Old Methodist Campmeeting
Bend, San Saba County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Established in August 1858 by settlers who came armed against possible Indian attack. Preacher hung gun in tree, within reach; guard was posted around congregation's horses to prevent theft by Indians. However, no attack was ever reported here, though many terrible Indian depredations occurred nearby. Preacher in 1858 was a circuit rider, Rev. Tunnell. Jim Clark family came 10 miles in ox-drawn farm sled to first campmeeting. Charter members included families of Ezekiel Boyett, Fielding Dawson, Nay Gorman, John and Joab Harrell, Sr., Charles Harris, S. A. Houston, Dave Hillin, George Keeney, Dick Kolb, Milton Low, Bart Lucas, McCrea, David Matsler, Jim Means, W. W. Millican, Henry Ripple, Harmon Smelser, Tom Smith, Tom and Yancy Tate and Jim Ware. Coming between summer farm and ranch work and the autumn harvest, campmeeting was yearly season for spiritual and social enjoyment. Many marriages followed courtships that began here. Mrs. David Matsler donated original campsite. Mrs. E. E. West and R. H. Walton gave additional acreage. Lots were held by families--some for 6 generations. Present tabernacle is replacement for arbors made of brush and renewed year after year by settlers. (1966)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Established in August 1858 by settlers who came to worship carrying guns against possible Indian attack, this Methodist campmeeting saw the preacher hang his rifle in a tree within reach while guards watched the congregation's horses. Held between the summer's work and the fall harvest, the annual gathering became a season of both spiritual revival and social life, with many marriages beginning in courtships struck up here. Families held their lots for generations, and the present tabernacle replaces the brush arbors settlers once rebuilt each year.
Why it matters
The campmeeting captures frontier faith and community forged under the constant tension of the Texas Indian frontier, where even worship was conducted under arms.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related people
- · Rev. Tunnell
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Indian Signaling Grounds
San Saba, TX
From before European settlement into the 1870s, Comanches and other tribes used these heights—Five Mill Hill and nearby Chapel Hill—to relay messages across long distances by smoke and, at times, mirrors, using codes to confuse enemies. Tribes wintered at a main village near Sloan, with a burial ground on Chapel Hill. The inscription recalls settlers' tense encounters, the Comanches' skilled signal system, and later events including a German Emigration Company peace bought in 1847 and an 1850 U.S. treaty nearby.
Cedar Log Cabin Museum
San Saba, TX
This cedar log structure served more than a century ago as stables on the Charles Harris ranch along Cherokee Creek south of San Saba, built sturdy enough to keep horses from being stolen in the raiding days of the Texas frontier. Preserved as the Cedar Log Cabin Museum, it was given in memory of Eula Gray Kuykendall by her husband and children. The building stands as a rare survivor of early ranch life in the county.
Baby Head Cemetery
Llano, TX
Local tradition holds that Baby Head Mountain took its grim name in the 1850s, after a child killed in an Indian raid was left on its slopes. A pioneer community grew up nearby in the 1870s, taking the same name, with homes, farms, and businesses. Today the cemetery — whose oldest documented grave is that of a child who died on New Year's Day 1884 — is the community's last physical trace.
Moses Hughes Home, 1856
Lampasas, TX
Moses Hughes built this home in 1856 among the earliest settlers of the Lampasas area, on a frontier where the threat of Indian raids was constant. According to tradition, the family kept a mule tied to a live oak in the yard, trusting its braying to warn them of an approaching attack.