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In
1936, as Texas marked the centennial
of its fight for independence from Mexico,
hundreds of granite
monuments were placed throughout the state to recognize significant
events, people, buildings and communities.
The centennial
was so important to Texas and the nation
that President Franklin D. Roosevelt spent three days in Dallas
during the celebration Speaking to 52,000 people at the Cotton Bowl,
he noted that the Centennial
was not just for Texans, but for people living in the other states
in the U.S.
The sad part
of this story is that during the ensuing 75 years, the centennial
monuments have become targets of vandals and others with little
respect for history.
Some of the
markers have been
pulled out of the ground and hauled off to who-knows-where. Some
have been discovered in garages, junk shops and even in streams
and rivers, where they fell from crumbling banks.
A few days
ago, I drove west from Lufkin
to find the monument for Marion,
a town that served as the county seat for Angelina
County between 1846 and 1854. The town was also known as McNeil’s
Landing and in 1831 consisted of more than 200 buildings.
Several years
ago, the monument was moved from its original location because it
was sitting on the edge of Sam Rayburn Lake and was on the verge
of toppling into the water.
The monument was in fairly good shape except for some scars caused
by bullets from the guns of hunters looking for something to shoot.
Another centennial
marker stands on the site of Fort
Teran, the first white settlement in Tyler
County. A metal Texas Historical marker, once affixed to the
granite monument, was recently ripped off and tossed to the ground.
Sadly, other centennial
markers have met similar fates, and some of East
Texas’ most historic sites have lost their identities.
© Bob
Bowman
Bob Bowman's East Texas
September
25, 2011 Column
A weekly column syndicated in 109 East Texas newspapers
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