August 30, 2006

My dear cousin Billie from Galveston Island has been doing a terrific amount of research on the Cherokee village of Onaga. Billie’s hours are mounting with her dedication to searching out historical maps and other documents that she is locating.

The past week, Billie mailed me an old map that has become a part of her vast amount of historical archives. Like myself, Billie is finding that her health is deteriorating. She again like myself, possesses a clever daughter that is helping her. Molly Vern, her daughter, is a train load of help to Billie with her research for a book about Aubrey that she is working on.

My daughter Deborah and granddaughter Holly are also making an effort to help me find and locate documents that are referenced in our research.

I am still studying the 1853 map of Denton County that I shared in last week’s Town Charter, and learning more about the area as it was during that period.

I shared the following story with the Cherokee group recently. "It seems as though it has been only a short while since the Cherokees that settled in this area, when it was known as Onaga. The group was a large group and had a need for water for their village. The decided to dig by hand (the only method they had for digging), a very large opening in the earth to reach the water supply. The well provided water for the large tribe of people that stopped in this area in 1839. They withdrew from the group of Cherokees that were on their way to find freedom in Mexico. There were more than 20 families of Cherokees that dropped out of this caravan of Indians and settled in this area. The well that they dug was about 10 to 15 feet in diameter.

The railroad system of Texas began making plans during the reconstruction period of Texas just after the Civil War. The railroad found the Cherokee settlement known as Onaga, and decided to make a stop for water for the steam engines."

Instead of an old photo this week, I am privileged to share with you a map Cousin Billie has sent to me. The map is an old railroad map. It indicates Onaga and other water stops along the rail system. The railroad map shows what this area looked like in 1873. It took ten years after the Civil War for this project to develop.

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