Bandera Cemetery
Bandera, Bandera County, Texas
Marker Inscription
The Bandera Cemetery has served the town of Bandera since the 1850s. The site's oldest burial dates to 1851, before the town's establishment several years later. Many former community leaders of the area are buried in the cemetery. In addition, there are a number of veterans interred here, some involved in military conflicts dating to the Mexican American War (1846-1848) and earlier. Members of fraternal organizations are also among those represented here. Ownership of the land can be traced back to Hendrick Arnold, a free African American who was a guide and spy suring the Texas Revolution. He joined the revolt with his father-in-law, Erastus (Deaf) Smith, who led the celebrated spy company of which Arnold was part. After several transactions over the years, the section of Arnold's land which became the burial ground was deeded to the Bandera Cemetery Association, which seven women organized in 1907. Today, the burial ground continues to serve the community as an active cemetery and remains an important part of Bandera's history. Historic Texas Cemetery - 2006
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
The Bandera Cemetery has held the town's dead since the 1850s, its oldest grave dating to 1851, before Bandera itself was fully established. Among those buried are community leaders, fraternal-order members, and veterans reaching back to the Mexican-American War. The land traces to Hendrick Arnold, a free African American who scouted and spied for the Texas Revolution alongside his father-in-law, the famed Erastus "Deaf" Smith, and a group of seven women organized the cemetery association in 1907.
Why it matters
The cemetery links Hill Country settlement to the free Black frontiersman Hendrick Arnold, a reminder that people of color helped win Texas independence long before their contributions were widely acknowledged.
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Related people
- · Hendrick Arnold
- · Erastus "Deaf" Smith
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Hendrick Arnold Survey No. 59 Colored Burial Ground
Bandera, TX
Hendrick Arnold, a free Black man who fought in the Siege of Bexar and the Battle of San Jacinto, was granted land for his service in the Texas Revolution, including this Bandera County tract. He passed acreage to his family, and over generations the ground became a burial place—formally recorded in 1922 as a colored burial ground used by local African American families. Neglect erased many headstones, but research has recovered dozens of unmarked graves and the names of those laid to rest here.
Ihnken Family Cemetery
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Camp Montel, C.S.A.
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Established in 1862, Camp Montel was one link in the Confederate defense line stretching from the Red River to the Rio Grande, named for surveyor and Bandera colonizer Captain Charles DeMontel. Its troops of the Texas Frontier Regiment furnished their own guns and mounts but often went short of food, clothing, and supplies as they guarded settlements against raids. With most local men away at war—Bandera County counted just 399 people in 1860—these scouting parties managed to curb frontier attacks until the war's end.
Great Western Cattle Trail
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