The History of Clarksville and Old Red River County
Pat B. Clark   1937

Go to Page | Index | Cont.

3     Mother County of Texas | Page- | Page+

 

Louis XVI. I have often wondered why such men would brazenly take possession of a country to which they had no title and then seek to pacify the owners thereof by singing a religious hymn. Those Caddoes settled from Caddo Lake in Louisiana on up the waters of the Red River. At Pecan Point, in Red River County, there was formerly quite a large number of Indian mounds, which were unquestionably built by the Caddoes. We find like structures up the Red River for a distance of seventy-five to one hundred miles. Referring to the first settlement in Red River County, I will name a few of those who settled there: Posey Benningfield, a man by the name of Burkham, a man by the name of Bateman and a kinsman of Benningfield by the name of Bankston. Quite a few of the descendants of these first settlers still live in Red River County. In presenting these facts, permit me to say that I am indebted to my grandmother, Mrs. Isabella H. Gordon, and Dr. Pat B. Clark, James Clark, Old Uncle Henry Stout, Col. Charles DeMorse, Mr. John Stiles, Jr., all of whom I knew personally and whom I have heard talk a great deal on the history of Clarksville and Red River County. One of the early points of history in Red River County was old Jonesboro. Here let me say Spanish historians, together with some few other writers, claim for Jonesboro a settlement as early as 1817. I believe most positively that Mr. Jones

 

Go to Page | Index | Cont.	3     Mother County of Texas | Page- | Page+
The History of Clarksville and Old Red River County Pat B. Clark   1937