As most Texans know, on March 2, 1836, Texas declared its independence from Mexico. In celebration, the Salado Museum will present an historical tour on March 2nd. The tour will begin at 10:00 a.m. at the Salado Museum.
Museum staff will present a brief history of Texas Independence Day, how Salado was established, and why the Salado Museum was started. Salado College was a huge factor in the settling of Central Texas and Salado specifically. The second part of the tour will continue to College Park just south of the museum. The college ruins are all that remains of our frontier college built in 1860. The statue of Colonel E.S.C. Robertson stands at the northwest corner of the Park along with other tributes to Salodoans.
In 1861 Texas entered the Civil War as a part of the Confederate States of America. While a devasting part of our history, we will focus on the reconstruction. In 1866, Texas rejoined the United States and adopted the US Constitution. As depicted in the museum exhibit, around 1866 to move the cattle north, the Texas Cattle Trails came through. We will visit the Chisholm Trail monument in front of the museum then take a short drive to Table Rock to see another Chisholm Trail marker and a cattle dipping vat.
For the next 80 or so years, Salado was known for its ranches and its brave settlers that came to the edge of the “wild frontier!” We will take another short drive to the school building that replaced the Salado College building after it was destroyed by a 3rd fire in 1924. The red brick schoolhouse and grounds are still owned by the SISD and contain the SISD administration offices. Also, on the grounds are the cabins moved there by the Salado Historical Society in 1994. The cabins give a view of the life of the early pioneers.
The final leg of the Tour will be to the grounds of the Robertson Ranch. The Greek revival style structure was built of cypress and pine by Colonel Robertson. The construction started in 1854 and in 1860, he, his wife and 5 of his children moved in. His family grew to a total of 12 children. Our tour will not include the inside of the home, but we will see the exterior of the home, the slave’s quarters and the cemetery.
A $10 donation is appreciated.
