Day 12: Washington-on-the-Brazos and Barrington Farm

While Jim Bowie and Davy Crockett were dying at the Alamo, Sam Houston and 58 other Tejanos and Texans were busy declaring independence and writing a constitution at Washington-on-the-Brazos.

In 1836, Washington Town, as it was called then, was a new town being built near a river ferry crossing the Brazos. The town had only one street. Actually the street was logs cut low enough to allows wagons to allow wagons to roll over them. There were few houses and stores. The best building in town was still under construction shop being built by the Robinson who owned the ferry. A “blue northerner” had just arrived bringing freezing temperatures. Since the shop still did not have windows and doors or a stove, burlap what nailed over these openings keep out the cold wind.

One one ever mentions that the cold weather might have increased the efficiency of the meeting. However, the meeting opened on March 1 and the Texas Declaration of Independence was written and signed by March 2. Then then began writing the Constitution of the Republic of Texas.

When the Alamo fell on March 6^th Santa Anna executed all the male fighters. This created a panic all across Texas called the Runaway Scrape. Delegates at Washington Town learned of the fall of the Alamo on March 15th. They assumed Santa Anna would come next to Washington Town. Nevertheless, delegates stayed until the Constitution was finished and the new administration was sworn in.

With the exception of the rebuilt Independence Hall, Washington-on-the-Brazos is now an empty field. The town grew until about the 1860s when the town leaders foolishly decided not to provide the $11,000 needed to bring the railroad through town. They thought the river would meet their transportation needs. So the railroad went to Navosota less than 10 miles away. In 1911, a fire swept through what remained of Washington-on-the-Brazos. Today, Navasota is a town and Washington-on-the-Brazos is a state park.

Washington Town, by the way, was named after Washington, Georgia, Robinson's hometown.

We also walked through the extensive museum of Texas history and Barrington Farm. Barrington farm is a living history farm of Anson Jones homestead. The cotton was still in bloom. Kathy is smelling a cotton flower.

Cotton varieties come in a rainbow of colors. White is most popular because it does not have to be bleached. This year Barrington Farm had brown and green varieties. The color fades after long exposure to sunlight.

The house is horizontally divided equally into three equal parts. At each end is an enclosed area divided into two rooms. One room in the front of the house. One room in the back of the house. The rooms at one end are the front and rear bedrooms. The rooms at the other end of the house are a dining room and parlor. There was a second story with three more rooms which were bedrooms for the kids. The middle third of the ground floor is a breezeway. This was a wonderfully cool place. There was a nice breeze. And we could easy see what was going on in the front and backyards. This was obviously a frequently used common area were the whole family would gather much of the time.

Anson Jones was president of the Republic of Texas when Texas was annexed to the United States in 1848. Anson Jones committed suicide 1858. Since he never left note explaining his reasons, everyone seems to have a hypothesis for why he did it. These range from morphine no longer eased the pain of his injured left arm to depression caused by failure at being elected to the US Senate to realization that he would not be able to start up his medical practice in Houston.

In this part of Texas chickens wear fancy hats.

The spiders jump on their lunch rather than use webs. There are 4,000 species of jumping spiders. This one holding a cricket is a Phidippus audax. Most spiders have eight eyes, but not necessarily good eye sight. Jumping spiders have four eyes in front and four on the top of their heads. These spiders seem to have especially keen vision.

In the past, when I have leaned over jumping spiders blocking their light, they turn their body so they can look up at me with their large front eyes.

When I put my finger down in front of them they will jump on it and then jump back. If I move my finger slowly toward them, they retreat. If I move my finger back, then they move forward and jump on and off it. Jumping spiders are the only insect I have been able to "play" with.

We camped at Lake Whitney State Park near Hillsboro, Texas.