Who wants to hunt an old Fort?

[TheHarleyMan2]

I went to this property and scouted it this past Sunday and the city is going to colonize it with modern day nieghborhoods and commercial property, (Go figure). The grass is about 6 inches high. I plan on going to this sometime this week and Saturday morning if anyone wants to come along. I am going to call the city tomorrow or Thursday as they own it now so I will be seeking permission. There are "NOT" any "No Trespassing Signs" anywhere. So if one thinks that asking for permission would be a waste of time as there are "NO SIGNS POSTED". What is ones oppinion on asking the city for permission if it isn't posted? If anyone wants to go this week or Saturday send me a PM and we can make arrangments to meet.

The only way I was able to get to the site was at an end road that the city didn't finish building yet and walking between an undeveloped roadway between some houses, then cross the creek by the 1923 railroad bed outlined in red. I haven't checked out to see if I can go up the bank and cross over the train trussle to gain access without crossing the creek and climbing the steep little bank. The fort is on the upper right of the picture outlined in yellow and the camp position is on the left outlined in yelow. I posted on T-Net about the 1923 railroad crossing. If you look for the thread in General Discussion you will see another picture that shows more of the railroad trussle. Here is some history of the fort and camp which was supposed to haev been there from 1839-1844;

Camp Cazneau; (Located on the left of the picture highlighted in yellow)
Camp Cazneau, 1841, Santa Fe Expedition camp immediately adjacent to Kenney's Fort in Williamson County on the south bank of the Brushy. Expedition camp, east of present-day Round Rock, Camp Cazneau was on Brushy Creek at the Double File Trail Crossing created by Indians passing through the area. It was used in 1840 by the Travis Guards and Rifles under the command of George W. Bonnell when he led raids against the Comanches in May and June of that year.

Kenny's Fort; (Located on the right of the picture highlighted in yellow)
Kenney's Fort First settlement in Williamson County. Erected as a home by Dr. Thomas Kenney and Joseph Barnhart in the spring of 1839. Served as a place of defense during Indian raids. Rendezvous of the Santa Fe Expedition, 1841. Here the archives of the Republic of Texas en route to Washington-on-the-Brazos were captured on December 31, 1842 and returned to Austin.

CAMP CAZNEAU. Two camps seem to have been named Camp Cazneau. The first may have been on a site on Onion Creek just southeast of Austin and near the site of Bergstrom Air Force Base in southeast Travis County. It was occupied by the First Infantry Regiment on March 5, 1840, as they moved from Camp Caldwell to San Antonio. The second Camp Cazneau was 2½ miles east of Round Rock on the south bank of Brushy Creek at the old Double File Crossing, below the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railroad bridge. It was used by George W. Bonnell when he led the Travis Guards and Rifles in expeditions against the Comanche Indians in May and June 1840. The camp also served as the final assembly point for the Texan Santa Fe expeditionqv in June 1841. The school children of Williamson County erected a monument there in 1925. This site was adjacent to Kenney's Fort. It may have also been the site of the regular-army Camp Caldwell, 1839-40. The camps were probably named for William L. Cazneau, a merchant, soldier, and commissary general of the Republic of Texas.

 

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[TheHarleyMan2]

Re: Want to hunt an old Fort?

Here is some more history of the fort;

From a newspaper in 1840

During the summer of this year Kinney's Fort was attacked by indians. Thomans Kinney, one of the early pioneers of Texas, and who had fought in the Mexican War moved from Bastrop County about 40 miles distant on Brushy Creek, known as Brushy Cove within about 18 miles from Austin. He there built a fort and block house as a protection from the indians. It is well known to all old frontiersman that an indian can imitate perfectly the cries of nearly all the animals that habitat the forest, such as howling of the wolves, the scream of the wild cat, and even the hooting of owls, etc. One morning in August 1840 Mr Joseph Weeks, an inmate of the fort heard a number of owls hooting and others in the distance answering back, in such a rapid and regular succession as to excite his suspicions that the hoots came from indians. He told the people in the fort that the indians were around and advised them to prepare for an attack. They had not fully completed their preparations for the defense when the indians made their appearance and rushed upon the fort firing a volley of bullets and arrows as they came. The fight then commenced in earnest, the indians seemingly determined on storming the fort, and the whites equally determined to defend it to the last. While the fight was going on, a courier was dispatched from the fort to the nearest settlements for reinforcements, and he succeeded in making his way through the indians outside.A company of 50 men was soon raised, but on their arrival at the fort they found the indians had left, carrying with them their dead and wounded. Only 1 man in the fort was wounded.

 

[TheHarleyMan2]

Well I talked with the first owner about detecting it and he called and e-mail the other owner who is a majority shareholder and the owner I talked to, (He is out of town at the moment), said that with no response from the other owner, he would take it as a "NO" Go figure! So I guess that means I can't detect it and they are going to have it torn up for expansion!

 

[texan connection]

Pigman posted about this sight awhile back, if counstuction is going on I'd just go while the land is being busted up no one will say anything during construction as long as you go while thier not on sight.

 

[TheHarleyMan2]

They haven't started it yet, and I am leaving for Fort Polk next week. The other owner still had been bailing hay on it. I sent pigman a pm last week and I haven't heard from him.

The area is fenced off except the part where the old rail road was, but you have to walk through the field to get to where the fort and camp was. Hopefully when I get back from Fort Polk in mid May, I am going to ask and check again when I get back, this time I am going to locate the other owner and meet him face to face.

 

[killer_squirrel]

I wouldn't know for sure but the owners may be worried that you would find something of historical importance which could put a damper on any development ideas they may have. I would contact the Texas Historical Association and see if they know about that site and the plans to develop it.

 

[texan connection]

I wouldent contact any one, and check it on sat sunday when the sights abandon, If the Historical Gods arent doing anything already its because there to lazy or poor They know it exist I assure you.

 

[HHg in Austin]

HarleyMan2,

This old site has been hunted HARD for 30+ years by some really good relic hunters. Many nice Texas buttons as well as many others have come from this site. You are right, it is to be developed sometime in the near future...but it could be several years for this to happen. NO DOUBT there is still a lot of GREAT relics to be found here, but the easy stuff has been pretty much found. There are many who are waiting patiently for the development to start,...because when they start clearing and leveling, lots of stuff will be within detecting range !! I'd just keep an eye on the place......

 

[Baggins]

Has anything ever become of this?
Baggins

 

[Joe(TX)]

................WISDOM COMES IN MY OLD AGE................DON'T ASK............DON'T TELL.............I might ask the on site contruction/destruction crew...........but that would be it!!.............Sometimes while trying to do the right thing..............we shoot ourselves in the foot!! ................OUCH............LOL............JOE

 

[Baggins]

AHHHH, understood (wink, wink)
Baggins