|
|
|
R E S O L U T I O N
|
|
|
WHEREAS, Proud citizens of Titus County are gathering at Lake |
|
Bob Sandlin State Park on June 8, 2013, to celebrate the 175th |
|
anniversary of the founding of Fort Sherman; and |
|
WHEREAS, Sponsored by the Texas Parks and Wildlife |
|
Department, the Titus County Historical Preservation Society, and |
|
the Titus County Historical Commission, this commemoration will |
|
feature historical reenactors in period costume who will provide |
|
information about the fort's history and the lives of its |
|
inhabitants; and |
|
WHEREAS, Established by the Republic of Texas in 1838 near |
|
the spot where the Cherokee Trace crossed Big Cypress Creek, Fort |
|
Sherman was built as a log stockade by Captain William B. Stout and |
|
a detachment of 42 Red River Mounted Rangers; the fort was named for |
|
Colonel Sidney Sherman, a commander in the Texas Army at the Battle |
|
of San Jacinto and the man who coined the battle cry "Remember the |
|
Alamo!"; and |
|
WHEREAS, Fort Sherman was the first community in Titus County |
|
and home to the Bell, Blundell, Coots, Dial, Dragoo, Gibson, and |
|
Harris families until 1841; it provided the local settlers with a |
|
refuge from Indian attack, and it also served as a rest and resupply |
|
depot for early units of the Texas Rangers; in the 1840s, it was a |
|
polling place for several elections; and |
|
WHEREAS, After the threat from Indians diminished, the fort |
|
was abandoned, and when Major John Pollard Gaines stopped there |
|
with his cavalry unit in 1846 on his way to join the |
|
Mexican-American War, he noted in his diary that a peach orchard had |
|
begun to grow up in its ruins; and |
|
WHEREAS, The fort continued to appear on various maps as late |
|
as 1873, and eventually local farmers salvaged the last remaining |
|
timber from the fort for their own purposes; today, the site of this |
|
historic outpost is located within Lake Bob Sandlin State Park, |
|
which also includes the site of a cemetery from the same period as |
|
the fort; and |
|
WHEREAS, The efforts of the Texas Parks and Wildlife |
|
Department, the Titus County Historical Preservation Society, and |
|
the Titus County Historical Commission to remember the brave |
|
Rangers who built Fort Sherman and the resilient and self-reliant |
|
settlers who lived there will help keep the memory of this unique |
|
frontier outpost alive for further generations of Texans; now, |
|
therefore, be it |
|
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 83rd Texas |
|
Legislature hereby recognize June 8, 2013, as Fort Sherman Day and |
|
commemorate the fort's rich history and continuing legacy; and, be |
|
it further |
|
RESOLVED, That official copies of this resolution be prepared |
|
for the Titus County Historical Preservation Society and the Titus |
|
County Historical Commission as an expression of high regard by the |
|
Texas House of Representatives. |
|
|
Hughes |
|
|
|
______________________________ |
|
Speaker of the House |
|
|
I certify that H.R. No. 1875 was adopted by the House on May |
|
15, 2013, by a non-record vote. |
|
|
|
______________________________ |
|
Chief Clerk of the House |
|