“Farm to Market Road 1467 between Blanket and Zephyr is nine and one-tenth miles long. Part of this road was the old Zephyr — Brownwood road, over which covered wagons travelled for many years,” reads an entry in the book Blanket, Texas Community History. The writer of this entry, Harold F. Gist, was a member of the Brown County Commissioners’ Court in the 1950s–60s.
It is interesting to me the routes chosen by early settlers through the county. Clearly this route is about water availability and perhaps a supply line to Blanket from lower on the Colorado River.
“This road has become a big help to Blanket and Zephyr residents and likewise to a paved cut-off for southern travelers going east and eastern travelers going south,” Gist wrote. FM 1467 follows roughly the path of Blanket Creek, so it’s not hard to imagine why this would have been such a well travelled route during early settlement of the county. There’s not a huge amount of traffic between Blanket and Zeyphr, but it does cut off some miles for those going that way.
T. C. Smith recorded early settler William McQueen’s memories of travel and settlement along Blanket Creek in his book, From Memories of Men. “My parents settled near Blanket in 1873, coming to Brown County from Kentucky. There were very few settlers at the time and most of them were scattered along The Creek, which was the source of water for both humans and livestock. There was plenty of water during the rainy season, but all the shallow holes dried up in the summer, leaving a few deep holes from which the families hauled their drinking water. At various times, water became so scarce that people would fight for the privilege of filling their barrels.”
I drove out along 1467 just to see what it’s like. There is an old, broken down wagon someone set by the entrance to a ranch. It looks like it’s probably authentic. It might even have stopped right there and never got going again! A lot of the houses and ranches along this road seem to be pretty old. I guess if you were lucky enough to grab some land by Blanket Creek, it could be hard to let that go.
Thinking about covered wagons making the same journey 150 years ago, I crank the AC a little higher. It’s hot outside, very hot for mid-September, and getting good and dry now too. I imagine a tired, dusty group of wagons coming over the next hill. It is hot on that day as well. Blanket Creek is running dry. Tired, thirsty and dusty, the group of wagons heads for Pecan Bayou, the closest and steadiest water supply in the county. It’s not impossible to visualize a scramble, maybe even a fist fight breaking out over a tiny bit of water in the last water hole around!
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Diane Adams is a local journalist whose columns appear Thursdays on BrownwoodNews.com. Comments regarding her columns can be emailed to [email protected].
