Bowie County
New Boston, Bowie County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Original text (1936): In 1836 a part of Red River County. Created December 17, 1840; organized February 1, 1841. Named in honor of James Bowie, 1785-1836; member of Long's Expedition, defender of Texas liberty, a martyr of the Alamo. Old Boston, 1841, Texarkana and New Boston have served as county seat. Replacement text (1971): Named for James Bowie (1799-1836), who fought for Texas freedom from 1819, when he joined the Long Expedition, to 1836-- when he died in defense of the Alamo. Inhabited before 1800 by agricultural Indians, charted 1819 for Anglo-American settlement, this was Red River County land when Texas Republic was founded in 1836. Bowie County was created Dec. 18, 1840; organized Feb. 1, 1841. County seats: DeKalb, Old Boston, Texarkana, and Boston. Forceful citizens joined in beginning railroad construction in 1857. economy is based on agriculture, lumber, manufacturing. Erected by the State of Texas - 1971
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Carved from Red River County land in December 1840 and organized the next year, Bowie County honors James Bowie, the Long Expedition veteran who died defending the Alamo. The country had been home to agricultural Indians before 1800 and was charted for Anglo-American settlement in 1819, back when it was still frontier of the fledgling Texas Republic. Its county seat wandered among DeKalb, Old Boston, Texarkana, and Boston as railroads and farming, lumber, and manufacturing took hold.
Why it matters
The county's founding story compresses the whole arc of early Texas — Indigenous farmers, Anglo land grants, a revolutionary martyr, and the railroads that bound a new republic into the United States.
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Related people
- · James Bowie
Related events
- · Long Expedition
- · Battle of the Alamo
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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Where Trammel's Trace met the water, a crossing first used by Caddo people and later by French and Spanish explorers became Mark Epperson's ferry sometime before 1837. Travelers relied on it until a wooden bridge, and then the modern span of 1924, made the ferry obsolete. When Lake Texarkana flooded the original site in the 1950s, the state moved this 1936 monument seven miles to higher ground.
The French in Texas
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Rev. Nathan S. Johnson
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Caddo Trace
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The Caddo Trace was an ancient hunting and trade path worn by the Caddo people who lived in the northeast corner of what became Texas. Like many Indigenous routes, it was later taken over by newcomers, becoming part of stage and mail lines after 1840 and a road for teamsters and marching soldiers. It touched or crossed the Cherokee, Choctaw, and Trammel's traces, and modern state highways still trace its course.