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Archiver > Southern-Trails > 2001-05 > 0989421155


From: "Coffee" <>
Subject: Re: [SouthernTrails] Re:Texas Trace
Date: Wed, 9 May 2001 10:12:35 -0500


The two trails through Oklahoma (Indian Territory) ran from Ft. Smith
Arkansas to Paris in North Texas and from Ft. Smith to Holland Coffee's
Trading Post (Glen Eden) on the Red River, which was about 25 miles
northwest of present day Sherman Texas. Holland Coffee also had a trading
post just 10 miles west of Ft. Smith in the Indian Territory before he moved
and established the trading post on the Texas side of the Red River. The
trail to Coffee's trading post from the US Army garrison at Ft. Wichita on
the Wichita River was know as the Whiskey Road. The US army used it prior
to the Civil War to obtain supplies and whiskey. The trading post was at
the confluence of the Red River and the Wichita River. The trail from Ft.
Smith to Coffee's Trading Post was part of the Butterfield Stage line
running from Ft. Smith Arkansas to California. Neither of those trails
entered Texas at Fulton, Arkansas. My great grandfather entered Texas at
Fulton Arkansas in 1855 so he must have taken the Texas Trace through
southern Arkansas. That conincides with Sara's entry of the old diary.

Holland Coffee tried to open a trading post about 150 miles west of his
trading post on the Red River. He shortly abandoned the post because it was
too far from the protection of the military garrisons. Holland Coffee was
killed in a knife fight with John Galway in 1845. His wife, Sophia,
continued to run the Trading Post on the Red River afterwards and throughout
the Civil War with her subsequent husbands, Porter and Butts. Porter died
and Butts was robbed murdered by some of William Quantrill's men. Captain
Robert E. Lee of the US Army Corps of Engineers stayed at Coffee's Trading
Post in 1860 on his trip back to Virgina from Ft. Mason Texas to assume
command of the Army of Northern Virginia. The trail from Ft. Mason east to
Austin then due north to Coffee's Trading Post was the Old Military Road
that was built by the Republic of Texas Army as a line of commerce to the
Indian Territory. The Old Military Road built by the Republic of Texas
follows the present day I-35 running through the site of present day
Dallas, Texas. John Neely Bryan worked for Holland Coffee at the trading
post as an accountant before he moved to the Trinity River and established
Dallas, Texas in 1846. That was after Coffee was killed in the knife fight
with John Galway. Dallas was incorporated later in 1856.

Jerry Coffee


-----Original Message-----
From: Sara D <>
To: <>
Date: Wednesday, May 09, 2001 8:00 AM
Subject: Re: [SouthernTrails] Re:Texas Trace


>Hi, Larry. First of all, I should make it clear that what I wrote was an
>extraction of an extraction of his Diary. The poor man suffered from
>spiritual battles within himself and most of the diary consists of accounts
>of these battles. A kind lady, whose name I have lost, did the first
>extration for a genealogy magazine, lost the name of that, too. Sorry.
This
>lady deserves a great big medal for her work....his diary is really pretty
>dreary. Sometime back I sent her extract to Southern Trails in a series.
>If interested, I guess they would be in Rootsweb's archives. I had a
>computer crash, so lost my own copies.
>
>I rechecked, and the accounts of the 14th of October are accurate, i.e.,
>"baren fork of Clins River."
>
>Also, "300 yards wide" is what was written in the extract. Maybe he meant
>300 yards long, bank to bank. I can't put my hands on the whole diary, so
>can't check the "original" copy.
>
>They were able to buy food for their animals almost every day, so they
>passed through regions that were fairly well populated. He also commented
>on rich, red soil, so obviously passed through Oklahoma somewhere. Can you
>believe it, I have never tried to follow the trail on a map?
>
>He mentions, several times, difficulty in "changing" money. I assume he
>meant his gold. He also kept a strict account of the money he spent.
Best
>regards, Sara
>
>
>
>==============================
>Visit Ancestry.com for a FREE 14-Day Trial and enjoy access to the #1
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