Trammel's Trace
Hughes Springs, Cass County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Entered Cass County at Epperson's Ferry. Continued south and west in an arc, passing through Chalybeate Springs (Hughes Springs). This 1813 pioneer trail originated in St. Louis and linked the "Southwest Trail" with the King's Highway to Mexico. It was laid out by Nicholas Trammel (1780-1852).
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Blazed in 1813 by Nicholas Trammel, this pioneer trail ran from St. Louis down into Texas, knitting the older "Southwest Trail" to the King's Highway that led toward Mexico. It entered Cass County at Epperson's Ferry and arced through Chalybeate Springs, later Hughes Springs. In the decades before roads and railroads, such traces carried settlers, traders, and adventurers into the contested borderlands of a still-Spanish, soon-Mexican Texas.
Why it matters
Trammel's Trace was a vital artery of early Anglo-American migration into Texas, helping open the region that would become the Republic and then a state.
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Related people
- · Nicholas Trammel
Themes & tags
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