Early Republic

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.

The story behind this marker

AI context

The era

Before Texas was a republic or a state, it was a frontier province under Mexican administration, and the country between the settlement of Gonzales and San Antonio de Béxar was laced with roads and river crossings that carried settlers, soldiers, and news. One of these was the Gonzales Road, linking the DeWitt Colony town of Gonzales to San Antonio, the old Spanish and Mexican capital of the region. This was the Early Republic era in the making — the years when the future of Texas was still an open question.

About twenty-two miles east of San Antonio, that road met the Cibolo Creek. The Cibolo ran its course from near present-day Boerne down to its junction with the San Antonio River, and along the way it offered only a few natural fords — shallow places where a road could actually cross. The Gonzales Road used one of these, a spot that came to be known simply as the Cibolo Crossing.

A crossing like this was far more than a convenience. On a frontier where rivers dictated where men could travel, a reliable ford was a strategic asset — a place where roads, land grants, and the movements of armies all converged. The crossing here ran through granted lands, including one belonging to a man whose name would become famous in the story of Texas independence.

People & events

The Cibolo Crossing appears in the letters and diaries of people who lived through the Texas Revolution, described as a rendezvous and marshaling point for settlers and troops. One of the figures tied to it is Erastus "Deaf" Smith, who owned land on the east side of the crossing. According to the account preserved here, Smith is said to have climbed a tree near the ford to spy on Mexican troops in 1835, as those forces prepared to retrieve a cannon from the Gonzales colony.

The crossing's most poignant chapter came in the following year. On February 28, 1836, a relief effort gathered here: Captain J. J. Tumlinson, along with Captains Albert Martin, John W. Smith, and Juan Seguín, brought relief forces to the Cibolo Creek crossing to await Fannin's forces. These were men moving in the desperate days surrounding the defense of the Alamo, when small companies tried to rally reinforcements to the besieged garrison in San Antonio.

The crossing's active life eventually ended. With the annexation of Texas by the United States in 1845 and the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848, the old Gonzales Road was reworked into a route running through Yorktown, and the original ford at Cibolo Creek was abandoned. What had once been a vital passage quietly fell out of use as the map of Texas was redrawn.

Its place in the American story

This unassuming ford sits directly on the roads that carried men toward one of the most storied moments in American history — the defense of the Alamo and the wider Texas Revolution. When you trace the gathering of relief forces at the Cibolo Crossing in late February 1836, you are following the very geography of the fight for Texas independence, the struggle that would ultimately bring a new republic and, later, a new American state into being.

The presence of figures like Erastus "Deaf" Smith and Juan Seguín ties this local spot to the larger cast of the revolution — the scouts, captains, and Tejano leaders whose efforts shaped the outcome. That such names pass through a single creek crossing shows how the grand events of history actually move: down ordinary roads, across ordinary fords.

And the crossing's fate — abandoned after annexation and the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo redrew the region — captures the moment Texas passed from a contested frontier into the United States. The ford's rise and quiet disappearance mirror the transformation of Texas itself.

If you visit

Come to this place ready to look past the quiet of the present and into the traffic of the past. Today the Cibolo Creek country near La Vernia is peaceful, but this was once a busy artery — the point where the Gonzales Road forded the creek and where settlers, scouts, and soldiers converged. Picture the road descending to the natural ford, the water shallow enough to cross, the banks that once held granted lands.

The stories anchored here reward a slow, imaginative visit. Think of a scout climbing a tree to watch distant troops, or of relief companies gathering at the water's edge in the tense days of early 1836, waiting and hoping to reinforce comrades to the west. There is no fort or battlefield to tour — this is a place where geography itself is the monument, and the crossing's importance lived in its role as a gathering point.

It makes a fitting stop on any road trip that follows the trail of Texas independence between Gonzales and San Antonio. Let the marker orient you to the lay of the land — the creek, the old route, the direction of the Alamo — and you will feel how this quiet ford once sat at the center of events that changed the map of a continent.

Written by AI to add context, grounded in the marker’s inscription and the historical record. The inscription above is the original, unaltered text.

Plan your visit

Nearby

Make a day of it — museums, food, and places to stay near this marker.

Attractions

Green Acres Golf and Games
11.8 mi away

Places data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Hours and details change — call ahead.

Own a business near here? Add it to the map.

Related people

· Erastus "Deaf" Smith
· Juan Seguin
· Albert Martin

Related events

· Texas Revolution
· Defense of the Alamo

Themes & tags

Transportation Military & Wartime Westward ExpansionFrontier HistoryLandmark

Nearby & related markers

Goliad Road

San Antonio, TX

Laid out by Spain around 1720 as El Camino Real a La Bahía—the King's Highway to Goliad—this road served for a century and a half as a major route for emigrants, armies, and traders, later becoming part of the Chihuahua Road linking the Gulf Coast to Mexico. Soldiers of Spain, Mexico, the Republic of Texas, the United States, and the Confederacy marched along it, as did Native peoples, and near this spot it crossed Salado Creek on the approach to San Antonio. Its heavy traffic faded only when the railroads arrived.

Transportation Westward Expansion

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.

Transportation Westward Expansion

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.

Westward Expansion Transportation

Old Chihuahua Road