Photos of Bowies Inscription...

[Tejaas]

Photos of Bowie's Inscription...

Here ya go, folks. The subject just recently came up on another thread and while I had the computer up and running earlier I figured I'd snag some photos from the album to post up for yall who are interested but haven't seen the gatepost of the Presidio San Luis de las Amarillas.

Remember that while Bowie DID come through the area (twice) looking for the Los Almagres, he didn't find it. There ARE Spanish Colonial and later mines in the area of Packsaddle Mountain and Honey Creek, but as far as THE legendary mine containing massive amounts of silver - no evidence points that way (yea, yea I know... "at least yet" - for you daydreamers!)

He DID scratch his name into the gatepost at the Presidio in present-day Menard... However you have to remember that it said "Bowie Con Su Tropa 1829"... Around the turn of the century a prankster near-obliterated the "Con Su Tropa" portion by inscribing the word "MINE" which is visible today. This vandalism has been proven since, but had already sparked the public interest in his "treasure" and continues to do so.

On a side note, the "Con Su Tropa" - while virtually gone to anyone viewing a photograph of the gatepost - is still legible via a graphite rubbing... I'd have to dig it out of the map cabinet if anyone was interested to see it.

Anyways, here are 4 photos I selected to post up... I took the liberty of assisting via a "paint" program for those oblivious or nursing poor eyesight.

Enjoy.

The 1936 Texas Centennial Commission did an amazing job reconstructing the ruins. Here is a photo of the north wall upon completion in 1937.

Time, weather, and "hard-times" vandalism took a major toll since the Centennial Commission completed the job.

The end product of the 2011 again-reconstructed gateway of the Presidio San Luis de las Amarillas:

"Bowie" - Silver horde or not, the man sacrificed his all for what he believed in a few years later and helped make Texas what it became. It's really unique to be able to trace your fingertips over the same spot he did all that time ago.

Closeup of the "Mine" vandalism, one of the major pieces of "evidence" treasure hunters erroneously reference today!

During my last visit a few weeks ago the park host said they are planning on breaking ground soon on-site for an official museum. I will verify with Menard and the TSHC next chance I get.



~Tejaas~

 

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[civil_war22]

Now that is awesome. I have some caves supposedly frequented by the James gang and have some double hooks I been meaning to take a picture of.

 

[austin]

Best read C.F. Eckhardt's The Lost San Saba Mines. Tells a pretty good story of the nonsense of the "Bowie Mine". Not very flattering to Bowie, but explains a lot. First of all, no mine in Menard, the original mine is the Los Almagres. Interesting story of what really is a poor grade silver ore that legend claimed was rich. Just isn't so. Miranda had his own agenda. Shaft exists, I have seen it. Stop by one of my college Texas History classes and I'll tell everyone(I do each semester) the story and pass around a bit of silver ore...

 

[Tejaas]

Photos of Bowie's Inscription...

Best read C.F. Eckhardt's The Lost San Saba Mines. Tells a pretty good story of the nonsense of the "Bowie Mine". Not very flattering to Bowie, but explains a lot. First of all, no mine in Menard, the original mine is the Los Almagres. Interesting story of what really is a poor grade silver ore that legend claimed was rich. Just isn't so. Miranda had his own agenda. Shaft exists, I have seen it. Stop by one of my college Texas History classes and I'll tell everyone(I do each semester) the story and pass around a bit of silver ore...

"All new states are invested, more or less, by a class of noisy, second-rate men who are always in favor of rash and extreme measures, but Texas was absolutely overrun by such men." - Sam Houston

Bowie was a slave trader, a smuggler, one that associated with pirates, and was the king of drawing up bogus property deeds to sell to the naive. Desperate for income, no credibility, and practically run out of Louisiana - I'd say it's fair to label him a con and a criminal that would eventually go down in the history books as having "redeemed himself".

I own all of Eckhardt's publishings, as well as copies of the contributions he made to other commendable publications and periodicals. His writing is interesting and well developed, but it is hardly what I would consider "authoritative" on the subject.

I never claimed there was a mine in Menard, Mr. Austin. The Presidio provided a landmark and established passage to travelers in a time when maps had poor scale and relied heavily on terrain and features.

I mentioned the Packsaddle and Honey Creek... We're talking more Llano County - the Kingsland area to be exact. In our modern day TxDOT layout that's approximately 80 miles away... Before about 1860 (why this date, care to take a guess?), an 80 mile deviation of itinerary for ease of travel would have been called "enroute".

I too have seen the shafts, and what's left of others that long failed. Please remember, i am from the area. On a clear day i can see Enchanted Rock (of John Coffee Hays fame, and the Parent Peak of the Packsaddle Schist itself) glistening from the porch of the ranchhouse. I do the reading and peruse the books,maps, and letters. I put my boots on the ground where I should, but above all I pay my dues at the archives and university libraries. I am not a treasure hunter, I am a student of Texas History and have an obsession to learn it all. I do pretty good.

The Los Almagres is muddled to begin with, and even the muddling is so lost to time... It is known that test shafts were opened before Miranda ever even made the trip. It is commonly believed by the leading scholars that the Los Almagres was an overglorified yarn simply spun off of the previous factual/known test shafts, to spark financing and motivation from the viceroy in Mexico City via "the eyes and ears" in San Antonio. Meaning that the Los Almagres simply 'never was'.

I don't believe Miranda had an agenda, I simply believe that he had bigger fish to fry (the same can be said about Parilla) with the taskings of expanding chartable territory, introducing religion, repelling Indian revolts, and organizing frontier defenses. He probably had a get-rich-quick scheme, much like Bowie or any other Anglo that made their way to Tejas, but he simply didn't have the time, manpower, knowledge, or funding to even make a dent.

You recommended a literary work, and I'd like to do the same.

I'd advise you give a glimpse to the Mendoza correspondence penned by his hand in 1684. The original is housed at the Archivo General y Público in Mexico, but im sure you're just as resourceful as I with research and could come up with a facsimile copy or published translation. Good read, and parallels somewhat closely with the subject at hand.

¡hasta luego mí compañeros!


~Tejaas~

 

[Real de Tayopa Tropical Tramp]

Tejaas mi compadre, muy bien hecho. Cafe ?

 

[Bass]

"All new states are invested, more or less, by a class of noisy, second-rate men who are always in favor of rash and extreme measures, but Texas was absolutely overrun by such men." - Sam Houston

Bowie was a slave trader, a smuggler, one that associated with pirates, and was the king of drawing up bogus property deeds to sell to the naive. Desperate for income, no credibility, and practically run out of Louisiana - I'd say it's fair to label him a con and a criminal that would eventually go down in the history books as having "redeemed himself".

I own all of Eckhardt's publishings, as well as copies of the contributions he made to other commendable publications and periodicals. His writing is interesting and well developed, but it is hardly what I would consider "authoritative" on the subject.

I never claimed there was a mine in Menard, Mr. Austin. The Presidio provided a landmark and established passage to travelers in a time when maps had poor scale and relied heavily on terrain and features.

I mentioned the Packsaddle and Honey Creek... We're talking more Llano County - the Kingsland area to be exact. In our modern day TxDOT layout that's approximately 80 miles away... Before about 1860 (why this date, care to take a guess?), an 80 mile deviation of itinerary for ease of travel would have been called "enroute".

I too have seen the shafts, and what's left of others that long failed. Please remember, i am from the area. On a clear day i can see Enchanted Rock (of John Coffee Hays fame, and the Parent Peak of the Packsaddle Schist itself) glistening from the porch of the ranchhouse. I do the reading and peruse the books,maps, and letters. I put my boots on the ground where I should, but above all I pay my dues at the archives and university libraries. I am not a treasure hunter, I am a student of Texas History and have an obsession to learn it all. I do pretty good.

The Los Almagres is muddled to begin with, and even the muddling is so lost to time... It is known that test shafts were opened before Miranda ever even made the trip. It is commonly believed by the leading scholars that the Los Almagres was an overglorified yarn simply spun off of the previous factual/known test shafts, to spark financing and motivation from the viceroy in Mexico City via "the eyes and ears" in San Antonio. Meaning that the Los Almagres simply 'never was'.

I don't believe Miranda had an agenda, I simply believe that he had bigger fish to fry (the same can be said about Parilla) with the taskings of expanding chartable territory, introducing religion, repelling Indian revolts, and organizing frontier defenses. He probably had a get-rich-quick scheme, much like Bowie or any other Anglo that made their way to Tejas, but he simply didn't have the time, manpower, knowledge, or funding to even make a dent.

You recommended a literary work, and I'd like to do the same.

I'd advise you give a glimpse to the Mendoza correspondence penned by his hand in 1684. The original is housed at the Archivo General y Público in Mexico, but im sure you're just as resourceful as I with research and could come up with a facsimile copy or published translation. Good read, and parallels somewhat closely with the subject at hand.

¡hasta luego mí compañeros!


~Tejaas~

Easy there Tejaas. I'm a descendant of Bowie and don't really appreciate the way you are referring to him as a con man. It's easy to talk about a man when he's not around to defend himself. Go easy, please.

 

[Tejaas]

Easy there Tejaas. I'm a descendant of Bowie and don't really appreciate the way you are referring to him as a con man. It's easy to talk about a man when he's not around to defend himself. Go easy, please.

Bass, while we have you here - would you care to slightly elaborate on the particulars of your lineage connecting you to James/Rezin Bowie?

Are you a fellow member of the SRT?

Do you participate in any of our annual symposiums?




~Tejaas~

 

[Bass]

Yes, my grandfather was James Bowie Haley Jr. Here is the book written on my family history and I've even included the 2-3 pages of descendants including my grandpa James, and my mother Jerry Ann Haley. My lineage is from John Jones Bowie, brother to Jim. The first page shown is Nancy Bowie, daughter to John Jones. Anything else I need to provide you with? I don't have a clue what SRT is

 

[Bayoutalker]

I don't have a clue what SRT is

Sons of the Republic of Texas