Christopher Talbot McGehee Crossing, Hays County, Texas Located on Old Bastrop Road, McGehee Crossing is a ford of the San Marcos River. A state historic marker indicates that Louis Juchereau de St. Denis traveled this route to establish trade between the French in Louisiana and the Spanish of Coahuila Province on the Río Grande in 1714. The first settlement at the San Marcos River crossing (along El Camino de los Tejas) was Villa San Marcos de Neve, established by Spanish authorities in 1808. It was abandoned just four years later as the Mexican Revolution began to brew. In 1820 and 1821, Texas colonists Moses Austin (1761-1821) and his son Stephen F. Austin (1793-1836) most likely crossed the San Marcos River near this point. About 1846, Thomas Gilmer McGehee (1810-1890) settled on a Mexican land grant on the east side of the river. In 1859 his nephew Charles L. McGehee, Jr. (1837-1929) acquired 1,200 acres of land bordered by El Camino Real de los Tejas and the river. Time period: 1690s A Photographic Journey of the Trail - NEXT IMAGE |
Last updated: February 24, 2015