Milam County Historical Commission
Milam County, Texas
Milam County, Texas
‘Historic’ Weekend for Milam, Rockdale
by Mike Brown - Rockdale Reporter
2015-06-11
DAR president re-dedicates oldest city site
Lynn Forney Young, national president-general of Daughters of the American Revolution
(DAR), may have been the celebrity guest for a weekend of history in and around Rockdale,
but much of the observance turned into a tribute to a Spanish military leader who died
229 years ago.
Bernardo de Galvez — Galveston was named for him — drew recognition from Young, in her
remarks Saturday following re-dedication of a DAR park near the site of Old Nashville,
Milam County’s oldest city.
Galvez had previously been highlighted by Jesse Villarreal at the I&GN Depot-Museum
Friday during a speech on the Spanish influence on the American Revolution.
Other events dealt with Indians in Central Texas and the El Camino Real National Historic
Trail.
PARK — Young formally rededicated the small Centennial park, located on the Milam County
bank of the Brazos River, three-fourths of a mile upriver from the site of Nashville,
which flourished from 1837 to 1845 and was once in the running to become capital of the
Republic of Texas.
In the Texas Centennial year of 1836, Cameron’s Sarah McCalla DAR chapter dedicated
Centennial Park, which included some blocks and stones from the longgone city.
Five years ago vandals toppled the brick pedestals. They’ve now been restored.
Dr. Lucile Estell, local historian and member of Milam County’s DAR Three Missions
Chapter, said the following worked on restoring the park:
• Commissioner John Fisher and Precinct 3 crew.
• Katherine Bedich, Ann Collins, Barbara Cromwell and the El Camino Real chapter of
Master Naturalists.
• Dr. and Mrs. John Pruett, Emmet Drehr and the Milano Lions Club.
• Ernest Garza and John Pruett, flagpole lighting.
• Rockdale American Legion Carlyle Post 358, provided American flag.
• Rockdale High School FFA and sponsor Art Free.
• Paul Luckey, Rockdale Memorial Company.
• Communities in Concert Band, Bob Burnett, president.
• Milam County Sheriff’s Department, Chief Deputy Chris White.
• Planning committee and sponsoring organizations.
Others taking part in the re-dedication included Three Missions chapter members Joy
Graham, Marcy Heathman and Alma Lue Wenzel and Bonner Deshazo, chair of the Centennial
Parks committee, who introduced Young.
Rockdale American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars members Charlie Watson, Dave
Phillips and Ernest Garza raised the flag.
Benediction was by Rev. David Kaufmann, Crossroads Biker Church, and music was by the
Communities in Concert Band.
GALVEZ — At the following “Catch the Spirit in Milam County” luncheon at Apache Pass,
Young noted that Galvez’s military actions against England during the American Revolution
played a role in the successful struggle to win American independence.
She linked British Gen. Charles Cornwallis’s failures at Cowpens, Guilford Courthouse and
the Carolina backcountry to Galvez’s military efforts against Great Britain on another
front.
“Cornwallis needed the British soldiers that were fighting the Spanish in Pensacola,” she
said.
It was Cornwallis who surrendered to George Washington at Yorktown. Villarreal, at the
depot on Friday, also noted the contribution of Galvez and many others of Spanish descent
to the American Revolution.
His research, which resulted in a book, led Villarreal to discover many of his ancestors
and the important roles they played.
CAMINO, INDIANS — At the Kay Theater Friday, Steven Gonzales, executive director of the
El Camino Real National Historic Trail, outlined the history of that trail and of
historic trails in general in the United States.
He pointed out the DAR’s active Texas members were instrumental in showcasing the
importance of El Camino Real, which has received signs in Milam County.
Gonzales said as far back as the World War I era, the ECR was being touted for its age
and history by Texas DAR members.
“The Texas DAR found that a DAR group in St. Louis was saying the Lewis and Clark Trail
was the nation’s oldest,” he said.
“They said ‘wait a minute; we’ve got an older one’.”
Thursday in the city library, J. S. “Sandy” Duncan presented a program on American
Indians.
He told the crowd trails, including the ECR, could be traced to the roamings of buffalo.
“The Indians followed the buffalo and the buffalo went wherever they wanted to go,” he
said.
Duncan said relationships, especially legal ones like treaties—between Europeans and
Indians, were doomed from the start, due to cultural differences.
He said Indians had different concepts of authority and land, and that presented major
problems when names, and boundaries, were put to a treaty.
“Nobody spoke for an entire tribe, you spoke for yourself,” he said.
“And you couldn’t give land because you didn’t own land, you just lived on it,” Duncan
said.
See photos from other history-related events during the weekend on pages 1A, 2A and 1D.
PROGRAM — Others on the Saturday luncheon program at Apache Pass were: State Sen. Charles
Schwertner, State Rep. Marsha Farney and County Judge Dave Barkemeyer. Geri Burnett, past
chair, Milam County Historical Committee; Chris Whittaker, Rockdale City manager. Martha
Herzog, National DAR Historic Preservation chair; Rev. Adam Straznicky.
All credit for this article goes to
Mike Brown
and the
Rockdale Reporter
Mike Brown
and the
Rockdale Reporter
From left, DAR President-General Lynn Forney Young; local historians Joy Graham and Dr.
Lucile Estell, greeted by Ernest Garza as Dr. Stephen Gonzales of ECR National Historic
Trail looks on.
left: stones from Old Nashville used in restoration.
HISTORIC - There was a lot to see during “DAR weekend:
Below - left: Jesse Villarreal talked about Spanish heritage and
the American Revolution at the I&GN Depot.
Below middle: Steven Gonzales outlined history of the El Camino
Real National Historic Trail at the Kay Theater.
Below right, Sandy Duncan told audience at the city library about
Indians. Reporter/Mike Brown
Photos by Mike Brown - Rockdale Reporter
.
Photos by Mike Brown - Rockdale Reporter
.
Crowd gathered on Milam side of Brazos River near site what was county’s first permanent settlement in 1830s.