It’s the Silver Anniversary of Weihnachtsmarkt. Can you believe it? For 25 years the Sophienburg has been putting on this event. Weihnachtsmarkt means “Christmas Market”. Patterned after the Christmas Markets in Germany, the purpose is to allow tradesmen to offer customers goods and gifts for Christmas gift-giving. Of course, our purpose is also to help keep the doors open to the Museum and Archives. The event will be at the Civic Center from Friday, Nov. 22 through Sunday, Nov. 24.

There are some unexpected connections between Weihnachtsmarkt and the Civic Center. Stretch your imagination and see if you can guess the first connection.

Karl Matern

In 1844 when the first group of immigrants on the ship Johann Dethardt arrived in Galveston, there was a young man aboard named Karl Matern. He was typical of the single first emigrants looking for a new life. Early in March, Prince Carl went to San Antonio looking for land to buy and bought the Veramendi Tract (Comal Tract) from the Juan Veramendi heirs. Karl Matern accompanied Prince Carl on this trip. As a first founder of New Braunfels, Matern received Lot #63 from the Adelsverein, on which he built a log cabin without using nails. He had been trained in forestry in Germany.

A year later Matern attended a picnic in Austin County where he met his future wife, Ulrike Fuchs. After they married in 1853, the couple moved to land on the Colorado River in Burnet County where her family had settled. Matern was gone from New Braunfels and so was his little log cabin.

Now you have connection #1. Lot #63 is where the Civic Center now stands and I’m sure lots of nails were used in construction. In front of it is the statue of Prince Carl. This is where Weihnachtsmarkt will be held.

Alonzo Garwood

About the time the Matern left New Braunfels, a child, Alonzo Garwood, was born in Bastrop, Texas. He was destined to have a successful medical practice in New Braunfels. Dr. Garwood built a grand home on the corner of Seguin and Garden Sts. sometime in the mid-1920s. The lot number was #63. He married Irene Pfeuffer, the daughter of Senator Georg Johann Pfeuffer and Suzanah Gravis and two children were born to the couple – Lucille in 1885 and George in 1889.

After Irene’s death, Garwood married Bertha Harpstrite. When Dr. Garwood died in 1932, his widow lived in the house until her death.

After several owners, the property was purchased in 1969 by the City of New Braunfels, including most of the block, that included lot # 63.

Chamber of Commerce

Fast forward to an ad in the l00th Anniversary of the Neu Braunfelser Herald-Zeitung in 1952. This ad stated that the Chamber of Commerce began in 1920 when the town was a “neat little town” of 3,590 to almost 15,000 in 1952 (today’s population is at least six times that amount). In its infancy, NB had ideal living conditions, was favored by nature, and was strategically located in the heart of Texas. Originally called the Merchants Association, the Chamber of Commerce organization became the Board of City Development and eventually the Greater New Braunfels Chamber of Commerce.

Now go way back in time. As long as commerce existed, traders grouped themselves together for protection and then eventually to set up rules of governing the conduct of trade. As a world-wide organization, the Chamber goes back to the end of the 17^th century in Marsaille, France when the city council formed an association of traders.

In the British Isles, it was in Glasgow, Edinburg, Manchester, and London in 1881. In Germany, Kaiser Wilhelm saw the advantages of such organizations for promoting trade. Its success spread over Germany.

The oldest Chamber of Commerce in America was formed in New York in 1768 and was chartered by King George of England and by 1870 there were 40 U.S. Chambers. Each was an association of tradesmen for promotion of the sale of goods. When businesses realized that their success depended on a healthy community, the Chamber of Commerce became a true community organization. That’s true of the New Braunfels Chamber. To attract new industries and to involve the community in governmental affairs on a local, state and federal level became major goals for Chamber programs.

Our Civic Center opened its doors in 1971. Most of the building is smack-dab in the middle of lot #63.

Weihnachtsmarkt

Now let’s get back to Weihnachtsmarkt. Eighty years ago the Sophienburg Museum and Archives was organized for the purpose of preserving the unique history of New Braunfels and Comal County. Weihnachtsmarkt began in 1989 as a primary fund raiser.

The Civic Center was the location of the event. During the expansion of the Civic Center, Weihnachtsmarkt was held as a one year event in the Wursthalle. Although the atmosphere was charming using huge murals of Germany, the event returned to the new Civic Center in 2008. More geared to this type of event, Weihnachtsmarkt has been there ever since.

The sounds and smells of Weihnachtsmarkt will put you in the mood for the holidays. Sophie’s Kaffee Shop gives you an opportunity to eat and rest in between shopping. There is so much variety in the shopping and if you want to experience old world Christmas charm, come to Weihnachtsmarkt.

Letter to Prince Carl:

Dear Prince Carl,

Perhaps you can be with us in spirit at Weihnachtsmarkt. We think you would like what we have done at Sophie’s Castle on the hill. We will use the money we make at Weinhachtsmarkt to keep alive the history of the community you helped found.

Sincerely,
The Sophienburg Museum and Archives

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The story of the capture of children in 1800s Texas is told through the research of Scott Zesch in his book “The Captured”. Many children were captured by the Plains Indians. In his book, he studies in depth the life and eventual release of nine children, mostly boys under 14, who were captured in the Hill Country by Comanche and Apache tribes.

Remember that the original land grant that the emigrants had with the Adelsverein was that they were granted 320 acres for a family and 160 acres for a single male in the three-million-acre Fisher-Miller grant between the Llano and Colorado rivers known as the San Saba. Now remember that Prince Carl found out from Ranger Jack Hayes that this piece of land was way too far from the coast and it was dangerous because it was the prime hunting grounds of the Comanche.

Prince Carl decided that he needed to make arrangements for a stopping place. New Braunfels was chosen but instead of just a stopping place, it became the final destination. Here the emigrants were given a half-acre lot and 10 acre farm lot. This decision led to the unhappiness of the settlers due to the discrepancy of the number of acres that they were promised.

John Meusebach who took Prince Carl’s place as commissioner general, lead a group to what would become Fredericksburg. Many more emigrants had landed at the coast and he had to find a place for them.

Fredericksburg was located south of the San Saba grant. To open up this territory, Meusebach called for a treaty between the Comanche chiefs and the Germans. Meusebach was the one qualified to do this – smart, charismatic and persuasive. He was successful with these 20 chiefs. The problem was that the treaty was only with a small number of chiefs and not all of them. In other words, each chief was autonomous for his tribe only and there was no “big chief” for all of the Comanches. Around the Civil War and immediately after, the Hill Country faced many Indian atrocities.

In New Braunfels and Comal County, there were Lipan, Tonkawa, Karankawa, Waco, and occasional visits from the Comanche. A few killings were recorded, but locals found most of the behavior more frightening and annoying than dangerous.

Hermann Seele witnessed a gruesome scene as he was traveling from the coast to New Braunfels in 1845. Right outside of Seguin, he experienced a Texas rainstorm which broke up a cannibalistic orgy by Tonkawa Indians in the Guadalupe River bottom. They had boiled and fried flesh and feasted on a Waco warrior. The squaws said that by eating this delicious meat of a warrior, their own offspring would be as brave as the Waco.

Lt. Oscar von Claren who was later murdered by Comanches on his way back from Austin writes to his sister of visiting the encampment of the Tonkawa, some 500 men, women, and children. Witnessing a ceremony inside a tent brought a menacing feeling to von Claren – the monotonous lamentations, the dull hollow drum, the senseless rattle of gourds and the earnest faces of the Indians brought on this foreboding. He went outside only to witness happy children playing around a tall pole on which hung the arm and leg of a Waco warrior.

Ferdinand Lindheimer tells of a Tonkawa camp on the Guadalupe above New Braunfels. One day the Tonkawa were celebrating because they had killed an enemy warrior and they cooked the flesh.

In spite of these cannibalistic practices, most of the relations with the Indian tribes in Comal County were tolerable, but not so in the Hill Country.

Zesch’s book tells of the captivity of children in the Hill Country, some for only months, and most for years. In spite of the terrible lives these children endured,all had a hard time readjusting to their family life once they were returned. Some even voluntarily reunited with their Indian captives.

Zesch tells the story of Rudolph Fischer (13), Banc Babb (10), Dot Babb (14), Minnie Caudle, released after five months, Temple Friend (7), Adolph Korn (10), Hermann Lehmann (11) brothers Clinton (10), and Jeff Smith (8). He covers subjects such as where and when they were captured, their individual lives in captivity, readjustment to white society, religious views, and more.

Understanding the “Indianization” of the captives has long been a subject of study. One reason that seems feasible is that the captive liked the freedom and adventure of the Indian culture. Their life on the frontier was monotonous labor. Zesch says, “The Comanche and Apache not only received the child captives warmly and without prejudice, they also spent much time training them, making them feel significant in tribal society”. Anyone who has a child who played “Cowboys and Indians” would understand this fascination of Indian life over frontier life.

These captives had mostly good things to say about the Indians who became their adopted families. They seemed to understand the motives and superstitions of the Indians. They admired the Comanche character and tribal laws.

Zesch tells the captives’ stories in a straightforward way and makes no judgment. Read the book and see what you think.

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After writing the column about the digging of the Comal Canal by William Hunter Meriwether, much personal information has come to light about this man about whom we knew so little, but was so important to the development of New Braunfels. Refresh your memory in the sophienburg.com website for Sept. 6, 2011.

Through the Internet, Joy Alexander, who was responsible for the initial research about William Hunter Meriwether, made several connections with the Meriwether family. They were just as interested in what Meriwether did in NB, as we were in what he did before he came here.

Meriwether, (this is the correct spelling) nicknamed “Billy Fish” descended from families active in the American Revolution. The family hails from Albemarle County, Virginia. It was there that William Douglass Meriwether (father of William Hunter) bought 500 acres on the Rivanna River and constructed a large merchant mill and sawmill. He built a toll bridge and dam across the Rivanna. In 1840 the father and son greatly increased the business of the area by erecting the Charlottesville Factory for carding and weaving cotton and wool, sawing timber and grinding flour.  (Source: Rick Britton; “The Charlottesville Woolen Mills, Clothing a Nation”) The elder Meriwether died in 1845 and the business was sold.

Now look at what we know about William Hunter. He came to NB in 1846 and bought the area later known as Landa Park. He had married Frances Poindexter from a prominent family in 1821. Together they had two babies, both of whom either died at birth or as infants. There is no record of when Frances died except “before 1850”. She must have died or they may have divorced before he came to NB. In 1856, he married his cousin “Kate” Witing Meriwether from Virginia. She was 18 and he was 63.

An interesting story from the New York Weekly, Nov. 28, 1857:

A collision between the steamer Opelousas and the steamer Galveston. Opelousas came out of Berwick Bay and the Galveston out of Galveston, Texas. The Galveston struck the Opelousas midship causing her to sink in 20 minutes, losing several lives. The Galveston received little damage and all the passengers were saved. Listed on the ship list of the Opalousas were WH Meriwether and lady who gave his home as San Antonio. The freight was totally lost and had headed for the ports in Galveston and Indianola. From there it was destined to the Texas interior. About 300 barrels of pork, flour, corn, sugar, molasses, and coffee for Meriwether were headed for San Antonio, Victoria, Corpus Christi, Lavaca, Matagorda, and New Braunfels.

Now in 1859 Meriwether sold his holdings here in NB to Joseph Landa, and he and his wife moved to Shelby, Tennessee. In his will written May 15, 1861, he confessed to having much pain and leaving everything to his wife “Kate”. He died May 21, 1861, in Tennessee.

Now here’s an interesting side-story: The family does not know where he was buried, but in the Presbyterian Cemetery in Lynchburg, Va. there is a marble shaft 10 ft. high with the following inscription: “To my husband William Hunter Meriwether; Thou art gone, but not forgotten; At Rest”.  To the left and right of the stone are two small stones, one with a dove with “N.D. Meriwether, age 16 months”, and the other “J.M. Meriwether” with a rosebud on it. The mystery is “Who were these children? Perhaps the children that he had with his first wife. Did the second wife move them or him there?

Our William Hunter Meriwether and the famous Meriwether Lewis were first cousins, once removed. In other words, Thomas Meriwether was the grandfather of Meriwether Lewis and the g-grandfather of William Hunter Meriwether. Meriwether Lewis was commander of the Lewis and Clark Exploration of the Missouri and Colorado Rivers from 1804-06. He was appointed by Pres. Thomas Jefferson. A mystery surrounds his death in 1809. He was either killed or committed suicide in Natchez Trace, Tenn. on his way back from Louisiana to Washington.

In my home office I have a sign reading “Circa Trova” meaning “Seek and you will find”. Wow, did we ever!

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(Encore presentation — Originally appeared February 8, 2011)

By Myra Lee Adams Goff

Waggoners or Teamsters were important to early New Braunfels. They not only led the wagon trains of the early German settlers but they hauled freight to and from the frontier, especially the Gulf coast.

G. Fred Oheim, editor of the Zeitung’s Jahrbuch in 1943, named 340 teamsters who “transported merchandise to New Braunfels from Indianola, Lavaca, Victoria, Cuero, Kingsbury, Luling, Marion, Austin and San Antonio from 1860 to1877 for Ernst Sherff alone.”

Sherff was owner of a large merchandise business in New Braunfels that he purchased from Ferguson and Hessler in 1858. By that time, Waggoners were using mules to pull wagons. Sherff’s store later became Eiband and Fischer.

Oheim related that when there were no factories in Texas providing necessities of life and the state’s wealth consisted solely of produce off the land, transportation was an indispensable part of daily living.

Early Texas transportation consisted of ox-drawn wagons, then stagecoaches and finally railroads. One group started to build a railroad from San Antonio to Lavaca but the tracks were destroyed at Victoria during the Civil War.

In 1865-66, the U.S. Army placed that stretch in operation again. Before and after the Civil War and up until a hurricane wiped out Indianola in 1886, oxen and mule wagons hauled imported wares and food up to New Braunfels from the coast.

From the Southwestern Historical Quarterly, July 1955: The wagons had bodies shaped like sled runners drawn by four, five, or six oxen. “The Germans west of the Colorado had a better wagon and drove better mules. Like the desert caravans of old, they wound in long lines over the rolling plains.”

Poets like Fritz Goldbeck glamorized the Waggoner’s life. Mrs. Ernst Kapp in a letter written in 1850 and translated by Oscar Haas described the trip from Indianola to New Braunfels in glowing terms, like “green undulating prairies shimmering in the bright sun” and “from out of the distance slowly papering into view, long rows of heavy laden prairie schooners come rolling on”.

She describes wonderful food, and the men smoking short pipes engaged in conversation around the campfires. “Someone strikes up a song”. Then finally there is the sound of the whippoorwill.

Mrs. Kapp’s description sounds a lot more appealing than the other stories that I have read relating to the trek inland just five years earlier.

The first Waggoner of note in New Braunfels was George Ullrich who accompanied the first group of emigrants to New Braunfels and was named wagonmaster by Prince Carl. The Ullrich family was one of the few families that was already in Texas by the time the emigrants arrived.

Ullrich was born in Lindenau Meiningen in 1813. Family sources say he and Margaretha nee Decker were married in 1839 in New York City. Their first child was born in Frelsberg, Texas in 1842 and this is where they were living when Prince Carl was making arrangements to move the emigrants inland.

George Ullrich was consequently hired by the Adelsverein as the wagon master. He, along with his wife and 3-year-old child, guided the first group of emigrants from the coast to the interior. He subsequently guided the second group as well.

Oscar Haas has an interesting story in his History of New Braunfels and Comal County, Texas, 1844-1946. He states that “The story has it” that the first two women to cross the Guadalupe were Mrs. George Ullrich and Mrs. Frederick George Holekamp. Mrs. Ullrich crossed on the first wagon with her husband and Mrs. Holekamp crossed on horseback with Prince Carl.

The Ullrich family stayed in NB where he was elected a city alderman and sometime after 1850 was elected sheriff. Ullrich and his wife are both buried in the Adelsverein Cemetery.

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By Keva Hoffmann Boardman –

I just finished an exhibit on the Waissenhaus or Orphan’s Home. Organized in 1848 near Gruene, it was the first orphanage in Texas. I perused the Sophienburg’s collections to find original artifacts to use in the exhibit, and knew that of two large dough troughs, one was used at Waissenhaus. The other simply has a note, “used by the Mormons” and no donor name or other provenance. Hmmmmm …

Looks like it’s time to get out all the old standard research materials.

In a nutshell, the history of Mormonism in Texas began in 1844 with a plan by its founder, Joseph Smith. When Smith was killed, Brigham Young was made the new leader. Young decided to move the group to Utah; however, there were a few who wanted to continue Joseph Smith’s plan to settle in Texas (negotiations had already been made with Sam Houston). A group broke away from Young and moved to Texas with 200 settlers. They were led by Lyman Wight. Wight guided the group across the Red River in November 1845 and wintered in an abandoned fort in Grayson County until April. On June 6, 1846, the group settled at what is now called Mormon Springs, on the Colorado River, just under Mount Bonnell in Austin. They built the first water powered mill in the area.

Here is where they get tied in with the German colonists.

For some reason, Lyman Wight did not feel like his people were at their “Eden”. In 1847, he sent a team of four scouts into the Texas hill country. They found a site on the Pedernales River, four miles southeast of Fredericksburg — they reported, “a land with plenty of water and timber and abounding in good game and honey.” The colonists began to construct a 35-mile road leading north to the Pedernales which became known as the Old Mormon Road.

“Three elders from a Mormon Colony who had settled near Austin, came to Herr Meusebach. They asked permission to settle a company of 46 families on the grant of the Verein…the group had come to Texas and settled…with great foresight and remarkable speed they had erected a mill … this mill now produces most of the cornmeal used at Austin and New Braunfels. … The three elders were not given an unqualified promise to their petition; however, a contract was signed with them whereby they agreed to build a mill at Fredericksburg.” — Ferdinand Roemer, Roemer’s Texas

“I have visited Austin … the well-equipped mill, that supplies Austin and Fredericksburg in part with corn meal is located near a spring on the Colorado … This mill is at present operated by Mormons, of whom about a hundred will settle in the grant of the Verein.” — Felix Bracht, Texas in 1848

The Wight colony packed up and moved to their new Fredericksburg location. Within six weeks, they constructed and opened a gristmill and saw mill. Wight named the colony ZODIAK. About 20 families built homes on regularly spaced plots of land all with river frontage. They helped with the construction of Fort Martin Scott and even took in new German settlers arriving to the town.

“The Mormons built convenient houses, a large school, and a temple … They engaged in agriculture, producing mostly corn. They were on friendly terms with their German neighbors, furnished them with meal and lumber, and instructed them how to cultivate their fields advantageously.” — R.L. Biesele, History of the German Settlements in Texas

“Much of the lumber that they [the Germans] used came from the saw mill on the Pedernales in the Mormon community of Zodiak … Meusebach had welcomed the Mormons when they had established the settlement in 1847. Their technical skill in the building and operation of a saw mill as well as a gristmill, was a useful addition to this pioneer region … Meusebach and his wife enjoyed the wheat flour ground at the Mormon mill, where the first wheat flour of the entire region was made.” — Irene Marshall King, John O. Meusebach

It seemed peaceful enough. The Germans and the Mormons were much alike in regards to social interaction and business ethics. In 1850, Lyman Wight was elected Chief Justice (County Judge) of Gillespie County. The trouble began when disputes arose between the German colonists and Wight’s congregation. He invariably sided with the Mormons. It was also said that the Mormon grain was always ground first. Wight became offended by the comments of the members of the commissioner’s court and then refused to show up for court sessions. The commissioner’s court finally declared his position vacant and voted in a new justice.

Wight was ready to move his people again, even before the Pedernales flooded and washed away the Zodiak mills in 1851. The colony moved to Burnet County, then wandered through Llano, Gillespie, Kerr and Bandera counties before settling 12 miles outside of Bandera at a site called Mountain Valley (now under Medina Lake) in 1854. Incidently, I found out from my mom that the Mormons had camped on the creek below my great great grandfather’s home at Cherry Springs! In 1858, with only a few of his followers still in tow, he moved from Mountain Valley and headed towards San Antonio. He died unexpectedly in Dexter and was taken back to Zodiak. He was buried in the colony’s cemetery, now on private land. A Texas Historical Marker was placed nearby.

All that is to say, that New Braunfelsers did have contact with the Mormons. I looked in the old records and found that the two donations above the dough trough were from Mrs. Fridolin Hanz, and seem to have been recorded the same day. Mrs. Faust, the first Sophienburg Museum director, kept great records and I can only assume that so much was coming in for the Museum’s opening in October 1933, that this enigmatic artifact, the 60th recorded item, got lost in the shuffle. Did she forget to add the Hanz name?

The Hanz family ranch was located near the Anhalt area near where US 281 intersects Hwy 46. Fridolin Hanz was the mail carrier between New Braunfels, Spring Branch, Bulverde and Blanco. The early Hanz family could definitely have encountered the Mormons, maybe even several times. But, that’s just an educated guess.

For now, it looks like the story of the Mormon dough trough will remain a mystery.

Sources: The Democratic Telegraph and Texas Register, Jul 8, 1846 and Sep 7, 1848; The Dallas Morning News, Jan 23, 1928, Ted Thompson, “Texas History 101: Texas is Morman country”, Susan Currie, October 2001; The Lyman Wight Colony in Texas, Came to Bandera in 1854, J. Marvin Hunter; “The Southwestern Historical Quarterly”, Vol 49, Jul 1945-Apr 1946; The History of the German Settlements in Texas, R.L. Biesele, 1930; Texas in 1848, Felix Bracht, 1931; John O. Meusebach, Irene Marshall King, 1967; Roemer’s Texas, Ferdinand Roemer, 1935

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You, no doubt, have heard of Baron John O. Meusebach’s treaty with the Comanche Indians to promote peace between the Comanches and the German settlers. There was one person, Baron Emil Kriewitz, who played an important part in the success of this treaty. Here is his story:

Kriewitz was a German aristocrat immigrant who left Germany in 1845. He had become aware of the economic conditions in Germany and the political unrest prompted him to join the Adelsverein. Kriewitz saw no future for himself in Germany.

The Adelsverein, organized in 1842 for all the right reasons to settle Texas, possessed inadequate knowledge of survival in Texas. Prince Carl, one of the Adelsverein members, was the one chosen to buy land in Texas. The Prince has been described as a visionary but a poor business man, a dangerous combination. Upon arrival in Texas the Prince discovered that the Adelsverein had already been swindled by one speculator. The Prince decided to purchase a large piece of land in the Fisher-Miller Land Grant composed of all land north of the Llano River to the Colorado River. Not only did he discover that this land was far inland from the coast where the immigrants would land, but it was also right in the middle of the Penetaka Comanche hunting grounds. Disturbed by these facts, Prince Carl purchased the Comal Tract land instead from Juan Veramendi. Before the Prince left Texas three months later, the settlement was named New Braunfels. While in Germany, Prince Carl began his sales pitch to come to Texas by making speeches about the beauty of the land. Probably Kriewitz heard the speaches and was sold. He joined the Adelsverein to go to the Republic of Texas.

Sailing on the Franzeska, it took almost four months on the stormy seas to arrive in Galveston. From there he traveled on to Carlshaven where the Prince had purchased land for the arriving immigrants. Krietwitz found that he was not in the Republic of Texas, but the State of Texas because this land had been annexed to the United States in December of 1845. He also learned that Prince Carl had been replaced after three months by Baron John Meusebach.

Kriewitz was horrified by what he saw on the Texas coast. By February, 1846, hundreds of immigrants had been stranded on the muddy, sandy beach with no food or clean water. Some made dugouts with mud walls and cloth tops to shelter themselves from the winter storms. Disease was rampant and hundreds had already died.

Meusebach tried to help the situation by purchasing oxcarts and wagons. The annexation of Texas had infuriated Mexico and Mexico declared war on the United States. All wagons and supplies purchased by Meusebach to help the colonists were seized by the United States Army in their war against Mexico.

A group of desperate, young German immigrants formed a group to join the United States Army. Kriewitz was one of them. They were led by August Buchel and he made Kriewitz first sergeant of the group that was mustered in as the First Texas Rifle Volunteer Regiment.

During this time Meusebach was busy trying to move settlers to the Llano. In 1846 he led a group to establish Fredericksburg. Meusebach knew that no one was safe in that area of the hill country and he was determined to locate the Comanche chiefs and negotiate a treaty. Meusebach asked for a company of men to accompany him to the Llano grant and Kriewitz was selected to organize this company. He immediately returned to the coast to gather soldiers, many of whom were Mexican-U.S. War veterans.

They left the coast for New Braunfels in January 1847, but upon arriving, they found that the Meusebach group had already left for Fredericksburg and the Llano. Kriewitz’s company left for the Llano and encountered Meusebach’s group on their return from a successful treaty with the Comanches. Kriewitz’s group was told to stay at the site of the treaty and help guard the surveyors of the land. “Without the survey the contract with the government of Texas would have lapsed and the colonists would not have received their allotments of land.” (John O. Meusebach by Irene King) The treaty opened up 3,878,000 acres of land.

The treaty called for the Comanches and Germans to live in harmony and form an alliance against other tribes. The Germans would give the Comanches $3,000 in gifts. The head chief, Santana, requested that one of the Germans live with them. Many were interested in the position, but none came forward, as is often the case. Kriewitz said that for the security of the settlers, he would “risk his scalp.” He was assigned to Santana and the main tribe on the San Saba. Kriewitz was to be the guarantee of the peaceable intentions of the Germans. He went with them and adopted their dress and behavior.

In about six months, the tribe began to feel that they needed more gifts from the Germans. Santana and his tribe, including Kriewitz. came to New Braunfels and met with Meusebach and Herman Spiess who had recently taken Meusebach’s place as the Adelsverein representative. All went well but the Germans did not recognize Kriewetz. They stayed in New Braunfels for two more days. This was the only time that the Comanches came to New Braunfels.

On the way back from New Braunfels to Fredericksburg, Kriewitz asked to visit a friend in town. He stayed a little too long and when he came back to the campsite, the tribe was gone. Kriewitz never rejoined the party.

After this, still in the employment of the Adelsverein, Kriewitz was given many assignments. He built a road and led the first colonists into the Fisher-Mill Land Grant. This group was the one who founded the communal colony of Bettina. Then he led three more parties to establish Castell, Leiningen, and Schoenburg. He eventually returned to Castell, opened a store, was elected justice of the peace for Llano County, served as a judge and finally postmaster of Castell. He died in 1902 and was buried in the Llano County Cemetery.

A celebration in Fredericksburg called “Easter Fires” commemorates the Comanche- German treaty and the safe return of the colonists. While the treaty was going on, the Comanches transmitted messages by smoke. When the fires burned high, other tribes knew that all was going well. The story goes that the fires frightened the children in Fredericksburg. Mothers told their children that the Easter Rabbit placed eggs in kettles that were boiling over the fires on the hilltops and then colored them with flowers. On Easter morning the eggs were laid in nests. As so often happens, an actual historical event leads to a colorful tradition.

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Next Saturday, March 28^th at 11:00 a.m. a rededication of an historical marker will take place at the Canyon Dam Overlook. All are invited to view this beautiful view of the lake and dam. This site which was originally honored in 1968 with a Texas Historical Commission marker was vandalized and the marker removed some time ago. It has been replaced. Words on the new marker read:

IN THIS AREA, NOW COVERED BY CANYON LAKE, GERMAN EMIGRANTS WERE THE FIRST SETTLERS. A SOCIETY OF NOBLES (MAINZER ADELSVEREIN) SPONSORED THE EMIGRATION OF 7,380 GERMANS TO TEXAS FROM 1844 to 1847. THEY FOUNDED NEW BRAUNFELS IN 1845. MOVING WEST, THEY ESTABLISHED FREDERICKSBURG IN 1846. THEIR COMANCHE INDIAN TREATY OPENED 3,800,000 ACRES BETWEEN THE LLANO AND COLORADO RIVERS TO PEACEFUL SETTLEMENT. FARMERS AND ARTISANS, SCHOLARS AND SCIENTISTS, THEY TRIUMPHED OVER EPIDEMIC AND PRIVATION TO HELP BUILD TEXAS AND THE WEST.

Sponsoring the marker are the German American Society of New Braunfels, Helgard Suhr-Hollis, John and Cindy Coers, the Canyon Lake Rotary Club, the Canyon Lake Noon Lions Club, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers/GBRA, the Comal County Historical Commission and the Texas Historical Commission. Installation of the new marker was provided by Don and Jean Koepp, Bob Warnecke, and John and Karin Brooks with Danny Zunker of Brooks Stone Ranch. The marker is mounted on a 2,000 pound limestone rock from the area.

It is appropriate to honor the German Pioneers in Texas at this site. Canyon Lake, filled by the Guadalupe River, was the settling place of so many.

The idea of constructing this dam to minimize flooding and conserve water goes as far back as 1929 when the idea arose. After a survey in 1935, plans were authorized and construction began in 1958. In 1964, the gates were closed and the lake began to fill. The water reached its conservation level of 909 ft. (ideal) above sea level in 1968.The flow of the upper Guadalupe, plus rainfall, constantly allows the Corps of Engineers and the GBRA to control the lake level. This is done by monitoring the amount of water flowing from the Guadalupe into the lake every day and the lake level. If the amount of water is too great, the amount released below the dam is increased and sent down to the lower Guadalupe River.

The spillway crest is 943 ft. At the dam’s outlet, a maximum release of water is 5,000 cubic feet per second.

The building of Canyon Dam and Lake has saved many lives and millions of dollars which would have been lost as a result of flooding. Flooding on the Guadalupe affects towns all the way to the Gulf of Mexico. When you drive out River Road next to the Guadalupe River, look up and you can see how high flood levels reached probably thousands of years ago.

The year 2002 saw the lake overflow the spillway for the first time in the history of the lake. With a recorded elevation of 950.32 feet, water went over the spillway in a very short time. This overflowing of the spillway, created the Canyon Lake Gorge. It has become a “true Hill Country treasure” unearthing fossils, 110 million years old, crustaceous limestone formations, dinosaur footprints, springs, channels, and waterfalls. For a small price and a reservation for a tour, the three-hour walk is available at canyongorge.org.

With the first flood above the dam in 1978, the lake reached 930.60 ft. Another 20 feet and it would have been over the spillway. Another flood in 1987, the lake reached 942.67 feet and another in 1991 reached 937.77. In 1997 an elevation of 937.60 feet was attained. The 2002 level was the flood of record.

When the lake level is under the conservation level, the gates below the dam are adjusted, waiting for rain on the upper Guadalupe to flow into the lake. The lowest the lake has been was 892.70 in 2009. This, of course was the result of the drought.

In 2011, I wrote an article for the Sophienburg column printed in this newspaper called
“So, what exactly is under Canyon Lake?” I think some of the information bears repeating:

Imagine the Canyon Lake area with no lake. What would it have been like? Ranchland, farmland, trees, cemeteries, the Guadalupe River and the site of two very small communities, Hancock and Cranes Mill. These two communities would eventually be under the lake.

Hancock was named after John Hancock, who in 1851, was granted land on the north bank of the Guadalupe River. Although a thriving little community, the population of Hancock had dwindled to 10 in 1940.

The community of Cranes Mill was the other community that is under water. James Crain established a cypress shingle mill along the Guadalupe River in 1850. Crain changed the spelling of his name to Crane in the Civil War. No one knows why, but it’s been Cranes Mill ever since.

Where there are communities, there are cemeteries. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 1958 was responsible for the re-interment of approximately 89 bodies from 16 cemeteries along the Guadalupe that would be under water. These remains were moved to various other cemeteries like Comal Cemetery, Fischer Cemetery, Mt. Sharp Cemetery, Twin Sisters Cemetery, and some smaller family cemeteries. Each plot was researched and next of kin contacted in order to get permission as to where the remains would be moved. Many opted to not have the remains removed, which was their choice.

Two years ago John and Cindy Coers, who are members of the Comal County Historical Commission, decided to trace the re-interment of John’s great- great- grandparents, Heinrich and Karoline Startz Coers. What they found out was not only where the Coers lived, but where they were buried. Their bodies were re-interred to the Fischer Cemetery.

Heinrich Coers emigrated from Germany in 1846 and settled in the Guadalupe River Valley. He and his wife were buried on the Coers property along the Guadalupe River. John Coers was able to locate photographs of the original interment sites along with headstones for both Heinrich and Karoline. She died in 1864 and her tombstone was destroyed. The family decided to leave her stone, but move the body. The tombstone is now under the lake. Heinrich’s stone was in good condition and it was moved intact to the Fischer cemetery. A beautiful inscription on the tombstone in German, here translated in English, reads:

You have quietly carried your burden through the Pilgrim’s Valley. Christ was your life and dying your gain.

The Coers have partnered with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and have scanned all of the re-interment documents. They will be soon available for research purposes at the Sophienburg Museum and Archives.

“Rest in Peace” seems quite appropriate.

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