Fort Tenoxtitlan
Caldwell, Burleson County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Founded by Mexico as a bulwark against Anglo-American immigration, this fort and its nearby city were twice proposed for the capital of Texas. Alarmed by the influx of Anglo settlers into Texas, Mexico in 1830 sought to erect a line of forts to keep out the intruders. The ancient Aztec name for Mexico City (originally pronounced "Tex-ox-teet-lan") was given this site; it means "prickly pear place". So hopeful of the fort's success was the military commandant of the region that he envisioned it as the capital of Texas. But Anglo immigration did not cease. Instead it thrived on the friendship of the local soldiers and incoming pioneers. The colonizer Sterling C. Robertson introduced scores of settlers. In 1832 the soldiers were withdrawn and the fort finally defaulted to the Anglos. Subsequently it was a supply center and mustering point for expeditions against the Indians. During its brief life many Texas patriots lived here, including 5 signers of the Texas Declaration of Independence, a martyr of the Alamo siege, and 7 soldiers of the Battle of San Jacinto. Tenoxtitlan was again suggested for the capital of Texas during the Republic, but Austin won out. In 1841, after many Indian raids, the site was abandoned.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Founded by Mexico in 1830 as a bulwark against Anglo-American immigration, Fort Tenoxtitlan took the ancient Aztec name for Mexico City, meaning "prickly pear place," and its commandant even dreamed of it becoming Texas's capital. The plan backfired as Mexican soldiers and Anglo pioneers became friends and the empresario Sterling C. Robertson funneled in settlers. After troops withdrew in 1832 the site passed to the Anglos, and among its residents were five signers of the Texas Declaration of Independence, an Alamo martyr, and seven veterans of San Jacinto before it was abandoned amid Indian raids in 1841.
Why it matters
The fort embodies the collision of Mexican authority and Anglo settlement that gave rise to the Texas Revolution and the Republic of Texas.
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Related people
- · Sterling C. Robertson
Related events
- · Battle of San Jacinto
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Fort Oldham
Cooks Point, TX
Fort Oldham was raised in 1836–37 by pioneers who sheltered with William Oldham, an infantry major in the Texas War for Independence. In seasons of Native raids dozens lived within its walls, and by 1838 it had a post office and stood on the Independence–Tenoxtitlan Road; Oldham himself later rode with the Somervell and Mier Expeditions, was captured by Mexican forces, and escaped to make his way home.
Early Settlers of Burleson County in the Texas War for Independence
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When Santa Anna revoked constitutional rights, thirty or more men left this thinly settled corner of Burleson County to join the Texas Revolution, fighting in the Grass Fight of November 1835 and the Siege of Bexar that December. With the men away, the Mexican advance came within forty miles, and civilians fled across the flooded Brazos toward safety in the United States during the panic known as the Runaway Scrape. On April 21, 1836, these settlers helped win the Battle of San Jacinto and Texas independence.
Lewis L. Chiles
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Virginia-born Lewis L. Chiles came of age in the era of Texas independence, taking his place among the volunteers who won the decisive victory at San Jacinto in 1836. He later founded the city of Caldwell, planting a town where a battlefield generation was busy building a new republic. He died in 1864, and this marker remembers him alongside his wife, Emily.
Horatio Chriesman
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Horatio Chriesman came to Texas from Kentucky in 1822 and became a surveyor for Stephen F. Austin's Colony, laying out land in the Mexican province during its earliest Anglo settlement. He fought in conflicts with Native peoples and served under Sam Houston in the war for Texas independence, and in 1837 sat on the commission that chose the capital site for the new Republic. A Methodist lay leader and father of eleven, he was a pioneer figure in Burleson County.