Brazos Indian Reservation School
Graham, Young County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Operated for Indian children living on Brazos Reservation, a 37,000-acre refuge created by state in 1854. Here over 1,000 Anadarko, Caddo, Delaware, Ioni, Shawnee, Tawakoni, and Tonkawa people lived, farming and acting as U.S. Army Scouts. Despite racial strife outside reserve, teacher Z. E. Coombes (1833-95) reported unusual good will and harmony in classroom. Subjects taught were English, spelling, writing, and arithmetic. From 34 to 60 students were enrolled. School closed when Indians were moved north in 1859.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
On the 37,000-acre Brazos Reservation created by Texas in 1854, more than a thousand people from the Anadarko, Caddo, Delaware, Ioni, Shawnee, Tawakoni, and Tonkawa nations farmed the land and served as U.S. Army scouts. Their children attended a small school where teacher Z. E. Coombes reported striking goodwill in his classroom even as hostility mounted beyond the reservation's bounds. The school and the reservation alike ended in 1859, when the tribes were forced north out of Texas.
Why it matters
It records a brief, fragile experiment in coexistence and Native education on the Texas frontier, cut short by the pressures that drove Indigenous peoples from the state.
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Related people
- · Z. E. Coombes
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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