We know a lot about our Comal River but not so much about the Guadalupe. Did you know that the Guadalupe is 226 miles longer than the Comal? It’s a tumultuous and erratic river. The Comal, on a flooding rampage, affects New Braunfels; the Guadalupe, on a flooding rampage, affects 230 miles of property, trees, land, and people.

Here’s the really good side of the Guadalupe: it has provided hours and days of camping, boating, and summer camps. Where else but a summer camp would you have learned the words to “Doktor Eisenbart”?

I am Herr Doktor Eisanbart, Twil li wil li witt boom boom

I’ll cure your ills with healing art, Twil li wil li witt boom boom

Sing to ri ay, sing to ri ay,Twil li wil li witt boom boom boom boom!

Let’s take a trip down the Guadalupe River starting at its source in Kerr County and eventually giving up the ghost when it empties into the Gulf of Mexico. There it is a small stream in a big pond. The river in Kerr County is formed by two tributaries and the towns of Kerrville and Comfort were established nearby.

The story goes that the Guadalupe River, as far back as 1689, was called Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe by Spanish explorer, Alonso De León. Other names were applied by later Spanish explorers. At one time the river’s major contributory, the Comal, was actually called Guadalupe and the Guadalupe was called the San Ybón. It’s impossible to know what the Indian tribes who inhabited the banks called it. The Tonkawa, Waco, Lipan Apaches, Karankawa, Coahuiltican and Comanche all left evidence of their presence up and down the banks.

Missions were established along the river’s tributaries. Several were located above Victoria, one near San Marcos Springs, and one near the Comal Springs.

After the mission era, Mexicans, Europeans and Americans moved into Texas and along the Guadalupe. Martin De Leon established Victoria in 1824 and in 1825 James Kerr established Gonzales. Ben Mc Cullough surveyed Walnut Springs in 1839. This name changed to Seguin. You will remember that most of those towns, except Victoria, were stopping points for the early settlers who were following the Guadalupe from Indianola on their way to New Braunfels, now the largest town along the Guadalupe.

The completion of the large Canyon Lake and Dam interrupted the river’s flow. After forming a large lake, the river resumes its flow at the outlet of the dam. Before Canyon Dam floods were rampant but now somewhat controlled by the dam.

At this point a really beautiful part of the Guadalupe begins as it comes out of the outlet. It begins its journey to New Braunfels, passing the River Road, several crossings and tourist courts and camps. Let’s look in particular at one camp, Slumber Falls Camp.

Slumber Falls Camp developed along the Guadalupe in the early 1930s at just the right time due to the building of roads and the popularity of the automobile. The camp was a place to get away from the city and enjoy the beauty of the hill country river. In the open air cabins the sound of the water falls contributed to the enjoyment of outdoor camping.

The history of the ownership of the land on which Slumber Falls is located goes back to 1890 when Joseph Landa purchased a large parcel of the Veramendi Tract on the Guadalupe for cattle raising. There is evidence that locals already used this area for picnicking and swimming. Years later the property was owned by Harry Landa, Joseph Landa’s son. Harry sold 20 acres in this tract to Francis Schulz Lillie for $1,545. Francis Lillie, along with her husband Will and brother, Herman Schrader, developed the property into a tourist camp. Steps leading down to the river show their presence with etchings of their names in concrete steps .Retaining walls were built and together the three built 11 cabins, one at a time as they could afford them. The tourist camp was a popular spot, a place to get away from the city, enjoy the beauty of the hill country river valley and slumber in the open air cabins with the sound of waterfalls. Situated on top of a high bluff’s pinnacle on the camp property is a stunning view of the river below.

World War II had a devastating effect on the tourist industry in general, but after the war, interest resumed. In 1946 Will Lillie died and Francis sold the tourist court to her two nephews and a third party for$20,000.Then in 1954-56 a terrible drought virtually caused the Guadalupe to dry up and the tourist court was closed. The nephews decided to sell.

The Texas Synod of the United Church of Christ purchased the tract for $16,500. They held their first youth camp in the summer of 1958. Preservation of the open- air cabins, out of financial necessity, resulted in campers of today experiencing nature and camping like the 1930s. They can still slumber with the sound of waterfalls. Improvements have been made, but several of the screened-in cabins remain. Slumber Falls Camp and Recreation Center still has remnants of the tourist camp that reflect the early tourism trend, making it eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places.

At the base of the steps leading down to the water, the Guadalupe River rushes over rocks and past cypress lined banks to its final destination. On the way to the Gulf it picks up water from its largest tributary, the Comal. About two miles west of Gonzales, the San Marcos River flows into the Guadalupe and then the San Antonio River joins the river just north of Tivoli. Heading down to the coast and ahead of the estuary, the river forms a delta and splits in two sections referred to as the North and South Guadalupe. Each flows into the San Antonio Bay and then to its final destination, the Gulf of Mexico.

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When I was in the ninth grade, I had a group of friends who were Mariner Girl Scouts. New Braunfels rivers were the perfect spot for this scouting program.

We had a friend who lived on the Guadalupe River and had a rowboat. We would take turns rowing the boat. Our rowing skills were improved when we realized that there were snakes hanging from the trees on the opposite bank. You can row fast if you are underneath these branches.

Invariably, our male friends who were Sea Scout Boy Scouts would show up, jump in the river, swim to the boat and turn it over, dumping us into the Guadalupe. This activity was repeated over and over. Once, floating in tubes, we were chased by an alligator gar. We were told that they were harmless, but we remembered stories of the olden days when there were real alligators in the rivers, particularly the Comal River.

Nearby was the spot where the Comal merges with the Guadalupe and continues on its journey to the Gulf of Mexico. We were well acquainted with the confluence of the two rivers. Before Canyon Dam was built, the Guadalupe was milky green and almost warm; the Comal was crystal clear and cold. You could definitely tell when you left the Guadalupe and entered the Comal.

Those memories came back when I started doing research on the ferry boat that once transported emigrants across the river at this very spot.

The first settlers in 1845 did not have a ferry when they crossed the Guadalupe at Nacogdoches Road, but soon the first ferry appeared. The German Emigration Co. granted three acres to Adolf von Wedemeyer to build and operate a ferry near the junction of the Guadalupe and Comal.

In 1847, this land and business was sold to Justus Kellner, who died soon thereafter. His widow married Carl Bardenwerper, and they took over the ferry until 1866, when they sold the property to Florenz Kreuz.

Dr. Ferdinand Roemer describes arriving at the site of the ferry in 1846 in the evening. A horn hanging from a tree signaled the ferry operator on the other side of the river to come pick him up. After waiting for quite a long time, someone finally called that the river was too flooded to cross and to wait until the next morning. Roemer camped outside in a rainy norther, and the next morning two young men arrived and guided the ferry across.

The junction of the two rivers has other interesting history.

In the 1700s, the Spaniards who owned Texas made treks through what was to become the state of Texas, using the El Camino Real trail. Martin de Alarcon, governor of the province of Texas in 1718, crossed the Rio Grande and headed towards what would become San Antonio. There he established the Villa de Bexar (SA) and founded the Mission San Antonio de Valero (Alamo).

The diary of Martin de Alarcon was translated by Dr. Fritz Leo Hoffmann, who was in my mother’s graduating class of New Braunfels High School in 1924. In 1935, Hoffmann was professor of languages at the University of Colorado. He said Alarcon fixed the royal standard (flag) of the King of Spain at the junction of the Guadalupe and Comal rivers and took possession of them. He and his men camped in this area.

Oscar Haas discovered a story dating back to the early 1860s stating that a large elephantine beast was discovered in the area of the junction buried way beneath the surface. An emigrant was prospecting for a well and came across a shoulder bone of a beast. He estimated it to be about 30 feet long and 20 feet high. Stories of remains of at least three Mastodons were found on the banks of the Comal River.

In 1968, Mrs. James Haile, owner of the junction property at that time, received a Texas Historical Marker as a historical site, certainly an important designation.

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Most of our small settlements in the Texas Hill Country, if they survived, grew up next to rivers and creeks. The Guadalupe River Valley NW of New Braunfels has been hailed by many as the most beautiful area in all of the Hill Country.

Part of the beauty of the valley has to do with the Guadalupe River, 230 miles long, it has a very inauspicious beginning 80 miles north of New Braunfels near Hunt, Texas. Its beginning is not as impressive as our own Comal Springs, but it overcomes stumbling blocks like Canyon Dam to make its way to the Gulf of Mexico. Below New Braunfels, the Comal River gives up its dominance and merges into the Guadalupe.

Native Americans long ago took advantage of these areas along the river valley. Most were nomadic, generally peaceful and lived off the bounty of the land and rivers. Fish, oysters and clams were a few of the many sources of food from the water, and deer, turkeys and rabbits provided food from the land. Berries and nuts grew in abundance along the river valley. Other nomadic tribes were not so peaceful because the area was also the hunting grounds of the Comanche.

The German immigrants were the first Europeans to actually settle in the Guadalupe Valley. One of those settlements about which we will speak became Sattler, named for Wilhelm Sattler.

Alton Rahe and Brenda Anderson-Lindemann have done extensive research on the Sattler area. Notice that I said “Sattler area.” There was not a town of Sattler although there is an area referred to as Sattler. The name of the current location of Sattler was given to the area over 136 years ago after it was relocated from the original Sattler postal station founded over 160 years ago. The area over time has also been referred to and includes Walhalla, Marienthal, Hidden Valley, Mountain Valley and of course, Sattler. Research is hard enough without this confusion. Just remember the Sattler of today includes these other settlements.

Areas frequently became named the same as the postal station established and this is how it happened. Wilhelm Sattler contracted with the US government to operate a postal station. In 1856, he was approved for the postal station and operated out of a log cabin built on his ranch. There is, however, a postal journal owned by the family that records transactions as early as 1849. Wilhelm’s son Heinrich was appointed postmaster in 1856. When Heinrich was killed in the Civil War, it is possible that Wilhelm acted as postmaster in place of Heinrich. The post office is still standing and in remarkable condition. Next to the small structure, Sattler built his home and two other log cabins. One of the log cabins was Wilhelm’s office for bookbinding and bookkeeping and the other was where he officiated as a judge.

Where is this Sattler ranch and first post office? It is located just north of FM 306 on Point Creek Road between Point Creek and the Guadalupe River. After Wilhelm Sattler’s death in 1880, community members moved the post office to a more central location in a general store in the area that is now considered Sattler at the crossroad of River Road and FM 2673.

Here is a little more about the Sattler family. Wilhelm Sattler and his wife Sophia arrived in Texas in 1845 from Germany. Sattler drew town lot 230 in New Braunfels. He is on Oscar Haas’ first founder list. The family settled in Comaltown in New Braunfels at an unknown date, however, it is known that he was selected as a city alderman (city councilman) for the Comaltown district in 1849. He was one of the organizers of the Comal Union School located in Comaltown.

In 1853, Sattler bought 320 acres of mountainous land from Texas land agent, Jacob de Cardova. It was on this property that the home, post office and other offices were built. His profession was bookbinding and bookkeeping for prominent New Braunfels men like Hermann Seele, Dr. Theodor Koester, Franz Moreau and Ferdinand Lindheimer. He was a member of Texas Land Commission and worked on and off in Austin. Sattler was educated, spoke several languages, and had an extensive library in his home. Unfortunately, due to a fire in 1925 in the home, the book collection burned but the postal journal survived.

Presently six families that are direct descendants of Wilhelm and Sophia Sattler live on the property. The ranch is not as large as the initial 800+ acre Sattler Ranch but it still maintains the beauty of the Guadalupe River Valley ranch of old. One of the g-g-g-grandsons of Wilhelm Sattler, Ed Walker, was my guide on the ranch recently. The Point Creek, named because of the point formed where the creek joins the Guadalupe River, has two waterfalls on the property. Ed operates the Point Creek Haven Cabins at the confluence of the Point Creek and the Guadalupe River with ¼ mile of river frontage. The cabins are on the outside of the Guadalupe River horseshoe that goes from FM 306 to FM 306. It reminds me of my childhood days on the Guadalupe River experiencing the slow-paced lazy days of summer cooling off in the river.

The old post office is nearby and all manner of animals inhabit the place-peacocks, emus, guineas, a turtle, ducks and Texas longhorns. The Sattler family cemetery is located across Point Creek from the post office and contains the graves of Wilhelm and Sophia Sattler and other family members. The cemetery has been designated as a Historic Texas Cemetery.

The Sattler descendants are very conservation minded and the whole piece of property shows a respect for heritage and a desire for preservation. The Sattler Post Office is a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark.

And now that you are not confused anymore, we can talk about the other names associated with the Sattler area.

The name Walhalla in Norse mythology was the “hall of Odin.” Odin receives the souls of heroes slain in battle. The early settlers named their dance hall after this mythological hall and the Walhalla Singing Society. Four halls were built over time with the same name but in different places. The last hall was next to the VFW Canteen Lounge at the corner of River Road and FM 2673 (or the old Sattler-Cranes Mill Road). It is no longer standing.

Another name in the Sattler area is known as Mountain Valley. The Mountain Creek runs through this valley, therefore possibly the name Mountain Valley. It was the location of the Mountain Valley School that closed in 1957. There is also a Mountain Valley Cemetery located in the area.

Hidden Valley was used to describe an area accessible by only one dead-end road that went from the current Sattler intersection towards the Guadalupe River. It is still there but now mostly covered by Canyon Dam. It is the direction of the South Access Road.

The last but not least area was called Marienthal that means Marie’s Valley. In 1849, New Braunfels merchants Ferguson and Hessler established a farm located where FM 306 crosses the Guadalupe River. It was a 300+ acre farm named after Ferguson’s wife Marie. Use of the name for that location continued into the 1900s.

Near the municipal buildings, there is a Texas historical marker titled “Sattler.” With the Weil-Nowotny-Guenther Store, post office, dance hall, cotton gin and bowling alley, the area served as a gathering place for farm and ranch families. Changes came after the building of Canyon Dam but the heritage of Sattler remains significant in the history of Comal County.

By looking at the different names of mountains and valleys in this area of the Guadalupe Valley one can see why it is still considered one of the most beautiful Texas Hill Country areas.

The post The area of Sattler includes many names appeared first on Sophies Shop.

New Braunfels loves to celebrate anniversaries, but this date, Friday August 20 in 1886, we can commemorate but not celebrate. It was on this day one hundred thirty years ago (as of yesterday) that a hurricane hit the Gulf Coast. It was so strong that it destroyed the town of Indianola. Traveling with inland winds of 70 miles an hour, it wrecked everything in its path as far as San Antonio. New Braunfels was not spared.

A letter written by Sen. George Pfeuffer to his wife, Susan Gravis Pfeuffer, who had remained in Austin was recently discovered by John Rightmire at an estate sale. The letter was written in New Braunfels by Pfeuffer immediately after the storm hit the town. A letter like this one is a primary source and to have someone at the location at the time of the event provides primary proof. A good example of primary sources are the letters written home to relatives in Germany giving accounts of what was going on and what things looked like back here in Texas. Rightmire’s “find” provides us with a description of what effect the hurricane had on New Braunfels.

George Pfeuffer was a prominent person in New Braunfels and Texas, having established a merchandise store here, and a lumber yard in NB and two other towns. He was politically active. He was a county judge and president of the board of directors of Texas A&M College. He led the fight to obtain state funds for schools as a senator from 1882 to 1884. When he died, the Granite Association of Texas put up a giant obelisk in his memory in the Comal Cemetery. It is made of pink granite, the same as the capitol. He was responsible for the use of the pink granite.

This is information from his letter: At 3:30 in the afternoon on this day, George Pfeuffer took to the streets around Main Plaza. He wrote to his wife that half of the tin covering of their home was gone and that the frame of the new floor addition was also gone. This house was on the corner of San Antonio St. and Comal Ave. facing Comal Ave. where the law office of Brazle and Pfeuffer is now located. (The older home was torn down in 1910 and the bricks used to build the home in the same location but facing San Antonio St. Somers Valentine Pfeuffer, son of George, built this house.)

Next to the Pfeuffer home was the Carl Floege Store on the corner now owned by the New Braunfels Utilities and it was also badly damaged. This building had been the location of the first district court in 1846.

Pfeuffer walked to where his lumber yard was located. That is where the present City Hall is on Castell Ave. The lumber sheds were knocked down as well as the nearby freight depot. Bob Pfeuffer, g-grandson of the senator says that this depot was close to the railroad track behind the lumber yard. Besides the personal loss at the lumber yard, he noticed that most of the roofs in town were gone.

He walked to the Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Church and discovered that the steeple of the roof was sticking in the roof, but wrong-side up. Nearly every tree in town had fared badly. He walked by Heinrich Ludwig’s Hotel behind the Phoenix Saloon and saw that it lost its tin roof and bricks from chimneys were scattered everywhere. Pfeuffer described the damage scene at Voelcker’s on Castell Ave. like this: “The entire front looks like the result of a mule’s heels on the dash board of a light wagon.” It could have been the Voelcker Drug Store (Red Stag) or the Voelcker home also on Castell Ave.

Down Seguin Ave. Forke’s Store was gone as was Seele’s tin roof on the new building and the cotton gin roof was gone. The Forke Store building was given to Conservation Plaza much later. He mentions other buildings that were damaged, Bench’s Hall, Podewils, and Rennerts. The building that we know the most about is the already dilapidated building on Sophienburg Hill, once the headquarters of Prince Carl. It finally bit the dust as a result of this hurricane.

Pfeuffer wrote to his wife that he would not be in Austin anytime soon as he had to tend to the damage caused by the storm on the house, the lumber yard, and the store building, although it withstood the “puff,” it needs to be “recommenced.” The letterhead on which the letter was written gives an idea of what the Pfeuffer Store was all about. It was located on the corner of San Antonio St. and Castell Ave. where the Antique Mall is now located. He and his son, S.V. Pfeuffer, dealt in general merchandise, dry goods, groceries, crockery, tobacco, cigars and hardware. Also farm implements, wagons, carriages and they were buyers of cotton, grain and country produce.

As for Indianola, the town itself was created as a direct result of the German emigrants who were brought to the Republic of Texas by the Adelsverein. It was their port of entry after landing in Galveston beginning in 1844. The death of Indianola occurred as a result of its near sea level location on Matagorda Bay. There were two hurricanes, one in 1875 and the big one eleven years later in 1886. In 1886, as a result of a severe drought in Texas, an unusual wind became the subject of discussion and a hurricane had passed south of Key West and into the Gulf of Mexico. The quickly moving hurricane inundated the town with the exception of two buildings, one being the Court House. The once important port city was ultimately destroyed.

Indianola was the home of many beautiful, large homes built by prominent citizens. After the hurricane of 1886, some of these homes were moved to be reconstructed because they were in salvageable condition. Two were moved to Cuero. The Emil Reiffert home was dismantled, numbered and re-assembled. Also in Cuero is the Sheppard home that is now the De Witt County Historical Museum. Three buildings were moved to Victoria, the William Frobese home is now the rectory of Grace Episcopal Church. The home of Henry Huck was dismantled, transported by rail and reassembled. Finally, the D.H. Regan residence was also moved by rail.

Familiarity with storms was not new to the George Pfeuffer family. George Pfeuffer’s father, Johann Georg Pfeuffer, had been a successful tanner in Germany in the 1830s. For some unknown reason in 1845, he sold his businesses and signed on with the German Emigration Co. to leave for Texas. The parents and six children were among the second group to come to Texas. They arrived in Galveston in November 1845. From there they took a schooner to Indianola.

A near tragedy occurred when the schooner was overloaded and sank in the bay outside of Indianola. The family was saved but they lost all of their possessions. They were stuck on the coast along with hundreds of other immigrants waiting for transportation inland. They did not reach New Braunfels until 1848.

Only 26 days after his letter was written, George Pfeuffer died on September 15, 1886. His letter now joins other letters written by early citizens that help us understand our past.

The post First-hand account of the Indianola hurricane appeared first on Sophies Shop.

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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