Colonel William B. Ochiltree
Perryton, Ochiltree County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Secretary treasury and last attorney general Republic of Texas. Secession Convention delegate 1861. Influential member Provisional Congress which drafted Confederate Constitution, mobilized manpower, set up financial structure, elected political leaders. Resigned to raise 18th Texas Infantry. Led troops to Arkansas in 1862 when regiment called in campaign to repel Union forces from state. A memorial to Texans who served the Confederacy Erected by the State of Texas 1963.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
William B. Ochiltree helped build two governments and then took up arms for a third. He served the Republic of Texas as secretary of the treasury and its last attorney general, then in 1861 sat as a secession delegate and a member of the Provisional Confederate Congress that drafted the Confederacy's constitution and mobilized its war effort. Resigning from politics, he raised the 18th Texas Infantry and led it into Arkansas in 1862 to help repel Union forces. This memorial, erected by the State of Texas in 1963, honors Texans who served the Confederacy.
Why it matters
Ochiltree's career maps the trajectory of a generation of Texas leaders — from the independent Republic through statehood into the Confederacy — and the mid-20th-century memorial marks how that legacy was later commemorated.
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Related people
- · William B. Ochiltree
Themes & tags
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Ochiltree County
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Ochiltree County, in the Texas Panhandle, was carved from Young and Bexar territories, created in 1876 and formally organized in 1889. It honors William Beck Ochiltree (1811–1867), a Texas Supreme Court justice, treasury secretary, and the last attorney general of the Republic of Texas who later served in the legislature, backed secession in 1861, and became a Confederate colonel. The county seat moved from Ochiltree to Perryton in 1920.
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