Much has been written about the Indians of Texas, especially the Comanches. No one has given us more information than Dr. Ferdinand Roemer. In the field of research, Dr. Roemer becomes a primary source in which a person is actually present at the event being researched. All other sources are secondary in nature. Dr. Roemer gave us a first-hand account of the Comanches in his book “Texas 1845-1847”, published two years after his sojourn in Texas.

Roemer’s first person account was made possible by Prince Carl who contacted the Berlin Academy of Sciences and requested, on behalf of the Adelsverein, a survey of the geology of Texas. The Berlin Academy responded by sending 27- year- old Ferdinand Roemer on the recommendation of famous scientist, Alexander von Humboldt.

After arriving in Texas in 1845, Roemer made the acquaintance of other scientists in the area such as Ferdinand Lindheimer, Nicholas Zink, Louis Ervendberg, and John Meusebach who took Prince Carl’s place as Colonial Director. All of these men played a major part in the early days of New Braunfels.

It was on the sojourn with Meusebach in 1846, that Roemer made his personal observations of the Comanches. Meusebach was attempting to open up the land on the Llano and San Saba Rivers to emigrants by making a peace treaty with the Comanche chiefs. Roemer was at this important accomplishment by Meusebach and had the opportunity to observe the Comanches first hand.

Meusebach traveled to Fredericksburg, followed by Roemer who had been slightly delayed. Roemer stayed in Fredericksburg a few days before he left with the agent of Indian affairs for the U.S. Government, Major Neighbours. Neighbours was told to warn Meusebach to abandon his plan to meet with the Comanches, but Meusebach had already left Fredricksburg.

Roemer and Neighbours eventually caught up with the Meusebach group on the outskirts of the San Saba valley. They set up a camp and soon after entering the San Saba valley, a group of Comanche warriors visited them and inquired as to their purpose. After mutual greetings were exchanged, a royal reception was accorded the Meusebach group with 80 to 100 Indians, dressed in their festive war attire.

On the other side of the river, Roemer visited the camp village of the Comanches. The tents arranged in an irregular fashion with several hundred horses nearby, were made of 14- foot high poles crossing at the top with an opening to let the smoke out. These poles were covered with buffalo hides and a small door made of bearskin. The nomadic Comanches never settled down in one place because hunting buffalo was their main activity. These tents could be taken down quickly, placed on the poles, and then pulled by horses. Many early roads were made by the dragging of these poles.

Comancheria, as the hunting ground was called, was located generally between the upper course of the Red River and the Rio Grande. These most powerful of Indians at one time, numbered 10,000. The “lords of the prairie”, as they called themselves, used horses brought by the Spaniards for their buffalo hunts and warfare .They mastered the art of hanging on one side of the horse, using it as a shield as they used their bow and arrow and long spear. Keeping control of this large area of Comancheria was their main occupation in order to keep other Indian tribes and whites from infringing on their territory.

Roemer had an opportunity to view the habits of the Comanches. Their clothing was much like that of other Indian tribes – leggings, moccasins, breech clout (curtain), and a buffalo robe. (By the time of Roemer’s visit, many presents of cotton shirts and woolen blankets had been given by the U.S.) The wives were slaves to their chief and their main function was to take care of the children and sew decorations on the costumes for the men. The men wore their hair in a long braid on the back of the head, but the women’s hair was cropped. The Comanches scorned the use of alcohol and believed that the use of it would someday be the inevitable extinction of the “Red Race of North America”.

In his book, Roemer recalls a famous Comanche story from 1840. The small village of Linville was on Lavaca Bay. The inhabitants were few and when they heard that the Indians were coming their way, they abandoned their homes and stores. The Indians seized everything they could get on their pack horses and retreated towards the hills. The news spread and a number of armed settlers pursued them to retake the plunder. As the makeshift army found the Indians, they were wearing the stolen silks, top hats, and umbrellas making quite a comical sight. The Indians were finally overtaken close to San Marcos. Many were killed on both sides and the cotton and silk goods were scattered over the prairie. This became known as the Battle of Plum Creek. Local author, Janet Kaderli, wrote a book about the Battle of Plum Creek in her children’s story, “Patchwork Trail”. This battle was the last large battle of the Comanches in South Texas.

Legend claims that the Comanches were direct descendants of the subjects of Montezuma in Mexico and migrated north when Cortez destroyed the Mexican Empire. Supposedly when they came to the Rio Grande, they looked across the river to the other side and called out “Tehas!”. In the Comanche language, this word means “happy hunting ground, the home of departed spirits”. Thus Texas was their new home. This is one of many legends about the origin of the word.

After Meusebach made the treaty with several Comanche chiefs, he is given credit for opening up this area to settlement. Roemer was sent to give a report of the geology of Texas. He did this, plus a description of the animal and plant life. Most of all, he provides us insight with the Comanches.

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Called by some, “a catastrophic failure of dreamers”, the organization of about 40 intellectuals, university fraternity members and freethinkers banded together with a common cause. They were called “Darmstadters”, or the “Society of the 40” and their plan in 1847 was to organize a communistic utopian settlement in Texas.

The group of about 40 young men organized in the town of Darmstadt, Germany. Why 40s? Because there were roughly 40 of them in the 1840s.

Why freethinkers? Because their liberal ideas were very much against the norm in the small principalities that would later become united Germany. The freethinker movement claimed to be against political and religious tyranny. The Darmstadters wanted to create a classless society with no ruler and guiding themselves by common collective consent. There would be no private property.

The organization of the Darmstadt group of the 1840s was encouraged by Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels, John O. Meusebach, and Hermann Spiess, the first three commissioner-generals of the Adelsverein. Prince Carl and Hermann Spiess made speeches at the Universities of Giessen and Heidelberg about setting up a utopian type socialistic colony (The word Utopia was coined by Sir Thomas More four hundred years ago in which he described a perfect society). Prince Carl also made speeches at the Industrial School at Darmstadt. He said Texas would be perfect for their communistic and socialistic ideas of freedom and equality; it was a young republic and susceptible to new ideas.

The young university fraternity men’s social life was made up of a fondness for sword dueling, singing, drinking grog (combination of weak beer and rum), and talking. Immediately I pictured a scene from Romberg’s musical “The Student Prince” with its well-known song “Drink, Drink, Drink”. Five men gradually emerged as leaders – Gustav Schleicher, Ferdinand von Herff, Hermann Spiess, Friedrich Schenk, and Julius Wegner. Von Herff had the potential to become a famous surgeon and Hermann Spiess, a naturalist, would become Meusebach’s successor as commissioner- general. Spiess and von Herff first met in the 1830s at the Gymnasium (high school) in Darmstadt.

Spiess had traveled through the United States for two years in 1845-46. He visited NB, then returned to Germany and met with von Herff in Darmstadt. Von Herff was part of a social circle of idealists including Alexander von Humbolt, the Grimm brothers, and poets Bettina von Arnim and Hoffman von Fallensleben.

These endless talks on the university scene led to the intellectual groundwork of the Darmstadt group and finally created the resolve to leave Germany and move to the U.S. The group lacked money, so when Spiess suggested that they join the Adelsverein, they accepted, even though most of them were against the aristocratic system. The Darmstadt probably could never have financed their project alone and, after all, the Adelsverein had free land.

There was trouble within the group from the start. Immediately von Herff took over as leader and that was the exact opposite of the idea of everyone being on equal ground.

Arrival

The Darmstadters arrived at Indian Point on July 4, 1847, and used 14 carts provided by Spiess. They walked, singing German fraternity songs along the way. Some with money bought horses. It was noted that none of them knew any English except von Herff.

When they arrived in New Braunfels they camped outside the Sophienburg (headquarters of the Adelsverein). Not to waste time before leaving for the Llano, they bought 500 acres of land two and a half miles away from NB (location later became Danville). Here they planted vegetables and grapes, built log cabins and called the area the Darmstadt Farm.

Bettina

On Sept 1, one month later, the group left for Fredericksburg. Gustav Schleicher stayed behind to run the farm in Comal County. Reaching the north bank of the Llano, they named the place Bettina after the liberal writer Bettina von Arnim, the woman who inspired the movement. There they built a large log building where all slept on camp beds and began their utopian experiment. There was no Indian problem because John Meusebach had already made a treaty with the Indians and the Comanches received medical help from von Herff. He had actually removed cataracts from the eyes of one of the Comanche chiefs. For that, the chief presented the doctor with a 14 year old captured girl from Mexico who would later become the wife of Hermann Spiess.

Failure

After less than a year, the utopian experiment was doomed to failure because it was humanly impossible to live up to its own ideals. The professionals in the group wanted to direct and order and not work. The laborers and mechanics could not see the justice in what was happening and so they did nothing. The educated men didn’t know farming, and just wanted to hunt and read classical literature. Most did not want to take orders from Herff and Spiess. Within the organization, discord arose over ownership of property.

As other utopian experiments had done, Bettina failed. By 1848, only eight people were left. In the U.S. between 1663 and 1860, one source claimed that there were 130 idealistic utopian communities attempted. Bettina was the first in Texas. And so, the Darmstadt utopia rose and fell.

What happened to the forty 40s? Some went back to Germany, some to other communities in the hill country and some came back to the Darmstadt Farm in Comal County. Many joined together with another freethinker group called the “48ers” who arrived after the 1848 Revolution in Germany. Being strongly against slavery, the Texas freethinkers joined together during the Civil War against the Confederacy. Individuals from these freethinker groups did much to further education in Texas, to further freedom for all and to advance scientific advancements for all.

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It did not surprise me to find out that Harry Landa was the first president of the Comal County Fair Association. In those early days before the turn of the century, his name appears over and over for new projects, new industry, innovative ideas, and most of them succeeded. He would have gotten the Chamber of Commerce’s Besserung Award.

Here’s how the Comal County Fair began: The editor of the Neu Braunfelser Zeitung, Anselm Eiband, (the second editor after Lindheimer) asked the question in an editorial, “Why don’t we have a fair here in New Braunfels when towns like Fredericksburg and Lockhart have one?”

An opportunity arose, as it so often does. The newly built Krankenhaus (hospital) needed money, so they decided to have a fair on their lot (corner of Zink and Seguin Sts.) during their dedication Sept. 30, 1892. It was a huge success.

Shortly thereafter, a group of civic-minded men met in the courthouse and formed the Comal County Fair Association. They elected Harry Landa to be president, so in 1893 they set the date for the fair to be in November on Landa’s pasture.

“No Rain, No Fair” screamed the newspaper headline. That first fair was called off because of a drought. In other words, too much dust for everything that was going to happen, livestock and horse races. The fair was postponed for a year.

That first fair in 1894 was a huge success according to the newspaper, and I’m sure Harry Landa relished in that success. For that matter, he rented the pasture to them to have four more years of fairs until they bought their own land.

Harry Landa became interested in horses although he admitted that he knew nothing about them. He bought a string of standard bred trotters. In the bunch was a magnificent dark brown stallion that he said he appropriately named “Bankrupt”. He not only spent a lot of money on this new venture, but he decided to dress the part himself as a racehorse owner. He bought a white plug hat (bowler), a loud checkered suit, gaudy shirt and tie with an immense Hot Springs diamond on the tie. To top off this outfit, he put a cigar in his mouth twice the ordinary size.

Possibly this new interest in horses had something to do with his interest in forming a fair association. Before the New Braunfels races, Landa decided to try out his horses at other tracks: Austin, Baylor, Waco and in all these races his trainer sent word that the horse was either lame, cast a shoe, or couldn’t be seen for the dust. Now came the New Braunfels Fair. By this time, Landa’s desire to be a big time racehorse owner had reached an all-time low. Landa’s brother, Morris, traded his horses for him for 30 carloads of hay and then sold the hay for $1,030 . This was the end of Harry Landa’s racehorse adventures.

Here is a little bit about the Landa family and how they came to own the property later known as Landa Park:

Joseph Landa, Harry’s father, ran away from his home in Germany to escape his father’s desire that he become a Rabbi. Working his way to England, he saved enough money to buy his steerage passage to America. He arrived in New York and after a few jobs, he bought a horse and loaded down a wagon with merchandise. He made his way to Texas selling his goods and arrived in San Antonio in 1844. Here he opened a little store and three years later rode his mule to NB and opened up a store on the corner of San Antonio St. and Castell Ave. now occupied by the Phoenix Saloon. Source: (Harry Landa, “As I Remember”)

He would make an annual trip to New York to replenish his stock where he met and married Helena Friedlander. She was 16, he was 41. In New Braunfels they stayed in the Millett Boarding House (where the CC Courthouse now stands). Right behind this boarding house Joseph and Helena bought the property adjoining it on the Plaza. For 75 years, members of the family lived in the beautiful Victorian home, a real showcase.

By 1862, Joseph was a prosperous merchant, owned a gristmill, owned the Comal Springs and the surrounding areas. He owned a cotton gin, a sawmill, a flour mill and a store. Then in 1896, Joseph Landa died. Harry and his mother, consequently carried on the various businesses in NB. This successful business partnership of Harry Landa and his mother bought small river frontages on the Comal River until they owned the entire stream on both sides.

A large contribution to the city was Harry Landa’s establishment of the Landa Electric Light and Power Co. Electricity for street lights would be furnished to the city at the rate of $1.50 a light a month. Soon everyone wanted electricity.

In 1927, Landa sold the entire estate including the park in compliance with the will of his mother, which called for liquidating and dividing the estate ten years after her death. The property was purchased by an investment company, suffered reverses during the depression years, and the park was closed with barbed wire surrounding the property until 1936, when the City of New Braunfels finally bought the area of Landa Park.

This week in all the excitement of the fair, let’s give a little thought to the guy that brought us Landa Park, electricity, and of course, spearheaded the Comal County Fair.

The post Landa first fair president appeared first on Sophies Shop.

A designated post office can reveal a great deal about an area and about who lived there. In Comal County the Spring Branch Post Office was at one time headed by Gottlieb Elbel and he had the forethought to keep a journal from 1867, when he became postmaster to 1872. From the journal, we learn who lived in the area, what they were interested in by what publications they subscribed to, and many more tiny insignificant things mentioned.

It’s hard to keep a journal. You don’t believe that? How many of you started a diary? How many continued one?

When the emigrants from Germany came to Texas with the Adelsverein, many moved on to the hill country surrounding New Braunfels. Routes into the hill country were along the waterways and creeks towards Western Comal County. Many land owners purchased their land from holders of Spanish or Mexican land grants, or from land speculators.

These small settlements were relatively self-sufficient with their own sawmill, gristmill, blacksmith shop, stores, schools, church and cemetery. They also developed a post office along postal routes which connected with New Braunfels, San Antonio, Blanco, Boerne, and the rest of the hill country.

One of those settlements was 23 miles NW of NB on the Spring Branch Creek and was consequently called Spring Branch. “The Branch”, as it is sometimes referred to, was known to have clear, cold water year round and land around the creek became the home of the Knibbe, Elbel, Porter, Horne, Fuhrmann, Imhoff, Beierle, Acker, Kriegner, Willke, Monken, Becker, Bergmann, Moos, Neugebauer, Knebel, Bartels, Esser, Specht, Bender, Busch, Kretzel, Stahl, Gass, Jonas, Rust, Schaeferkoeter and Wunderlich families. Many of those names are still familiar in the area. Brenda Anderson Lindemann did extensive research on families in the area in her book, “Spring Branch & Western Comal County Texas”. A revision of this book will be on the market shortly.

In 1858, the first Spring Branch post office was established with Louis Willke as post master. The next postmaster was Dr. Charles Porter in 1860, and his untimely death in 1861, closed the Post Office. As a result of Texas seceding from the Union and joining the Confederacy, all US government post offices were closed. The Comal Ranch, a Confederate post, about a mile from Spring Branch was designated as the post office and remained the area’s post office until after the Civil War in 1865.

After the war, a post office was opened in New Braunfels and Spring Branch residents had to rely on notices in the Neu Braunfelser Zeitung that mail had arrived in their name and that they were to pick it up at the post office in NB. Two years later in 1867, Gottlieb Elbel became the postmaster in Spring Branch out, of his house.

Elbel had arrived in Texas from Germany in 1849. He met and married Christine Zeh who was a waitress aboard the ship, “Gallant Flora” on which both were traveling. Arriving in NB, the couple was married by Rev. Louis Ervendberg of the German Protestant Church. After a short stay in NB, the couple moved to Spring Branch. They built a two room house where they raised seven children. Mrs. Elbel died giving birth to the 8^th child. Gottleib then married the widow Auguste Wehe and together they had four more children.

Now the Journal. Gottleib Elbel kept a post journal from the time he became postmaster until 1872 when he ended his term. In the two-room house with all the family, he also ran the post office.

The first mail arrived on August 27, 1867 between New Braunfels and Fredericksburg by way of Spring Branch. Young 22-year-old Adolph Jonas delivered the mail on horseback and continued to do that for eleven more years. A coachline was established from Austin to Blanco to Fredericksburg and San Saba, however, Jonas delivered the mail six more years from NB to Blanco.

Here is a sample of what is in the Journal. Col. Charles Power, the 1862 postmaster at Comal Ranch during the Civil War, subscribed to the following publications: “Weekly Picayune” out of New Orleans, “Texas State Gazette” from Austin, “New York Tribune” from New York, “San Antonio Weekly Herald”, “The World” out of New York, and “The Two Republics” out of Mexico City. What do these publications tell you about Col. Power? I didn’t see a Sears and Robuck catalog or “Good Housekeeping”. Col. Power sent a letter to Dublin, Great Britain and had to pay 50 cents to send it.

In 1868, Heinrich von Rittberg paid 15 cents postage on a letter received from West Prussia. He sent a letter to Bruchsac Baden via Hamburg, for 10 cents purchase.

After all those children plus the postal business, Gottleib and Augusta built a larger home nearby in 1871. Both buildings are still standing. The property was sold to Robert and Betty McCallum in 1949 and then eventually to the present owner, Harlan Henryson, in 1998. The property of almost three acres has the original 1852 homestead constructed of cedar logs, adobe brick, stone, and cypress, in addition to the 1871 home. The tract also contains the original family cemetery where Gottleib Elbel and family are buried.

Henryson is in the process of applying for a Texas Historical Marker. The people in the Spring Branch area are very proud of their history and just like the Esser’s Crossing Comal County Historical marker, will no doubt celebrate this recognition.

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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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Are you one who thinks that John Meusebach led the group that founded Fredericksburg up Fredericksburg Road, out Highway 46 and then straight on to Fredericksburg? I know that’s what I thought, but it’s not true.

I ran across evidence that this more recent pathway from New Braunfels to Fredericksburg wasn’t the way the group traveled. I enlisted directional help in interpreting Dr. Ferdinand Roemer’s description of the early 1840s route from retired TxDOT archaeologist Al McGraw. Roemer states that there was only one possible road to Fredericksburg from New Braunfels due to the accessibility of water for the animals and because of geographic conditions for wagons.

The road ran in a southwesterly direction from NB toward Fredericksburg just past the Cibolo along the Old San Antonio Road. The route includes a portion of old Nacogdoches Road that is designated as a National Historic Trail of the Camino Real. At this point it takes a straight northwesterly course intersecting and then following an old Indian trail running northward from San Antonio called the Pinto Trail (Pinta). The route continues to the valley of the Salado and then to a higher elevation and several miles above this point to Meusebach’s Comanche Springs. One would then descend into the Guadalupe valley to the banks of the Guadalupe River near modern Sisterdale where wagons could cross. Finally, travel to a high, broad plateau and continue north to Fredericksburg.

The route has few rough places or steep inclines, and is free of swamp and muddy river crossings. Apparently the Adelsverein helped maintain this route, as Roemer notes that he met a crew of 20 Adelsverein men working on the road near the Salado.

After resigning from the Adelsverein, Meusebach settled at Comanche Springs (now in the vicinity of Camp Bullis), established a livestock operation and an inn. The date is thought to be before 1852. Later when the route to Fredericksburg changed to the north, Meusebach sold his land at Comanche Springs and moved to Loyal Valley on Cherry Springs near Fredericksburg.

Today if you would travel the same general route, you would take Hwy. 482 from NB, continue on the Nacogdoches Road towards San Antonio, go past Rolling Oaks Mall, turn west onto 1604 and then take IH10 towards Fredericksburg.

Texas early roads often followed Indian trails. Some people think that these trails were created by long 12 foot tent poles dragged behind horses as they moved their tents from one spot to another. When the Spanish explorers moved into Texas, they reported seeing large herds of wild animals roaming the trails. The Spanish brought horses of Arabian stock and mustangs were their descendants. With time, the Comanche in particular had mastered the mustang for traveling the trails. Later, the Caminos were roadways blazed by expeditions connecting towns and missions.

When Comal County was created in 1846, the Commissioners Court had the power to lay out new roads and discontinue old ones. The court appointed local overseers to supervise maintenance of the roads. It required all able-bodied males between 21 and 45 to perform road duties several days a year. Also all people convicted of misdemeanors and those who owed unpaid fines were compelled to work out the amount in roadwork.

Laurie Jasinski in her book “Hill Country Backroads”about the origin of Comal County roads, stated that the commissioners declared Seguin and San Antonio Sts. to be the first highway roads in the county. By the latter 1800s some established routes were Smithsons Valley-Boerne Rd., Cranes Mill Rd., Bear Creek Rd .,Boerne-San Antonio Rd., Purgatory Rd., and Mountain Valley Rd.

By the turn of the century, in the United States, two million miles of roads stretched across the country, but most were pitted rocky trails or soggy mud-holes. Jasinski found that in 1895, there were four autos registered in the US, and by 1899, three thousand.

In 1907, Harry Landa was one of the earliest auto owners. Change was taking place. As more autos were being purchased, local merchants converted the farmer wagon yards to parking lots. Hitching posts were removed.

Around 1910, crews improved city streets by a process of graveling called macadamizing, which was a process of packing down the roads with layers of progressively smaller rocks until the top layer consisted of crushed stones called screening, no larger than two inches in diameter. The roads caused so much dust that a sprinkling cart had to sprinkle down the roads every day.

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In the next column we will look at how touring cars contributed to the tourist industry and Joe Sanders helped that happen.

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One of the more exciting stories concerning the early settlers of New Braunfels was that of Betty Holekamp charging across the Guadalupe on a horse after Prince Carl’s spectacular show of bravado. The story was probably somewhat embellished over the years, but nevertheless it’s a good one.

Prince Carl was of the highest class of aristocracy and I doubt seriously if he appreciated anyone trying to upstage him, much less a woman. He would not be leading the parade for women’s sufferage, but I think Betty would have.

Here’s the story: Georg and Elizabeth Holekamp had married in Germany on March 17, 1844. They set out for Texas to make a new life for themselves. They were on the brig Johann Dethart which was the first ship of the Adelsverein. They arrived in Galveston November 24, 1844.

Georg Holekamp, the son of the royal architect Daniel Holekamp, was educated at the University of Hanover and could speak German, English, French and also studied music and medicine. His father discouraged him from being a musician. He couldn’t have gone farther away from that career – a brick maker and a farmer. Music did become his hobby. For that matter it was while pursuing this hobby that Georg met Elizabeth Abbenthern. While playing the piano, Georg asked for a vocalist and Elizabeth (Betty) came forward. She was 10 years younger and he was impressed.

Betty’s father was the ministerial accountant in the royal court of the King of the state of Hannover. Betty was educated along with the king’s daughters to become a governess.  She had been around the aristocracy before so that may explain her willingness to challenge the prince.

Georg and Betty married and set out for the Republic of Texas. They arrived in Galveston on November 24, 1844. They made their way to New Braunfels and when they could, crossed the Guadalupe to get to the settlement.

Now Betty is the one that tradition says would not want to be outdone by Prince Carl. Supposedly he was riding a white horse and   plunged into the raging flood waters. This white horse story made me question the accuracy of the story. After all, “good” cowboys ride white horses. We don’t know what color Betty’s horse was but she followed suit in true pioneer fashion. Don’t you know Georg was impressed?

In New Braunfels they enrolled in the German Protestant Church. Their town lots bordered Garden St., from Comal St. to the Comal River.

When Texas became a state of the Union, Betty Holekamp sewed a 6 ft by 3 ft United States flag with the 13 red and white stripes and a lone star on a field of blue in the left corner. This earlier Texas flag was known as the Texas Lone Star and Stripes flag. Tradition says that the Holekamp flag was flown on the Plaza and believed to be the first American flag flown in town. Some think that the flying of this flag could have been a message to the aristocratic Prince Carl. What do you think?

Two years after arriving in New Braunfels, the Holekamps moved to Fredericksburg where they received property and Georg became an administrator in property settlement. They never gave up their properties in New Braunfels. Georg built a home and a saw and grist mill on the Comal River at the foot of Garza St. It was also a paper pulp mill and an ice plant. A flood nearly totally destroyed the mill in 1869. This property became Camp Landa and finally the property of Schlitterbahn.

In 1854 the Holekamps moved to Comfort as one of their first settlers. A small rock house is still preserved by the Comfort Historical Society. They also lived in Sisterdale and San Antonio. The Sisterdale house still stands also.

When the Civil War broke out, Georg enlisted in the Confederate army as a surgeon. His  small amount of medical training qualified him to do that. He was the company’s band director at the same time. Unfortunately he was killed in Brownsville in 1862 and neither the cause or burial site was revealed.

Betty Holekamp continued living in Comfort and raised her seven children alone. She outlived her husband by 40 years. What a woman!!

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A month from this day on March 21, New Braunfels will once again observe Founder’s Day. It was the year 1845 when the first emigrants crossed over the Guadalupe River and made their way into what would become their new homeland. Germany was left far behind. The vast majority of those that crossed that day and became the first settlers of the town had never seen Texas before landing in November of 1844. Some that joined Prince Carl on the coast had been in Texas for quite a while.

Four of the more well-known immigrants who had been in Texas a decade or more were Ferdinand Lindheimer, Louis Ervendberg, George Ullrich, and Friedrich von Wrede. Johann Rahm and Daniel Murchison had been with Jack Hays’ Ranger group in San Antonio when they joined the Adelsverein. They all joined the Adelsverein at the coast and came with that first group of settlers.

Not very well-known was Daniel Murchison. He was born in North Carolina in 1809 and arrived in Texas in 1832. He was a soldier in the War for Texas Independence and received many land grants for military service and for surveying for the Republic. Murchison had a town lot in the fledgling town of Austin and in 1840 he joined Capt. Jack Coffee Hays’ Spy Company. Brave men were the only protection on the Texas frontier and these groups of men were called “ranging companies” or also called “spy companies”.  Organized groups would later be called Texas Rangers.

Daniel Murchison was with Jack Hays in San Antonio when he met Prince Carl. He joined the militia of Prince Carl that was organized to accompany the emigrants in their trek inland as well as to protect them while they were in the new settlement. He accompanied the group and was given land.

After Meusebach took Prince Carl’s place, he disbanded the militia and organized another company with Lt. Murchison as leader. Rudolph Biesele in “The History of the German Settlements in Texas, 1831-1861” states that Meusebach left New Braunfels looking to establish a settlement due to additional emigrants on the way. Meusebach found a tract of land north of the Pedernales River about 80 miles from New Braunfels.  Meusebach organized a surveying party of 36 men equipped with wagons, tools, provisions and guns under the command of Lieutenants Bene, Groos and Murchison. They were to lay out a wagon road from New Braunfels to the new settlement. After the surveying expedition returned to New Braunfels, preparations were made to send the first settlers to what would become Fredericksburg.

In 1850 Daniel Murchison married immigrant Wilhelmina Holzgrefe from Hannover.  The 1860 census lists Daniel, 47, and wife Wilhelmina, 27, five children and two Holzsgrefe relatives living with them .He was politically involved in the community and served in the Texas Legislature in 1866 where he was on the initial committee to revise the state constitution.

In the old section of the Comal Cemetery is a lot with two identical obelisks, one for Daniel Murchison who died Feb. 22, 1867, and the other for his widow. After Murchison died, his wife, children and servant Hugh McCrainey moved to the Murchison’s ranch in Llano County. Six years later, Mrs. Murchison died and was buried at her husband’s side. The young children were then raised by the servant McCrainey.

Texans who emigrated independently of the Adelsverein like Murchison and others should be remembered as we once again observe Founder’s Day.  And let’s give Prince Carl credit for having the foresight to invite them.Comal County Deed Records show Murchison’s name many times as the agent for land owners who were selling lots in Braunfels and Comaltown, across the Comal River from New Braunfels. An agreement between land owner Rafael Garza and land agent Murchison stated that Murchison was to sell lots between the Comal Springs and the Guadalupe rivers (Comaltown and adjoining land) for fifteen percent of what he could get for the lots, and to “prevent the cutting of timber of said land and to prosecute trespassers on the same”. The 1881 map by Augustus Koch shows that the present Central St. was formerly named Murchison St. That street was stemmed off by the building of the railroad track.

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When I was a child, people used to just ride around to sight-see. If you want to see what people saw in that practice, just drive up Farm-to-Market Road 311 about 19 miles to a place called Esser’s Crossing. You’ll enjoy the sightseeing.

Esser’s Crossing was one of the first Guadalupe River crossings, and was known as a safe place to cross from New Braunfels and San Antonio toward Johnson City and Fredericksburg and into the northwest part of the state.

Esser’s Crossing was one of four such crossings used by farming and ranching communities, and was 19 miles northwest of New Braunfels. The flat rock bottom was necessary for horses and wagons to cross the ever-changing Guadalupe river bottom. Furious floods took their toll on the Guadalupe River even after the dams were built.

Esser’s Crossing was originally known as Henderson Crossing after Hensley Henderson. He sold the land to James Henderson, who left the area in 1860. Charles Esser homesteaded near the crossing, and in 1858, provided a public way station for weary travelers along a lonely stretch of road from New Braunfels to Blanco and then on to Fredericksburg.

Esser was a judge, justice of the peace, teacher, and brought postal service to the area in the 1890s. Esser’s place was on the trail, first known as Fredericksburg Road, then Fredericksburg-New Braunfels Road, then the New Braunfels-Blanco Road and finally FM 311.

Charles and Henrietta Esser’s homestead still stands.

Travelers often had to wait a long time to cross the flooded Guadalupe. They would camp at Esser’s Crossing, sometimes as long as two weeks. The alternative was that teamsters had to drive to Fischer Store, Devil’s Backbone or Purgatory Road to cross over the New Braunfels’ Faust St. Bridge, the only other high water Guadalupe crossing, built in 1887.

In 1904, Comal County commissioners decided to build a second high-water bridge over the Guadalupe. One of four crossings were considered and Esser’s was chosen, but not without controversy. Grover E. King Co. of Dallas built the bridge for $12,498. The construction of the bridge was Whipple truss design, very common at the time. The spans were supported by oval-shaped masonry piers and rusticated stonework.

While the bridge was being built, the Guadalupe flooded at 16 feet, the under pinning on the construction washed away and the whole unfinished span fell into the water, causing a major delay.

The first high-water bridge, the Faust Street Bridge, was 640 feet in length built in 1887. This bridge and the Esser’s Crossing Bridge looked almost identical. Crossing the Guadalupe to the Textile Mill, the Faust St. Bridge was sometimes known as the “Mill Bridge.” At a cost of $25,600, the contract was let to the King Iron Bridge Mfg. Co. of Cleveland, Ohio. Over the years, rules of the bridge reflect the times: “No livestock on the bridge” (Your imagination can probably tell you why), “Walk your horses or be fined $5.00”, and a later sign in 1912 stated that automobiles were not to exceed 5 mph.

The Texas Department of Agriculture named this bridge in 1917 as a major crossing of all traffic between Austin and San Antonio. It was used until another concrete bridge was built in 1934. In 1999, the Faust Street Bridge was designated as a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark.

Throughout its history, Esser’s Crossing was a busy place.

Reported by long-timers in the area that after World War II, troops from Ft. Sam Houston marched to New Braunfels and then on to Esser’s Crossing, where they camped overnight and then marched back to Ft. Sam the next day. Hermann Seele in his writings speaks of crossing at Esser’s Crossing early on.

The bridge was condemned in 1954 but remained visible until 1976. Comal County commissioners ordered the bridge to be torn down because of floods, fire damage and vandalism. Close by, the present bridge was built in 1978.

Historian Brenda Anderson-Lindemann and other long-time property owners have spearheaded a drive to have the area of Esser’s Crossing recognized with a Texas Historical Marker.

It’s a nice drive.

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I found this story by Louis B. Engelke in the Sunday, January 3, 1954, edition of the San Antonio Light. It’s the story of Henry Langerhans and the part he played in the demise of Capt. J.P. Waldrip. It is really too good not to share in its entirety.

The death of Capt. J. P. Waldrip occurred in 1867, two years after the end of the Civil War and two years after Waldrip had been indicted as a wanton killer. In fact, Waldrip’s entire gang, known as “Waldrip’s Wolfpack,” was indicted for “mob murder” as soon as the Fredericksburg Germans could emerge from a reign of terror which ended in 1865. For a period of four years, the pro-slavery Waldrip gang had killed one anti-secessionist German after another. Victims were usually seized at night and hanged or tortured to death before the eyes of their wives or children. During the war years, no one dared to seek an indictment against Waldrip. That’s why the action waited until 1865. Even then, it was a dangerous procedure, for some of Waldrip’s men still lurked on the highways and byways of the county, and continuing post-war murders were attributed to these die-hards. Consequently, with typical German thoroughness, Gillespie County declared Waldrip “Vogels-frei,” which in German means ”free as a bird” — to shoot of course.

Why Waldrip left his hideout 10 miles east of Fredericksburg and rode into town on a sway-back mule that fateful day in 1867, nobody really knows. Perhaps it was to burn the courthouse, or more likely to steal a horse. But whatever the reason, an unknown party in Fredericksburg wired Capt. Phillip Braubach in San Antonio. The message brought Braubach, US Customs collector for the Western District of Texas, riding as fast as a horse could carry him to Fredericksburg.

A native of Wiesbaden, Germany, who had settled in San Antonio in 1850, Braubach had served with McCullough’s Texas Rangers…he was arrested by Confederate agents in Fredericksburg, where he had been visiting his fiancé, Fraulein Louise Schuetze, when the Civil War broke out. Taken to San Antonio, a ball and chain was fixed to his leg and he was given the then odorous job of cleaning up the San Antonio River. Braubach eventually escaped to the border, where he formed an anti-Confederate company of Mexicans.

Becoming lovesick for Louise, Braubach finally decided to risk a trip to Fredericksburg, but Waldrip learned of Braubach’s visit and raided the Schuetze farmhouse. Not finding Braubach there, the gang murdered Louise’s father. Vowing to avenge Herr Schuetze, Braubach headed back for the border and later made his way to New Orleans where he joined the Union Army, rising to the rank of captain. After the war, Braubach returned to Texas and married Louise. They were living in San Antonio when the important looking telegram arrived late one afternoon. Braubach calmly told his wife he had some “business to tend to in Fredericksburg,” and departed on a fast horse.

Never having seen Waldrip before, Braubach entered the Nimitz Hotel before high noon the next day with one hand on [his] Colt revolver. Nothing happened when he entered the lobby so he next entered the hotel’s saloon. The only person present was the bartender who he knew.

“Waldrip ist hier — im Fredericksburg,” the bartender whispered.

“Where is he? How can I identify him?” Braubach asked.

The bartender said Waldrip was wearing a big black beaver hat and had gone west on Main Street. Braubach circled north around a two block section, so as to meet Waldrip face to face. The pair met 150 yards west of the hotel in front of Brockman’s store.

Noticing Waldrip’s black hat, Braubach asked, “Are you Captain Waldrip?”

“Yes, sir,” Waldrip replied.

Braubach drew his gun and pulled the trigger. Nothing happened. Braubach cocked the revolver and pulled the trigger and again nothing happened. The revolver was of the cap and ball type, and the powder had become soaked with the sweat of Braubach’s horse.

Waldrip by now was running as fast as he could toward the Nimitz Hotel with half the village, including Braubach, who was shouting for somebody to throw him a rifle, after him. Women, who had ventured onto the street to catch a glimpse of the notorious criminal, were now fleeing in every direction. Among them was Mrs. Henry Langerhans, with two-year old Bertha in her arms.

Observing Waldrip wrestle with a man for a gun at the hotel and seeing his wife and Bertha still on the street, Henry Langerhans, standing in the second-story window of his boot and saddle shop, kitty-corner from the Nimitz Hotel, reached for the Kentucky rifle he had used in many a Hill Country turkey shoot.

Waldrip went through the hotel, with Braubach, who now had a Winchester rifle, after him. Waldrip, holding his shoulder where Braubach had winged him, then came vaulting over the hotel’s high stone fence. Langerhans saw Waldrip take refuge behind a great oak near the fence. Waldrip raised his head and looked in one direction then another. If the man was ever to get a horse, he had to get it now.

It then dawned on Langerhans that Waldrip might possibly grab his wife and child as hostages. Taking careful aim with the long rifle, Langerhans fired. Waldrip toppled into the ditch. Everybody in town looked at Waldrip’s body, particularly the hole in his head, but nobody knew who fired the fatal shot. Nobody but Langerhans and his wife, that is.

Mrs. Langerhans kept the secret from her [eight] children until her husband, the man who had got the drop on Waldrip, died of natural causes. One couldn’t be too cautious when dealing with any of the Waldrips. Even those who had the protections of public office knew that. This was evidenced by the fact that Gillespie county officials waited until 1874 before they paid Charles Basse $10 for hauling the body of the notorious outlaw 300 yards in a wheelbarrow from the Nimitz Hotel to an unmarked grave on Town Creek. Afraid of the werewolf of the Hill Country? Perhaps.

And to top everything in the Waldrip saga is this weird touch. They buried Waldrip with his big, black beaver hat. Two years later, Waldrip’s brother, who somehow had learned exactly where Waldrip was buried, sneaked into town by the dark of the moon and resurrected the hat.

That, my friends, is entertaining journalism!

Sources:

• San Antonio Light, Sunday, January 3, 1954, “He Got the Drop on Waldrip”

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