Cibolo Crossing on the Gonzales Road
La Vernia, Wilson County, Texas
Marker Inscription
DURING THE MEXICAN ADMINISTRATION OF TEXAS, A ROAD CONNECTED THE SETTLEMENT OF GONZALES IN THE DEWITT COLONY TO SAN ANTONIO DE BEJAR, KNOWN AS THE GONZALES ROAD. APPROXIMATELY TWENTY TWO MILES EAST OF SAN ANTONIO, THE ROAD CROSSED THE CIBOLO CREEK, OR RIO CIBOLO. FROM ITS ORIGINS NEAR PRESENT DAY BOERNE TO ITS JUNCTION WITH THE SAN ANTONIO RIVER, THE CIBOLO ETCHED ITS COURSE THROUGH THE COUNTRYSIDE AND ALLOWED FOR A FEW NATURAL FORDS. THE GONZALES ROAD INCORPORATED ONE SUCH NATURAL FORD THROUGH THE FRANCISCO HERRERA LAND GRANT AND THE ERASTUS “DEAF” SMITH LAND GRANT. THIS NATURAL FORD WAS KNOWN AS THE CIBOLO CROSSING. DESCRIPTIONS OF THE CIBOLO CROSSING APPEAR IN LETTERS AND DIARIES OF PARTICIPANTS OF THE TEXAS REVOLUTION. IT IS DESCRIBED AS A RENDEZVOUS AND MARSHALING POINT FOR EARLY SETTLERS AND TROOPS, INCLUDING ATTEMPTS TO BRING REINFORCEMENTS TO THE DEFENSE OF THE ALAMO. ERASTUS “DEAF” SMITH, THE OWNER OF LAND ON THE EAST SIDE OF THE CROSSING, IS SAID TO HAVE SPIED ON THE MEXICAN TROOPS FROM A TREE NEAR THE CROSSING AS TROOPS PREPARED TO RETRIEVE A CANNON FROM THE GONZALES COLONY IN 1835. IN ADDITION, ON FEBRUARY 28, 1836, CAPTAIN J. J. TUMLINSON AND CAPTAINS ALBERT MARTIN, JOHN W. SMITH AND JUAN SEGUIN TOOK RELIEF FORCES TO THE CIBOLO CREEK CROSSING TO AWAIT FANNIN’S FORCES. WITH THE ANNEXATION OF TEXAS BY THE U. S. IN 1845 AND THE SIGNING OF THE TREATY OF GUADALUPE HIDALGO IN 1848, THE GONZALES ROAD WAS LATER INTEGRATED INTO A ROUTE THROUGH YORKTOWN. THE ORIGINAL CROSSING AT CIBOLO CREEK WAS ABANDONED. THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE CIBOLO CROSSING ON THE GONZALES ROAD REMAINS CRITICAL TO EVENTS SURROUNDING TEXAS INDEPENDENCE AND HISTORY.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Under Mexican rule, the Gonzales Road linked the DeWitt Colony settlement of Gonzales to San Antonio de Béxar, fording the Cibolo Creek at a natural crossing about twenty-two miles east of the town. That ford ran through land granted to spy Erastus "Deaf" Smith, who is said to have watched Mexican troops from a nearby tree in 1835. The crossing became a rendezvous during the Texas Revolution, where relief forces under captains like Juan Seguín and Albert Martin gathered in early 1836 hoping to reinforce the Alamo, before annexation and new roads left the old ford abandoned.
Why it matters
The Cibolo Crossing sits on the very route by which men marched toward the Alamo, tying this quiet ford to the pivotal events of Texas independence.
Plan your visit
NearbyMake a day of it — museums, food, and places to stay near this marker.
Attractions
- Green Acres Golf and Games11.8 mi away
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Related people
- · Erastus "Deaf" Smith
- · Juan Seguin
- · Albert Martin
Related events
- · Texas Revolution
- · Defense of the Alamo
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Gonzales-San Antonio Road
Gonzales County, TX
When Green DeWitt planted his colony on the Guadalupe River in 1825, he ordered a road cut to link his capital at Gonzales with San Antonio, and surveyor Byrd Lockhart opened the eighty-mile route in 1827—its mileage notched into roadside oak trunks. Settlers, traders, and Mexican travelers braved the road despite the danger of raids. A decade later it became a thoroughfare of the Texas Revolution: the 'Immortal 32' marched down it from Gonzales to reinforce the Alamo, and Santa Anna's army followed after the fort fell.
Rector Chapel Cemetery
La Vernia, TX
This cemetery grew from the friendship of two early La Vernia settlers: William Wiseman, who ran the town's first cotton gin, and William Claiborne Rector, a veteran of the Battle of San Jacinto who farmed, carried the mail, and supplied horses for the stage line. Together they organized the Cibolo Presbyterian Church in 1852, and after Rector's death Wiseman built a new chapel on his farm named in his friend's honor, setting aside four acres in 1877 for worship and burial. Though the chapel itself was moved to town in 1891, the weathered gravestones still mark the community's founding generation.
Applewhite Homestead
La Vernia, TX
The Applewhite line reached Texas through Thomas Applewhite, a North Carolina–born War of 1812 sergeant who, with his wife Elizabeth and eight enslaved people, moved to Wilson County in 1853 and bought 214 acres here the next year. Local tradition holds the homestead served briefly as a stage stop on an alternate branch of the Chihuahua Road running from the coast to San Antonio. After emancipation, African American families who had taken the Applewhite name established their own homes nearby and remained in the area for generations, their story bound up with the land's original stone house, largely destroyed by 1950s highway work.
Sutherland Springs Cemetery
Sutherland Springs, TX
Dr. John Sutherland, a Virginia-born physician, came to Texas in 1835 and was helping ready the Alamo's defense when a horse accident left him unable to fight; Col. Travis instead sent him riding to Gonzales for help, and the Mexican army stormed the fort before aid could come. Sutherland later settled near the sulphur springs on the Cibolo, boarding health-seekers in his home, which became a stop on the San Antonio–to–coast stage line. He set aside about five acres as a community cemetery in 1860, and the ground now holds Texas Rangers, veterans, officials, and residents of every background who built Wilson County.