Cane Belt once essential to county transportation

The Cane Belt Railroad Company, eventually to become the Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe, was chartered on March 4, 1898, and was built south from Eagle Lake.   The charter was amended to call for an extension to the tidewater of the Gulf of Mexico via Bay City, Matagorda County’s new county seat.

Tidehaven was early Tres Palacios River port

Tres Palacios, also known as Tidehaven, was a port community on the Tres Palacios River south of Hawley and near what is now Farm Road 459, thirteen miles southwest of Bay City in western Matagorda County.

Karankawas’ resourcefulness helped them to survive

The now-extinct Karankawa Indians played an important role in the early history of Texas.   The name Karankawa became the accepted designation for several groups or bands of coastal people who shared a common language and culture.

Early newspaper headlines, articles about Bay City

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the second installment of our occasional review of newspaper articles about Bay City and Matagorda Count .  We pick up from The Bay City Breeze - the city’s first newspaper - in 1895 and continue through 1896.  REAL ESTATE TRANSFERS.

Northern Headquarters: An experiment in irrigated farming

The Northern Headquarters situated to the east of Markham in the W.E. Bell and Jacob Robertson surveys was in operation from June 24, 1902 until 1947.   During those years the Northern Irrigation Company was incorporated for the purpose of creating and operating a water irrigation system.

Atwell early Matagorda printer, editor, publisher

James Attwell (Atwell), printer, newspaper publisher, and editor, was born in New York and apparently moved to Texas soon after the Texas Revolution.

Gervais fought in American Revolution, was county judge

Sinclair David Gervais, born February 21, 1779, in Charleston, South Carolina, came to Matagorda from Yazoo, Mississippi, in 1835, after the death of his wife.    He received land grant #65 for one league and labor of land.

Morrison considered by some historians as early Ranger leader

Moses Morrison, one of the Old Three Hundred colonists and leader of the force some historians call the precursor to the Texas Rangers, was born in North Carolina, probably in 1793, and in 1821 moved from Missouri to Texas.

Morrison served in special ops as a ranger

Texas special operations units of the Texas Military Forces conduct special operations for the Texas Military Department via the Domestic Operations Command (DOMOPS) while under Title 32 command, and via United States Special Operations Command (SOCOM) while under Title 10 command.History/Origins ...

Morrison, Austin organized “Ranging Men” in 1823

After the Revolution, "Texians" (as they were called) were more reliant on the Rangers than ever.   The "Ranging men" organized by Moses Morrison and Stephen F. Austin in 1823, served as needed through the War of Independence.