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Painting With A Purpose

We live within about a three minute walk from the North San Gabriel River. Also a short walk from where we live is an old cemetery.  I’ve never seen it because it is on private land and blocked off by a high game fence. But others with knowledge of the area have told me the cemetery is there, and it shows up on Google. Historically, it is known as Anderson Cemetery or Rock House Cemetery. The Texas State Historical Society describes the area this way:

Rock House is on Farm Road 3405 and the North San Gabriel River, three miles northeast of Liberty Hill, in western Williamson County. Draco, the Indian name for the village that occupied the site before white settlement, means “favorite place.” Dates on cemetery graves indicate that settlement began before 1871, but the site became a distinct community about 1878. The name Rock House is from a Baptist tabernacle constructed of rock before 1878 by early settlers, and the names Draco and Rock House seem to have been used interchangeably into the 1890s. The Rock House School also existed by 1878, when it was designated a tax collection point for the area; a political meeting was held there that year, apparently to organize support for prohibition in the local option vote. By 1890 the community had a store, and a post office with the name Draco operated from 1890 to 1892. a cotton gin operated on a farm just across the river. The Rock House School was one of the larger rural schools in Williamson County in the early decades of the twentieth century. In 1903 it had ninety-six pupils and two teachers, and in 1922 a new two-classroom school served seventy-four students. The school was consolidated with the Liberty Hill school in 1947. A Texas historical marker honoring the community was erected in 1981. Rock House remained a dispersed farming community in 2000. No population estimates were available. The main landmark was the Rock House Cemetery.

That’s a long description, but it’s notable that all that remains is a hidden away cemetery, a few lumps of concrete that were once part of some structure foundations, and an old barn/shed that is about to fall down. I used to wonder about some of the concrete foundations when I took morning walks, some of which were removed when an RV park was built at the bend in County Road 256.

Native Americans often followed the rivers and the San Gabriel was no exception. Before the white settlers, many Native Americans passed through the area, settling for short periods near the banks of the North San Gabriel. The earliest and largest group was the Tonkawas, who were ultimately pushed out by the Lipan-Apaches and Comanches, as well as the eventual loss of the buffalo in Texas.

As you can see, I’m painting again. We’ll see if a guy can virtually stop painting for several years and then pick up brushes again at age 80 and do anything worthwhile. The medium is still gouache, although I may try acrylics as well. The subject of this long post is the subject I want to pursue: the Native Americans who lived and passed  through this area. When we moved here, the river was a strong draw for us, and I have painted it. Now I want to speculate about the people who walked the river, looking for game, being wary of enemies, and finding signs of the white man.

All these paintings are still in progress. People and animals have not been part of my repertoire in the past, so in addition to getting my touch back, there are a lot of sketches and studies in my immediate future. I’ll share some of them as well.

Looks like I’m back.