Brokeback Mountain: Our Community's Common Bond > The Lighter Side

ROAD TRIP: A BBM Game

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memento:
Omen, Texas

OMEN, TEXAS. Omen, also known at various times as Round Hill, Canton, Clopton, Troup, and Old Canton, is a rural community on State Highway 345 in southeastern Smith County about two miles west of Arp and just south of Omen Road Bay. The area was first settled when Arnold O'Brien and his family arrived in 1848. The following year the county commissioners' court decided to build the Larissa-Shreveport Road through the northern part of O'Brien's land, and the road made the settlement accessible to other pioneers. In December 1849 O'Brien established in his home a post office that he named Round Hill. Thomas M. Bell also opened an inn as a stage stop on the Tyler-Henderson Road. In 1850 Thomas H. Weatherby, Mitus White, and James W. Powell bought a thirty-acre tract from Rebecca Mar Hill. Powell later sold his share to Alexander Douglas. The partners divided their property into lots and appointed themselves commissioners for the new town. In 1851 Thomas N. Gregory replaced O'Brien as postmaster and changed the name of the settlement to Canton. David H. Lindsey and Isaac Wayman Engledow opened the first store in Canton in 1852. That year citizens changed the name of the town to Clopton because the seat of Van Zandt County was also called Canton. A two-story shop, built by Lively and Walker, became the meeting place for the Cumberland Presbyterian Church and the Masons. Other stores were established, and David Lindsey sold 2½ acres to the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.

The post office was discontinued briefly in 1854, then reopened under the name of Troup by Daniel P. Fowler. Residents, however, continued to call the town Canton, even in legal documents. In 1860 a deed called it "Canton-alias Troup," and Masonic Lodge No. 98 was officially recognized as Canton Lodge. By then the town had a blacksmith, a doctor, a cabinet and wagon maker, a dentist, a carpenter, and two teachers. A sawmill and a tannery were located nearby. Troup continued to prosper during the Civil War,qv but the advent of the railroad system in Smith County led to its decline. Early in the 1870s the International-Great Northern built a line northward through the eastern part of the county to Longview from a point approximately four miles south of Canton. Within a few years, traffic on the Tyler-Henderson road decreased significantly, and Bell's Inn was closed. Many local businesses moved south to Zavalla, a new railroad town. In 1877 the post office was moved there, although it kept the name Troup.

MaineWriter:
Marathon, TX

 Marathon is usually thought of as the entry to Big Bend National Park. It was named for its supposed resemblance to Marathon, Greece. It's possible, since we haven't visited Marathon, Greece for a comparison, but somehow we doubt it.


History in a Pecan Shell

The Halff Brothers of Alsace-Lorraine were Jewish merchants that eventually owned one million acres of land from San Antonio to Ft. Stockton. There were three, but one was drowned during a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico. They operated the Circle Dot Ranch** near Marathon until they found out rustlers could easily burn over their brand. They rode on trail drives, but soon found they preferred leather in the form of banker's chairs and opened banks in San Antonio. One half of the Halff brothers, (Mayer) brought some of the first Hereford Cattle into the state.

**As a variation to the chicken/egg conundrum - TE asks which branding iron did they use first? Did they burn the dot in and try to put the circle around it, or did they have a contest to see who could put the dot in the circle?


Camp Pena Colorado

The Halff Brothers leased out the land for Camp Pena Colorado to the U.S. Army for 15 years, until the Indian threat dissolved. The camp was located about 4 miles southwest of Marathon. The camp was first occupied in 1879. It had water and was on the road connecting Ft. Clark and Ft. Davis, but was quite primitive. The coming of the railroad in 1882, improved things somewhat.

David St. Clair Combs, local rancher, donated the land for a public park in 1935. It's used by locals today and is barely known to visitors.

The Gage Hotel

Historic Register Property - most visible landmark in Marathon.

According to Docia Schultz Williams, the Gage has at least 3 resident spooks. Ask for room 10 if you want to be a believer.

The Gage was designed by Architects Trost and Trost who also built El Paisano in Marfa and El Capitan in Van Horn. All three were built in 1926. The builder of the Gage died one year after its completion. The Gage Hotel Chef is featured (as well as three of his recipies) in the book Top Texas Chefs' Favorite Recipes by Ginnie Siena Bivona and Sharry Buckner, Republic of Texas Press, 1999.

Leslie

jpwagoneer1964:
New Fairview , Tx

moremojo:
Wimberley, Texas

--situated in Hays County; has become something of a bedroom community for those in the greater Austin metropolitan area.

Meryl:
Yowell, TX

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