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Civil WarReconstruction & Gilded Age

Coleman County

Coleman, Coleman County, Texas

Marker Inscription

In early Texas had Apache, Comanche, Kiowa camps and mountain lookouts. White settlement began at Camp Colorado, U.S. 2nd Cavalry Post on Jim Ned Creek, 1857. County was created Feb. 1, 1858. Named for Robert M. Coleman (1799-1837), a signer of Texas Declaration of Independence and a hero of the Battle of San Jacinto. To south part of county, 1862, came John Chisum, to raise cattle to be furnished to Confederate troops fighting Civil War. County was organized Oct. 6, 1864. Courts first met at Camp Colorado. Coleman was approved as county seat April 28, 1876.

Erected by Texas Historical Commission

The Story

Coleman County occupies land where Apache, Comanche, and Kiowa people once camped and kept lookouts from its hills. White settlement began in 1857 around Camp Colorado, a U.S. 2nd Cavalry post on Jim Ned Creek; the county was created in 1858 and named for Robert M. Coleman, a signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence and San Jacinto veteran. In 1862 cattleman John Chisum arrived to raise beef for Confederate troops, and the county formally organized in 1864.

Why it matters

The county's founding traces the collision of Native homelands, frontier cavalry posts, and the open-range cattle economy that shaped the settling of central Texas.

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Related people

  • · Robert M. Coleman
  • · John Chisum

Related events

  • · Battle of San Jacinto
  • · American Civil War

Themes & tags

Nearby & related markers

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