Montgomery Trading PostHistorical Marker Rejected byTexas Historical CommissionBy Kameron Searle _______ Just as a mirage contains no water, the Montgomery Trading Post stories contain no historical evidence of a Montgomery Trading Post. Kameron K. Searle In 1991, the Montgomery Intermediate School History Club in Montgomery, Texas, under the guidance of Bessie Price Owen, filed an application for an official Texas State Historical Marker for the so-called "Montgomery Trading Post." In 1993, this application was rejected! This page is about the history of the Montgomery Trading Post marker application and its rejection.
Included here will be documents and correspondence from the "Montgomery Trading Post" marker application file received by the author from Sarah McClesky with the Texas Historical Commission on June 8, 2009. Special thanks to Sarah McClesky for locating this file regarding the rejected marker application after so many years. From the Cover Page Bessie Owens' Narrative History in Support of the Marker Application
In her narrative, Bessie Owens left out every single detail of W. W. Shepperd's extensive role in the founding of the Town of Montgomery and the establishmnet of Montgomery as the county seat just as Robin N. Montgomery had done in his book The History of Montgomery County in 1975. The history of the rejected Montgomery Trading Post marker application is important. One of the important lessons to be learned from this file is that outsiders with no emotional attachment to the Montgomery Trading Post story realize immediately that the various Montgomery Trading Post accounts do not agree, have serious documentation problems, and "appear to be based on family legends." The file is also important in that it tells us precisely which local historians knew about the existence of the Lake Creek Settlement between the years 1991-1993. As the file is examined, we will see the many reasons why the Texas Historical Commission rejected this application. Many of the reasons for rejection of the marker stated by the Texas Historical Commission are also the same reasons stated by this author throughout the article "Evolution of the Montgomery Trading Post Myth."
Original 1991 Application Form Requesting an Official Texas Historical Marker for "Montgomery Trading Post" from the Texas Historical Commission
This application was dated April 4, 1991. The THC file stamp indicates that this application was received by the Texas Historical Commission on April 9, 1991.
September 20, 1991 THC Letter to Bessie Price Owen Requesting Additional Information about the "Montgomery Trading Post" [First Page]
After reviewing the original narrative submitted by Bessie Price Owen with her application for the marker, the THC staff, which had no emotional attachment to the Montgomery Trading Post story, could instantly see the problems with the Montgomery Trading Post. THC placed the application on hold.
Second Page]
Between 1991 and 1993, Bessie Price Owen would respond to this and other letters from the Texas Historical Commission with at least two more addenda or narratives in support of the Montgomery Trading Post marker application. In writing these narratives, Owen would enlist the assistances of William Harley Gandy and Harry G. Daves, Jr. It is clear from the supplemental narratives that Bessie Price Owen, William Harley Gandy and Harry G. Daves, Jr. had knowledge of the existence of the settlement in Austin's Colony known as the Lake Creek Settlement by 1992. William Harley Gandy had written a masters thesis in 1952 titled, A History of Montgomery County, Texas. Gandy had made no mention of the Lake Creek Settlement in his 1952 thesis. By 1992, both Gandy and Daves were aware of the existence of the Lake Creek Settlement. In late 2001, Harry G. Daves, Jr., a descendant of Owen Shannon and Margaret Montgomery Shannon, published an article which included Daves' research regarding the Lake Creek Settlement. See the publication of the Montgomery County Genealogical & Historical Society, The Herald, Volume 24, Issue Number 4, Winter 2001, "Owen Shannon’s Grave," pp.161-169:
As the Lake Creek Settlement could actually be documented with primary historical sources and the Montgomery Trading Post could not, the THC would eventually reject the marker for the Montgomery Trading Post and suggest that Bessie Price Owen make a new application for a marker regarding the history of the Lake Creek Settlement. Since 1993, the quantity of primary source material proving the existence and historical significance of the Lake Creek Settlement has grown substantially. Click here for the latest research about the Lake Creek Settlement.
1993 Letter from Texas Historical Commission Rejecting THC Marker for the "Montgomery Trading Post"
June 24, 1993
The State Marker Review Board correctly rejected the marker for the Montgomery Trading Post due to "the relative lack of concrete information about the Montgomery and Shannon trading posts and their locations, as well as the lack of documented historical significance." There simply was no evidence to support the existence of a trading post called the "Montgomery Trading Post" owned by anyone named Montgomery or Shannon. The Montgomery Trading Post is in fact a myth. Click here to see detailed information as to how the Montgomery Trading Post Myth got started and evolved over time. Recent evidence proves that the trading post or store that, in fact, preceded the town of Montgomery, Texas was actually a store owned by a man named W. W. Shepperd for which there is a considerable amount of concrete information and documented historical significance. The actual trading post was known as "the store of W. W. Shepperd on Lake Creek." W. W. Shepperd would found the town of Montgomery, Texas in 1837. For more information about the store that preceded the founding of the town of Montgomery, Texas, see the article, "History of the Indian Trading Post."
In 1993 Rejection of Montgomery Trading Post Marker Al Davis Suggested Marker for Lake Creek Settlement
"I had difficulty (after reading all the material) finding much of substance related to the actual trading post. Perhaps it is too obscure to provide more information. I would support a final effort to suggest focusing on the Lake Creek Settlement or one of the founding members." In his rejection, one of the State Marker Review Board members, Al Davis, indicated he "would support a final effort to suggest focusing on the Lake Creek Settlement or one of the founding members." Probably due to her age (80 in 1993), Bessie Price Owen did not make a new application with the Texas Historical Commission for a marker for the Lake Creek Settlement. Click here to see the most recent research and up-to-date information about the Lake Creek Settlement in Texas.
In 2015, Kameron Searle in cooperation with the Montgomery Historical Society and the Montgomery County Historical Commission applied for a Texas Historical Commission marker for the Lake Creek Settelment. Texas Historical Commission Reveiw Board member, Al Davis, had suggested this back in 1993 when the Texas Historical Commission rejected the marker for the Montgomery Trading Post. Click here to see pictures of the Dedication Ceremony for the Texas Historical Commission Marker for the Lake Creek Settlement in front of the Nat Hart Davis Cottage and Museum in Montgomery, Texas on February 25, 2017. This marker correctly identifies W. W. Shepperd with establishing the trading post/store and founding the town of Montgomery. The marker ceremony was very well attended, and it was just great seeing so many people interested in their history. |
