Ruins of Camp Colorado
Coleman, Coleman County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Originally established on the Colorado River by the United States Army as a protection for the frontier against hostile Indians; moved in August, 1856, to this site; abandoned by Federal troops February 26, 1861. The site became the property in 1870 of Henry Sackett (1851-1928), who built his home here in 1879. From here he, with Maltby's Rangers, in 1874, pursued the bands of Big Foot and Jape, Comanche chiefs, and defeated them.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Camp Colorado was established by the U.S. Army to guard the Texas frontier against raids, moving to this site in 1856 before Federal troops abandoned it as the Civil War began in early 1861. In 1870 the land passed to Henry Sackett, who built his home on the old post grounds. From here in 1874 Sackett rode with Maltby's Rangers in pursuit of the Comanche bands of chiefs Big Foot and Jape.
Why it matters
The ruins mark the antebellum chain of frontier forts that shielded settlers before the Civil War, and the Ranger campaigns that continued the struggle over West Texas long after the Army withdrew.
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Related people
- · Henry Sackett
- · Big Foot
- · Jape
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Fort Mason-Camp Cooper Military Road
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Mud Creek Cemetery
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This hilltop graveyard has served the Thrifty and Fry communities of Brown County for well over a century, its oldest legible burial dating to 1864 and a weathered rock slab hinting at use as early as 1862. Among those laid to rest are pioneer settler Charles Mullins, who brought his family west in 1858, people killed in frontier Indian attacks, and workers caught up in the oil boom of 1926–27. The stones read like a timeline of the West Texas frontier, from first settlement through the derricks of the petroleum age.
Colonel James E. McCord
Coleman, TX
James E. McCord came to Texas from South Carolina in 1853 and made his name surveying the raw frontier, including the ground around Camp Colorado. When the Civil War drained regular defenses, he took charge of the Texas Frontier Regiment, a hard-to-discipline band of frontiersmen, and in 1863 was unanimously elected its colonel. He scrapped the predictable patrol routes that raiders had learned to slip past, favoring surprise scouting expeditions, and his outfit was eventually absorbed into Confederate service as the 46th Texas Cavalry.
Robert M. Coleman
Coleman, TX
Kentucky-born Robert M. Coleman came to Texas in 1832 and threw himself into the revolution, commanding volunteers at the Siege of Bexar in December 1835. As a delegate he signed the Texas Declaration of Independence in 1836 and then served as aide-de-camp to General Sam Houston at the decisive Battle of San Jacinto. He later took up arms as a Texas Ranger on the frontier before his death in 1837.