Markers (click on a topic to jump to that section.)
Berry, John Bate | Fort Mason and Camp Llano, C.S.A. | Old Fort Mason | Site of Fort Mason | Hoerster, Daniel | Katemcy, Site of Old Park Named for Comanche Chief | Lehmann, Herman and Willie | Mason County | Mason County Museum | Meusebach, Homesite of John O. | Todd Mountain | Todd, Dizenia Peters | Two Sheriffs of Mason County | Whorlie Well
Uncommemorated and Unmapped Sites
Cavins, A. | Kensing, Mr. and Mrs.
Uncommemorated Active Battle Map (Stories below are on map.)
Early Indian Fight | T.J. Milligan | Indians Charge Mr. and Mrs. John Bright and Baby | Jasper and Jim Covaness Kill Indian | Hiram and Washington Wolf | Todd and Alice, Mrs. | Parks Family | Indians Wound Emmak | Conrad Maechel and Yoakum Hench | Lehman Children | Korn, Adolph | James Little
John Bate Berry
Marker Title: John Bate Berry
City: Mason vicinity
Year Marker Erected: 1977
Marker Location: take SH 29 approximately 4 miles west to Grit Cemetery
(in central part of cemetery).
Marker Text: (1813 - 1891) Forefathers resisting America's foes on many
frontiers inspired John Bate Berry, who came to Texas from Kentucky
in 1826. He fought (1835-36) in the Texas War for Independence and in
the 1842 Mier Expedition to stop Mexican raids on the Republic of Texas.
Captured, imprisoned, then freed in 1844, he scouted for the American
army in 1846, during the Mexican War. Later he married, lived in this
locality, and fought to make frontiers safe for settlement. (1977)
Fort Mason and Camp Llano, C.S.A.
Marker Title: Fort Mason and Camp Llano, C.S.A.
City: Mason
Year Marker Erected: 1964
Marker Location: County Courthouse Square (southeast corner).
Marker Text: Fort Mason, located 5 blocks south, was headquarters for
the first regiment Texas Mounted Rifles 1861-62. These Confederate troops
occupied the line of old U.S. forts to give protection against Indians.
215 prisoners-of-war were confined here. In spring 1862, the line of
frontier defense was tightened and Camp Llano was established 9 miles
east. Texas Frontier Regiment occupied this post, part of a line a day's
ride apart on horseback from the Red River to the Rio Grande. Settlers
then used Fort Mason for protection. Scouting parties and patrols of
Confederate and state troops visited the post in aggressive warfare
to keep Indians near their camps and away from settlements. Upon secession
Mason County men joined regional, state and Confederate troops to protect
the frontier. They usually had to supply their own guns, mounts and
sustenance. Although large-scale raids had been checked, Indians roamed
this area, stealing horses, attacking isolated farms, burning buildings,
kidnapping women and children. However, an old Mason pioneer operated
a one-mule stage route between Camp Colorado, Mason and Fredericksburg.
Hiding from Indians at night, he and his mule made the trip every two
weeks carrying the mail without mishap. (1964)
Old Fort Mason
Marker Title: Old Fort Mason
City: Mason vicinity
Year Marker Erected: 1965
Marker Location: 1 mile north of Mason on US 87 in roadside park at
junction of Us 87 and US 377.
Marker Text: Situated near a spring long used by Indians; built of stone
quarried from post hill. Fort helped protect Texas frontier from Indians.
Colonel Robert E. Lee, stationed in Texas 2 years, commanded Fort Mason
from February 1860 to February 1861. Here he made his decision as to
his part in the Civil War, saying: "If the Union is dissolved,...I
shall return to my native state and...save in defense...draw my sword
on none". He left Fort Mason February 13, 1861. In wartime he remembered
"the enemy never sees the backs of Texans". (1965)
Site of Fort Mason
Marker Title: Fort Mason, Site of
City: Mason
Year Marker Erected: 1936
Marker Location: Near the corner of Post Hill St. and Spruce, on Spruce.
Marker Text: Established July 6, 1851 by the U.S. Army as a protection
to the frontier. Named in honor of Lieut. George T. Mason, killed in
action near Brownsville, April 25, 1846. Albert Sidney Johnston, George
H. Thomas, Earl Van Dorn and Robert E. Lee, of the 2nd U.S. Cavalry,
were stationed here at intervals from 1856 to 1861. Evacuated by Federal
troops, March 29, 1861 and reoccupied after the Civil War until 1869.
(1936)
Daniel Hoerster
Marker Title: Hoerster, Daniel
City: Art
Year Marker Erected: 1967
Marker Location: From Art take North Art Rd. North approx. 0.6 miles
to small Hoerster Family cemetery.
Marker Text: Daniel Hoerster, cattle brands inspector, killed in 1875
by cattle rustlers in Mason County War -- a feud between the law and
lawless. (1967)
Site of Old Park Named for Comanche Chief Katemcy
Marker Title: Site of Old Park Named for Comanche Chief Katemcy
City: Katemcy
Year Marker Erected: 1967
Marker Location: At the intersection of RR 1222 and Katemcy Rd.
Marker Text: Helped make 1847 treaty with settlers. Katemcy and peace
party said to have camped in present park. At first Old Settlers Reunion
here (1925) Herman Lehmann, raised by Indians, showed ritual killing
of animal with a longbow. Settlers gave the land to state for use as
park. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, 1967
Herman and Willie Lehmann
Marker Title: Lehmann, Herman and Willie
City: Loyal Valley
Year Marker Erected: 1991
Marker Location: From Loyal Valley take House Mountain Rd. approx. 0.2
miles to Loyal Valley Cemetery cemetery.
Marker Text: German immigrants Moritz and Auguste Lehmann settled along
so-called "Squaw Creek" (4 mi. W) in the 1850s. After Moritz's death, Auguste married
Philip Buchmeier on May 16, 1870, two of the Lehmann children, Herman
(age 10) and Willie (age 8) were captured by Apache Indians. Willie
was released after five days and returned home, but Herman remained
with the Apache and Comanche Indians for eight years. He was returned
to his family by U.S. Soldiers in 1878 but maintained his ties to Quanah
Parker's Comanche family, into which he had been adopted, for the remainder
of his life. (1991)
Mason County
Marker Title: Mason County
City: Mason vicinity
Year Marker Erected: 1936
Marker Location: From Mason take U.S. Hwy 87 south approx 2 miles to
rest stop (across U.S. Hwy 87 from Ft. Mason City Park).
Marker Text: Created January 22, 1858, and organized August 2, 1858,
this county was named for its most important settlement, Fort Mason.
Garrisoned intermittently from July 6, 1851, to March 23, 1869, Fort
Mason was named for Lt. G.T. Mason of the United States 2nd Dragoons,
killed in Mexican War action on April 25, 1846, near Brownsville. Fort
Mason was one of a chain of posts situated a day's horseback ride apart,
from Red River to the Rio Grande, for protecting frontier against Apaches,
Comanches, other Indians. (1971)
Homesite of John O. Meusebach
Marker Title: Homesite of John O. Meusebach
City: Mason vicinity
Year Marker Erected: 1969
Marker Location: 18 miles south of Mason on US 87 to right-of-way at
the intersection of US 87 and RR 2242.
Marker Text: By 1848, German colonization reached area under direction
of John O. Meusebach, who succeeded Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels as
colony leader and who signed treaty with Comanches allowing peaceful
settlement of the land between the Llano and San Saba rivers. He later
retired here to a 640-acre farm where he died. His colonists have influenced
Texas through their ingenuity, thrift and enterprise. They came seeking
political and personal freedom and remained to create a unique culture
through their blending of German custom with American necessity. (1969)
Todd Mountain
Marker Title: Todd Mountain
City: Mason vicinity
Year Marker Erected: 1974
Marker Location: 2.5 miles south of Mason on RR 1723, then 1 mile southwest
on RR 2389 right-of-way.
Marker Text: Named for family of George W. Todd, first Mason County
clerk, which was attacked by Indians at this site while en route to
Mason in late Dec. 1864. A 12-year-old black servant girl was killed,
13-year-old Alice Todd taken captive, and Todd's wife, Dizenia Peters
Todd (b.1826), wounded severely. Mrs. Todd died about 3 weeks later,
in Jan. 1865. An older half-brother, James Smith, returned from the
Civil War and searched for Alice for several months, but she was never
found. Mrs. Todd and the servant girl were buried in unmarked graves,
(150 yards southeast). (1974)
Dizenia Peters Todd
Marker Title: Dizenia Peters Todd
City: Mason vicinity
Year Marker Erected: 1975
Marker Location: 2.5 miles south of Mason on RR 1723, then 1 mile southwest
on RR 2389 to cemetery.
Marker Text: (Aug. 5, 1826 - Jan. 1865) Born in Mississippi, Dizenia
Peters moved to Texas with her parents about 1835. She married William
P. Smith in 1844 and had a son, James. After Smith's death, she married
George W. Todd (1827-1901) in 1851; they had 3 daughters. Todd and members
of his wife's family settled this area in the 1850s and were among the
first Mason County officials. Mrs. Todd and a black servant girl were
fatally wounded in an Indian attack near this site and buried in adjacent
unmarked graves. Recorded - 1975
Two Sheriffs of Mason County
Marker Title: Two Sheriffs of Mason County
City: Mason
Year Marker Erected: 1980
Marker Location: 0.5 mile nort of courthouse on US 87 right-of-way.
Marker Text: A native of Kentucky, Thomas S. Milligan (1810-1860) moved
to this area in 1855 and operated a change station for the stage line.
He was also a rancher and supplied beef to the soldiers at Fort Mason.
Shortly after Mason County was organized in 1858 he became the first
elected sheriff. Two years later he was killed by hostile Indians near
his home (1.6 mi. NW). His grandson Allen Thomas Murray (1880-1929)
became county sheriff in 1924 and like his grandfather died in the line
of duty. He was killed by a bootlegger near this site in 1929. (1980)
Whorlie Well
Marker Title: Whorlie Well
City: Mason
Year Marker Erected: 1971
Marker Location: on RR 1871, near the corner of Westmoreland and Avenue
F.
Marker Text: Named for a victim in famous "Hoodoo War", provoked
by cattle rustling in Mason County. John Whorlie (or Worley), a deputy
sheriff, on May 13, 1875, lost a prisoner to a lynch mob on Aug. 10,
1875, Whorlie was killed and scalped while working on this well. His
killer was identified as Scott Cooley, a friend of the lynched man.
Masonic burial for Whorlie was conducted by the McCulloch Lodge No.
273, A.F. & A.M., of which he was a member. No one in Mason County
was ever convicted for wrong doing in the "Hoodoo War", but
after 1876 law, order, and peace were restored. (1971)
Jasper and Jim Covaness Kill Indian
About 1874, Jasper and Jim Covaness, sons of Robert Covaness, who lived six miles west of Mason on the Mason-Junction road, were out one evening hunting a deer about two miles south of their house, when they saw several Indians coming through the roughs. Apparently the Indians had not discovered the boys but Jasper fired with his Winchester and when he did, and Indian fell backward from his steed. The two boys then hurried home.