vernon Parish, Louisiana, United States. The community is two miles from the site of the old Burr's Ferry on the Sabine River, at the Texas line. The Sabine River, at this location, is the site of two listings on the National Register of Historic Places; Burr's Ferry Bridge, and Burr's Ferry Earthworks.
John Marie Durst (1797–1851) was born on the frontier in Arkansas, and was an early American settler, military veteran, and politician in Louisiana and Texas. As a youth, he learned the mercantile trade from his godfather Peter Samuel Davenport in Texas, where he also became fluent in several languages. French, Spanish and various Native American languages were spoken in this region in addition to English, reflecting its different colonial history. At the age of 18, Durst fought in the Battle of New Orleans with a Louisiana militia.
Dón Antonio Gil Ybarbo (1729–1809), also known as Gil Ybarbo, Gil Ibarbo, and many other name variants, was a pioneering settler of Nacogdoches, Texas. Ambiguously described by the National Park Service as a "prolific trader and smuggler," Gil y'Barbo's contribution to Texas was essential to the well-being of "his people," and a critical element in providing a staging point for the Anglo-American settlers that would follow them.
The Gaines–Oliphint House is a historic log cabin in Milam, Sabine County, Texas.
José Domingo Ramón was a Spanish military man and explorer who founded several missions and a presidio in East Texas to prevent French expansion in the area.