Duane Gage Letter on Bird's Fort Treaty Signing Location

Duane Gage served both as Chair of the Tarrant County Historical Commission and as an instructor of History at Tarrant County College, Northeast Campus during the 1970s and 1980s. Gage was a strong proponent of Community Archives, initiating the Heritage Room Archives on the campus where he taught, as well as helping to found the Tarrant County Archives. He was a stickler for historical accuracy.

October 13, 1977
MEMO TO Anice Reed, Director of Programs
and
Deolece Parmalee, Director of Research
Texas Historical Commission

FROM: Duane Gage, Vice Chairman, Tarrant County Historical Commission

Ah, the Perils of Pauline! I find myself in the midst of a historical controversy concerning the Marrow Bone Spring Marker. A student of mine, Mrs. Jeanne Jordan, has supplied me with several documents which place the authenticity of certain statements in the Marker in a suspicious light.

At our meeting yesterday I offered a resolution (which was unanimously approved) that we ask the City of Arlington to postpone the placing and dedication of the [Marrow Bone Spring] marker until further investigation of its history is concluded. Mr. Bennett Smith feels that our County Commission should not get involved, but I disagree. Our duty is to preserve our heritage, not sanction the perpetuation of myths.

I take exception to the wording of the marker on two matters: First, there is no primary evidence that an Indian treaty was ever signed at Marrow Bone Spring, while there are primary documents (including the [Bird's Fort] treaty itself) which indicate that the main encampment of the whites and their suppliers was at the Bird's Fort site. (The Indian signatures could have been secured at several sites)

I also take exception to the statement that Johnson's Station was Tarrant County's first permanent settlement, for Peters Colonists were settled in the Lonesome Dove community during 1844 and 1845, in Northeast Tarrant County.

Does the Texas Historical Commission ever rescind approval of a marker when new evidence refuting a marker's historical statement is uncovered?

Mrs. Walter Killough ([address redacted]) and other Arlington citizens have offered to pay for a new marker, in order that these distortions of history may be corrected.

Please call on me if I can be of any help in handling this matter.

[Signed] Duane Gage