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Trammers Trace Still Part of Highway SystemCarolyn Kricson I♦»I * Redbud Street Nacogdoches, TexasTRAMMEL S TRACE By Virginia Knapp 311 McNee Drive Henderson, TexasNicholas Trammel built the first marked pathway to Texas from the northeast to form the lateral link of traffic between the El ( ammo Real and the trail to St Louis. The first road was actually a pathway marked by Trammel afiout 1H13 The entire trace covered a distance of about one hundred and eighty five miles It began at Fulton. Arkansas and ended at Nacogdoches The Roadway is well esfab lished m the area just north of Nacogdoches since it is the dividing line between Rusk and Panola counties In l*♦*'* the Centennial Commission erec ted a monument to mark the trace on I N Highway 79 thirteen miles east of Render son and two miles north of the small community of Pine Rill The highway from Mt Enter prise to Nacogdoches, State 2b •it the present time is the same as the original road The records of the original sur veyors of the land do not show the exact location, but Runt and Randall s map of Texas, 1858 shows its path to tie near the highway ‘ Nicholas Trammel was a scout who was born in Tennessee Ris father was oneof the founders of Nashville Trammel was commissioned by the government to cut many trails, but this is the only one that bears his name “The Trace was first an Indian trail, then a path for horses, and finally enlarged to permit wagon travel. Several ferries were operated along the Trace Trammel however, operated the ferry on the Trinity Re also owned several horse corrals He has been recorded in several histories that his horse round ups and his accociation with Jean lafitte. the pirate, gave Trammel a questionable char acterOne of the most popular legends about Trammels Trace is the story concerning Jean l.atitte Lafitte's head quarters were located on Galveston Island, and he usually sent some of booty by wagon train to St Louis using the Trammel Trace In 1816 Lafitte captured the Spanish ''hip Santa Rosa in Matagorda Ray With the ship he seized two million dollars in pure bar silver Lafitte's men were carrying it concealed in the wagon as they traveled the Trace toward St Louis The train crew cartqied for the night at Hendricks Lake in extreme northeast Rusk County The following morning .is the treasure wagons were moving out .1 rear guard rode up crying The Spanish are Coming'' The gov ernment hadsent two hundred soldiers The leader of the train, reported bysome accounts to be Trammel, himself, ordered the six wagons to the rim of the lake, mules cut loose and the wagons allowed to roll down the bank into the water and out of sight The soldiers attacked, and Trammel was killed while the rest of the men fled to the w ilderness This story was told in Kansas City in 1840 by Robert Dawson, who seems to have escaped from the fracusThe troops took the remaining wagons to San Antonio only to discover the silver missing Back to the lake they came only to find it rain swollen The Texas Revolution developed and thus the search was delayed “In 1888 ’’ i an attempt was made by Paul Tatum to empty the lake with wooden water pumps Re soon discovered that the lake is fed by natural springs Re succeeded in lowering the lake a few feet In 1895 an attempt was made by the Spanish govern merit This project also failed In 1920 three bars were hauled to the surface by fishermen The latest attempts was made by A C Sorelie and son of Houston in 1958 It too was abandonedAt the present time the Lafitte Legend concerning Trammel Trace is still in the dark waters of Hendrick's Lake“Today, 1963, the indentations of the original road-bed can be seen beginning to theright of the road (county-line) going north from US 79 Wagon ruts, some many inches deep, can be seen still, and where the Trace crosses the streams in the vicinity shows its location.“Some towns still survive the -Trace Tatum, Mt Enterprise in this county Daniel Martin, w ho was one of the first settlers along the road, is buried in the Martin cemetery in an unmarked grave, but his descendants still live in Rusk County Other descendants of early Trace settlers were the Tatums, the Ware family, the Mays, and the Harris family ”NOW AVAILABE Volume I of Nacogdoches County Cemetery Records Contains 138 pages of names and dates from 11 cemeteries from the County Fully indexed, off-set printing, soft cover Contains data from Greenwood, Swift, Bethel. Fairview, Skillern, Mast, Littles Chapel. Upper Chai-reno. King. Cherry Grove These records were collected by Joel Barham Burk and compiled and indexed by Carolyn Kricson. The number printed is limited so order your copy today It would make an excellent Christmas gift $7.5© in check or money order will obtain your copy from Carolyn Ericson, 1614 Redbud Street, Nacogdoches. Texas 75961
Newspaper Details
Rusk Cherokeean
Rusk, Texas, US
Thu, Nov 21, 1974
Page 2
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USA 10 May 2025
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