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History in
a Pecan Shell
From
"All
Things Historical" column by Bob Bowman:
One of my favorite
chores with the Texas Historical Commission is to travel around East
Texas and help local historians dedicate historical markers to places that
might otherwise be lost in time.
Buena Vista is one of my favorite places
because it has such a colorful history, and a few weeks ago we helped dedicate
a marker to its cemetery.
Buena Vista was once called “Buck Snort,”
supposedly because a large buck snorted at “granny” Elizabeth Richards when she
tried to chase him from he pea patch. The name Buck Snort was later applied to
a political faction that controlled Shelby County’s political affairs for years.
Although the name was used in derision, the “Buck Snort Clique” was respected
for its ability to elect politicians.
Joseph Penn Burns, who received
more than 4,000 acres for fighting with the U.S. Army in its war with Mexico
in the 1840s, gave the community the name Buena Vista, which mans “beautiful view,”
for a town where he fought a battle.
Burns set aside ten acres for a cemetery
and, ironically, his wife was the first burial there.
Another early settler
was John C. Morrison, whose wife was the niece of Texas Governor Oran M. Roberts.
Before coming to Buena Vista, Morrison and his family had lived in places like
Terrapin Neck and Lick Skillet.
Morrison
opened one of the town’s first stores, and had his goods shipped all the way from
New Orleans.
One of his shipments was a barrel of whiskey. Pestered by
the town’s men for a drink, Morrison opened the barrel and scooped out a bucket
and set it on the store’s steps for the men. They soon became drunk and began
fighting among themselves.
Buena Vista was once a leading trade center
in East Texas with a territory extending
from Nacogdoches to Shreveport and from Carthage
to Shelbyville and San
Augustine.
By 1884, the town had a tanning yard, a school, a grist
mill, cotton gin, bowling alley, stores, a church, post office, saloons and a
racetrack.
In the 1880s the Houston, East and West Texas considered
a route through Buena Vista, but the surveyor wanted a large sum of money to chart
the line through the town.
Infuriated, a merchant who headed the town’s
negotiating committee felt it was bribery, and rejected the surveyor’s office.
The railroad bypassed the town and towns like Timpson
and Tenaha sprouted on the line and drew away Buena
Vista’s merchants and economy.
In two years, Buena Vista was a ghost town.
All
Things Historical July 2, 2008 Column.
Published with permission
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