Reminiscences About Bird's Fort

A 1936 Texas historical marker at the site of Bird's Fort profoundly affected my life. I remember playing around the marker in the late 1930s when my parents or grandparents visited there. Born at Euless, Texas, in 1934, I lived about 2 miles from the site of the fort. The Bird's Fort story has been told many times, so I will not repeat that, but only tell what I recall about the site from as far back as I can remember. I was always impressed by the large granite marker. Probably among the first things I learned to read was the brief text, deeply incised in bold capital letters on the stone. This also might have been my first history lesson, setting me on a course to my life's work. Also on the grounds a few feet away were an empty swimming pool, supposedly the exact site of the fort, and a bit farther away the club house, left over from the days when a sportsman's club owned the land before an Armentrout family acquired it. Besides being a destination for hunters and fishermen, from as early as 1900, and probably considerably before, the place was used for picnics, reunions, parties and all manner of celebratory events. There was also a water well on the grounds with a windmill and overhead water storage tank.

The site was located in the bend of Calloway Lake, a crescent shaped natural body of water near the bottom lands of Trinity River. Electric power lines had not reached the area. Lack of electricity then was not unusual since even the business center of Euless, at the intersection of present Euless Blvd. and Euless Main St., did not receive electricity until 1928. Lines were not extended 1/2 mile south from there to the Euless School and my parents' and grandparents' nearby houses until 1932. The lake club house was lit at night with kerosene lamps, creating, in my mind, a spooky, eerie atmosphere. I did not like being there at night. The only access to the property by automobile or truck was along a one lane, rutted path through a pasture, about 1/2 mile from the nearest public road. Somehow my parents, Ross and Winnie Day Cannon, and grandparents, Arch and Della Whitener Cannon, had become friends with the Armentrouts, who occasionally invited us to visit with them when they were there on retreat from their Dallas home. My grandparents and father loved to fish, and with the lake full of beautiful catfish, bass and crappie, it was one of their favorite fishing holes, to which they seemed always to have access.

In addition to the bit I remember, I have heard numerous stories from grandparents, parents, aunts, uncles and older cousins, about their experiences associated with the lake. Arch went on overnight and distant fishing expeditions with his buddies, but Della would go with him to nearby Calloway Lake. One of my favorite photos is of them holding up a couple of long strings of large fish they had caught. There was a flat-bottom metal boat that stayed on the lake. Fishers pushed off from the shore into the generally shallow lake to find good fishing spots. On one trip, someone stood up in the boat, which tipped over, dumping everyone into the lake. Della almost drowned.

Aunt Lois Cannon (later Mrs. Fred Trimble) liked to talk about being baptized in the lake. The Euless Methodist Church, over 2 miles away, usually baptized from a bowl of water in the church. But my aunts Lois and Jessie Cannon (later Mrs. Warren Fuller) and their mother, Della, wanted to be immersed. The church gathered at the lake and the minister performed the baptism. Lois, even many years later, commented that he was probably the maddest Methodist preacher she had ever seen, because he had to get so wet, needlessly, he thought.

I was the youngest of 14 grandchildren of Arch and Della, so I missed out on many of my older cousins' capers. Nevertheless, I recall some cousins, such as Troy Fuller, Jerald Cannon and Loran Borah, telling this story or some variation. When they were teenagers they would sneak onto the Calloway Lake property to seine for fish. Once, someone, obviously claiming to be responsible for security of the property, went after them, even shooting at them. They fled, escaping injury, but dared not tell their parents or grandparents.

I have related the above stories from memory. I think I have written records, that I sometimes refer to as interviews, that I made when I first heard the stories. They might supply more detail. There are also numerous articles in the Arlington newspaper through the first 40 years of the 20th century that describe many of the gatherings and events on the grounds and at the club house. I photocopied many of the articles and made notes of all. Later, I will add them to this file.