The Confluence of the Brazos, Trinity, and Red River Watersheds
Olney, Archer County, Texas
Marker Inscription
The Trinity, a major Texas river rises 250 yards west of this 1250-foot mound. South of this site water drains to the Brazos, and north and west to the Red. This high point has been important in Texas history. It guided Capt. Diego Parilla to battle Indians on the Red in 1759 and aided Capt. R. B. Marcy in mapping a California trail in 1849. Marcy and Maj. R. S. Neighbors used it as a beacon point in finding a site for an Indian reservation in 1854. It also was on U.S. Cavalry maps for 1870s Indian campaigns. (1976)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
This 1,250-foot mound marks a rare watershed divide where waters part toward the Trinity, the Brazos, and the Red. Its commanding height made it a landmark across Texas history: it guided a Spanish expedition under Diego Parrilla toward battle on the Red in 1759, aided Captain R. B. Marcy's 1849 survey of a California trail, and served Marcy and Robert Neighbors as a beacon when they sought a site for an Indian reservation in 1854. It later appeared on U.S. Cavalry maps during the Indian campaigns of the 1870s.
Why it matters
A single natural landmark threads together Spanish exploration, westward emigration, and the federal government's shifting policies toward Native peoples on the Texas frontier.
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Related people
- · Diego Parrilla
- · R. B. Marcy
- · Robert S. Neighbors
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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Site of Cottonwood Spring
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After the Comanche lived from 1854 to 1858 on a state reservation near Camp Cooper, the U.S. government removed them and their goods north to Oklahoma. On August 3, 1859, the exodus camped near this spot on a head branch of Kickapoo Creek, escorted by a company of the 1st U.S. Infantry under Capt. C. C. Gilbert and Indian agent Matthew Leeper, while to the east Maj. George H. Thomas escorted more than a thousand Lower Brazos Reserve Indians on the same forced journey. Megargel was later founded here in 1910.