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Monument
to Harriet Potter Ames in Potter's Point
Photo courtesy Gerald
Massey, January 2010 |
Historical Marker:
Potter's Point
Site of one of
most famous events in Texas. Robert Potter--
a signer, Texas Declaration of Independence, a chief author of Republic's
Constitution, first Secretary of Navy, Republic of Texas-- settled
1837 on Caddo Lake. A former
U. S. Congressman, he won election 1840 to Texas Senate. After Senate
adjourned in 1842 he tried to arrest his political foe, William P.
Rose. On night of March 1, 1842, Rose led armed men to Potter's home.
At dawn Senator Potter jumped into the lake to swim for help, but
was shot to death. He is buried in State
Cemetery, Austin.
1969 |
Potter's
Point Historical Marker
HWY 49 and FM 727
Photo courtesy Gerald
Massey, January 2010 |
Potter's Point
by Gerald
Massey
Potter's Point is an unincorporated community on the north bank
of Caddo Lake., at the
south end on State Highway 727, 6 miles south of Gray,
and about 25 miles east of Jefferson.
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Potter's
Point monument and markers
Photo courtesy Gerald
Massey, January 2010 |
Potter's Point
is named after Robert Potter. In 1837 Robert Potter established residence
on Caddo Lake where now known as Potter's Point, on a high bluff about
300-yards from the waters edge. Known as the founder of the Texas
Navy1, he was a lawyer, served
in the North Carolina government and legislature, United States Navy
Midshipman, spent six months in prison for castrating two men2,
whom he believed to be having a relationship with his wife, expelled
from North Carolina House of Commons either for "cheating at cards"
or "for brandishing a gun and knife during a fight over a card game3,
embroiled in Texas political and military affairs, signed the Texas
Declaration of Independence, appointed secretary of the Texas Navy
and commander of the port of Galveston
in 1836, fought in the battle
of San Jacinto, and became involved in the Regulator-Moderator
War in Harrison
County, where he quickly became the leader of the Harrison County
Moderators. On March 2, 1842, his home was surrounded by a band of
Regulators led by William Pinckney Rose. He ran to the edge of Caddo
Lake and dived in, his body sinking to the bottom after being shot
once in the back of the head while swimming away. He was interred
at "Potter's Point," a bluff near his home; reinterred in the Texas
State Cemetery in Austin
in 1928. Potter County,
Texas is named for him.4
Potter's Point is located on the main steamboat route to Jefferson,
Texas. This was a vital and busy route in the steamboat heyday
from about 1845 to 1870. |
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Jefferson
was the head of navigation via Caddo Lake (then known as Ferry Lake)
as the great log raft obstructed vessel traffic on the Red River.
The riverboat traffic was quite heavy. 226 steamboats called at
Jefferson in
18725. (Note: According to
the excellent "History of Navigation on Cypress Bayou on
the Lakes" by Jaques Baqur, many steamboats made regular
trips to and from Jefferson,
mostly between Shreveport. Hence the 226 steamboats that called
at Jefferson
monthly were not all different boats. Many could have been made
by the same steamboats.)
It was near this location on February 12, 1969 that the famous fiery
wreck of the ill fated side-wheeled steamboat Mittie Stephens occurred.
Out of 107 people on board, 61 passengers and crew members perished.
The boat was carrying a cargo of 274-bales of hay. It had torch
baskets that lighted the bow of the boat at night. A breeze blew
a spark to the hay from the torch baskets and the fire that resulted
could not be contained. The boat headed for shore 300 yards away,
but grounded in three feet of water. The bow and forward part of
the boat was engulfed in flames; the stern was in deep water. The
pilot and the engineer kept the wheels running in an attempt to
force the boat to shore; the action of the wheels pulled the people
struggling in the water into them and killed most of them6.
The ship was also carrying a large amount of gold to pay the federal
troops occupying Jefferson.
(Source: Handbook of Texas online)
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For her role
in Texas history, northeast Texas and Marion
County history, a monument is established on the high bluff of
Potter's Point to commemorate Robert Potter's wife Harriet Moore Solomon
Potter.
[See Robert
and Harriet Potter by Archie P. McDonald, PhD]
To read more about Harriet Potter, see "Love is a Wild Assault," by
Elithe Hamilton Kirkland.7
© Gerald
Massey |
Approaching
markers and monument in Potter's Point
Photo courtesy Gerald
Massey, January 2010 |
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Caddo
Lake Historical Research Committee, Jefterson, TX sign
Photo courtesy Gerald
Massey, January 2010
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The
road to Gray-Potter's Point Community
Centre
Photo courtesy Gerald
Massey, January 2010 |
The
road to Potter's Point
Photo courtesy Gerald
Massey, January 2010 |
"Adopt
a Hightway" in Potter's Point
Photo courtesy Gerald
Massey, January 2010 |
Sources:
(Accessed February 8, 2010 )
1 http://www.cemetery.state.tx.us/pub/user_form.asp?step=1&pers_id=11
2 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Potter
3 http://www.cemetery.state.tx.us/pub/user_form.asp?step=1&pers_id=11
4 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Potter
5 http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/MM/etm2.html
6 http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/MM/etm2.html
7 http://www.texasescapes.com/AllThingsHistorical/Robert-and-Harriet-Potter-304AM.htm
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Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered and vanishing
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