Texas City area settled by black cowboys on historic list

An area in Texas City that 143 years ago was settled by former slaves now is on the list as one of the recognized historical places in the nation. The 1867 Settlement, located in what is now West Texas City, earned the listing on the National Register of Historic Places in May, but descendants of the first settlers are preparing to celebrate next summer when the city marks its 100th birthday. The settlement was founded in large part by black cowboys, who were part of the Chisom Trail cattle drives, on 320 acres that was divided into three-acre tracts for recently freed slaves who could supply “testimonies of good standing and industrious habit,” according to the settlement’s history documents prepared by the Galveston County Historical Commission. For more than a 100 years, it thrived as a self-sufficient African-American community and included general stores and churches, as well as small farms and houses of the settlers. Descendants of four of the black cowboys who worked for the Butler Ranch in what is now the League City area and were founders of the settlement — Calvin Bell, Thomas Britton, Thomas Caldwell and David Hobgood — still are very much a part of the community. Bell, who has been a tallyman for the Butler Ranch cattle roundups, bartered some of his pay for some cattle. When he settled in the area in 1874, he became the first African-American in the county to have a registered cattle brand...more