El Capote Ranch
Seguin, Guadalupe County, Texas
Marker Inscription
The founder of El Capote Ranch was Jose De La Baume (1731-1834), a French army officer who came to North America with the Marquis De Lafayette and fought in the American Revolution. He later joined the Spanish Army and for his services received title in 1806 to 27,000 acres of Texas land - the original El Capote Ranch. De La Baume's grant was reaffirmed after Mexico won independence from Spain in 1821. Virginia-born Michael Erskine (1794-1862) acquired the property in 1840. He raised cattle here and drove his herds to California and New Orleans. Since the San Antonio to Gonzales Road forded the Guadalupe River on El Capote land, many travelers passed this way. The Erskine family hosted several eminent visitors, including William Bollaert (1840), Ferdinand Roemer (1845-1847), and Frederick Law Olmstead (1857). After the Erskine family sold the ranch in the 1870s, part of the land was deeded to Edith Kermit Carow, the second wife of Theodore Roosevelt. During the Spanish-American War, Roosevelt rode an El Capote horse, "Seguin", at the Battle of San Juan Hill (1898). The ranch was acquired in 1897 by Judge Leroy Gilbert Denman (1855-1916), a Justice of the Texas Supreme Court, and is owned by his descendants.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
El Capote Ranch traces to Jose De La Baume, a French officer who came to North America with Lafayette, fought in the American Revolution, and later won a 27,000-acre Spanish land grant in 1806 that Mexico reaffirmed after independence. Virginia's Michael Erskine acquired it in 1840, raising cattle he drove to California and New Orleans and hosting notable travelers along the San Antonio–Gonzales road. Part of the land later passed to Edith Kermit Carow, Theodore Roosevelt's wife, and Roosevelt reportedly rode a ranch-bred horse at San Juan Hill in 1898.
Why it matters
Few Texas ranches thread together the American Revolution, Spanish and Mexican land grants, the great cattle drives, and a president's charge up San Juan Hill in a single stretch of ground.
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Related people
- · Jose De La Baume
- · Michael Erskine
- · Edith Kermit Carow
- · Theodore Roosevelt
- · Leroy Gilbert Denman
Related events
- · Battle of San Juan Hill (1898)
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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Gonzales-San Antonio Road
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