The Letters and Diagrams of J. J. Goodfellow Concerning the Site of Bird's Fort
John James Goodfellow was born August 11, 1856 in Randolph County, Missouri and died June 21, 1944 in San Angelo, Texas, aged 87. The bulk of his career consisted of the term, from 1880 to 1907, during which he served as Civil Engineer and Surveyor of Tarrant County.
J. J. Goodfellow visited the site of Bird's Fort on several occasions, including two occasions on which he conducted official surveys on the land. Over the course of his career, Goodfellow became somewhat of a de facto authority on the layout of the Bird's Fort site, producing numerous letters and diagrams describing and illustrating the locations of fort remnants that remained during his visits, as well as those remnants' previous locations after all vestiges of them had been obliterated by time. Thanks to Goodfellow's work and recorded observations, we can plot with reasonable accuracy where the blockhouse, the spring, and the graveyard stood in relation to Calloway Lake when Bird's Fort was extant.
Goodfellow's letters and diagrams were to be given more credence than most since he was a surveyor by trade, and a very competent and trusted one. The placement of the Bird's Fort Historical Marker in 1936 was based primarily on his accounts.
J. J. Goodfellow's detailed 1904 Diagram of the Bird's Fort Site
This is probably the diagram Tarrant County Judge C. C. Cummings referred to when he wrote:
"The first plot of graves in the county is located a few hundred feet northeast of the site of Bird's Fort, of which I and J. J. Goodfellow, for many years county surveyor, made a diagram, which I have, and from it can be traced this first graveyard of the county, which contains the dust of Rattan and others ... This county should rescue it from oblivion and Goodfellow, who lives at San Angelo, can locate the fort and cemetery site."
Letter to Tarrant County Judge C. C. Cummings, September 3, 1915
Judge C. C. Cummings
Fort Worth Texas
Dear Sir - I entered the surveyor's office in Tarrant County in 1880 and continued in that office with the exception of about one term to summer of 1907 when I resigned to come to San Angelo. During the years from 1870 to 1874 I frequently visited Col. B. Rush Wallace and the family of Hon. H. C. Wallace whose residence at that time was at the site of old Bird's Fort situated on the NE bank of Calloway's lake on a high bluff bank in a bend of said lake, at that time the site of the old Block House of this Fort was plainly visible also several graves situated in a sandy ridge by side of a trail leading N E from the Fort and about 300 yards distant was pointed out to me as the graves of occupants of the old Fort. During the early part of my term in the surveyor's office of Tarrant County I had occasion to make a survey of the S Kephart and T. D. Newton surveys and in making this survey it was ascertained that the old Block House was on the S Kephart near its east line and the graves on the T. D. Newton survey near its north line and about 300 yards N E of the old Block House.
The above sketch will show the relative position of the old Fort and graves to Caloway's lake and the two surveys above mentioned. Caloway's lake is situated in the edge of the Valley of Trinity River and about 14 miles east of Ft. Worth.
Yours truly,
J. J. Goodfellow
San Angelo Texas
Sep 3, 1915
Letter to Mary Daggett Lake, October 17, 1925
Mrs. Mary Daggett Lake
Fort Worth Texas
Dear Madam,
Replying to your enquiry of 15th inst. the oldest or first burying ground in Tarrant County, will say that I prepared for Judge C. C. Cummins several years ago, sketches &c of the burying grounds at Calaway's Lake. I have a copy somewhere of a part of my report to him, but am unable to locate same at this writing—if you can locate some of C. C. Cummings' heirs, you might be able to get the sketch showing the location of the graves— My first visit to the graves was some time between 1866 and 1870, at which time Col. B. Rush Wallace was the owner of the property covering most of Calaway Lake, and the ground upon on which the old "Block House" and the graves were located— The remains of the old Block House were there plainly visible & stood on N E bank of the lake, at a point where a "Country Club" later built a swimming pool. From this Block House, a path led in a northeasterly direction, probably 250 to 300 yards, through timber to the graves.
Col. Wallace told me the history of the place, and said that the first person buried there was killed by the Indians when he ventured out from the "Block House" to go to the spring for water, while being besieged by the Indians, the spring was at the edge of the lake about 30 or 40 yards from the Block House known as "Bird's Fort"—
Col. Wallace gave me the name of the first party so killed by the Indians, but I think it was not Rattan, who a little later with a few others, was buried there.
Mrs. Annie Wallace Yates, who lives either in Fort Worth or some where near there, may be able to give you some information relative to the question you asked me.
Below I will give a rough outline of location of graves relative to lake, which I recall from memory.
Yours Truly,
J. J. Goodfellow
[Postcript] I was told that the first burying ground was that at old "Bird's Fort", but can not vouch for the correctness of this report.
-- J. J. G.
Letter to Mary Daggett Lake, February 5, 1926
Mrs. Will F. Lake
1415 Grand Ave.
Fort Worth Texas
Dear Madam,
Replying to your favor of 2nd inst. Will say that if I were on the ground I could probably point out the location of old "Bird's Fort" on bank of Calaways Lake in Tarrant County.
The old "Block House" of Bird's Fort was constructed of logs, the outer walls were constructed in pickett form, logs set on ends, with deep entrenchments all around the building—
There trenches were plainly visible up to the time when the Calaway Lake Club constructed a pavilion or swimming pool on the ground where the Block House stood and destroyed most of the evidence of these trenches— If the club's pavilion or swimming pool is still in existence, then you can locate the grounds of the old "Fort Bird"— Mrs. Annie Yates, who lives in Fort Worth or vicinity, used to live at the lake & may be able to locate the grounds of the fort.
Yours Truly,
J. J. Goodfellow
[Editor's note: the frame of the old swimming pool Goodfellow refers to above, built around 1895, still exists today at the edge of Calloway Lake.]
