Name: Pontotoc, Texas
Address: Pontotoc, TX

Pontotoc, TX RoadyGoat

Pontotoc, Texas, isn't on many maps, but if you know pecans, you know Pontotoc. This little corner of Mason County, nestled where the sandy loam meets the granite hills, is pecan country through and through. The story goes that after the Civil War, folks returning home needed a way to rebuild, and pecans, native to the region, seemed like a good bet. Early on, it was mostly about gathering wild pecans from the groves along the San Saba River and its tributaries. But soon, farmers started grafting improved varieties onto native rootstock, developing orchards that produced bigger, meatier nuts. What makes Pontotoc pecans so special? Well, the soil is key. That mix of sand and granite gives the trees the drainage they need, and the climate – hot summers and mild winters – is just right for pecan development. The other thing is tradition. For generations, families here have been dedicated to pecan farming. It's hard work, no doubt, shaking those trees in the fall, gathering the nuts, and getting them ready for market. But it’s a way of life, a connection to the land, and a source of pride that you can taste in every bite of a Pontotoc pecan pie.

Pontotoc, TX RoadyGoat

Pontotoc, Texas, sits nestled in the rolling hills of Mason County, a place where the past feels close enough to touch. It began, like many Texas towns, as a frontier settlement, a crossroads for ranchers and farmers drawn to the promise of the land. The area's history is etched in the very stone of its buildings, reminders of a time when life was both simpler and harder. The threat of Comanche raids was a constant shadow in those early days, shaping the community’s spirit of resilience and self-reliance. The town's fortunes rose and fell with the cycles of agriculture and the larger economy. Ranching always held a prominent place, but there were periods of growth fueled by other ventures as well. Like other Texas towns, Pontotoc saw its share of boom and bust, times of plenty followed by periods of hardship. What remains is a place that is still rooted in its history, a community where the stories of the pioneers are not just tales from the past, but a living part of the present. The quiet charm of Pontotoc is a testament to the enduring spirit of its people, a reminder of the long and winding road that led to the town it is today.

UNT, TX RoadyGoat

UNT. Denton. It’s more than just Fry Street and the Courthouse on the Square, though those are pretty great. This place has a real legacy, and a lot of folks who made it big got their start right here in North Texas.

11.4 mi away

Pontotoc and San Fernando Academy

1883

(Site of Academy is 100 yards north) Pontotoc, settled about 1859, was named by first merchant, M. R. Kidd, for his former home town in Mississippi. Post office was opened 1878 in the B. J. Willis home, with Mrs. Willis postmaster. Founded by interested citizens, San Fernando Academy (probably named for nearby creek), opened 1883. Pupils (200 during academy's career) took regular subjects or courses leading toward teacher certificates. Principals were K. T. Hamilton and W. C. Roaten. After academy failed, site was sold by W. J. and B. J. Willis and used by the public school until 1927. (1972)

Historical Marker →

Huffman Cemetery

1853

James Jackson Larremore brought his family to Llano County in 1853. Daughter Martha met and married James S. Huffman in 1856, and the couple resided along the Llano River, rearing their seven children. Following service in the Civil War, Huffman purchased 300 acres in this vicinity, spanning from the western slope of Smoothin' Iron, or San Fernando, Mountain westward past Cold Creek. The Larremores lived nearby, and the families and many other settlers in the area soon needed a burial ground. The first recorded grave is that of Huffman granddaughter Laura Sessom (d. 1884). Other family members buried here include James and Martha Larremore Huffman, who both died in 1917. That year, daughter Maria Jane Simpson officially dedicated the existing burial plot as Huffman Cemetery. Family members maintained the burial ground throughout the 20th century, forming a cemetery association in 1980. The graveyard, which serves as a resting place for several veterans, chronicles the lives of Llano County's early settlers and the contributions of the Huffmans and their descendants. Historic Texas Cemetery - 2003

Historical Marker → · 5.0 mi away

Chew Cemetery

1885

Born in West Virginia in 1832, George Oliver Chew came to Texas in 1839. He married Nancy Taylor prior to 1870, and they settled in western Llano County in 1883, purchasing 320 acres of land. This site probably was first used as a family cemetery about 1885 when their infant granddaughter was interred here. The second marked burial was that of a 2-year-old grandson, Osceola Chew, in 1887. George Oliver Chew was interred here in 1901. The Chew family continued to grow, operating a school and later a cotton gin. In 1927 they sold the land to another family, who donated back the one-acre cemetery twenty years later. There are more than 40 known graves in the Chew Cemetery. Both a Confederate and a Union soldier are interred here, as are veterans of other military conflicts. (1999)

Historical Marker → · 8.0 mi away

Fort Mason

1851

After the Mexican War and the annexation of Texas by the United States, the population of the state began to increase rapidly, but the increasing numbers were crowded into a limited area because Indians controlled the majority of the state. To open new areas and provide protection for settlers, in 1848 the United States War Department authorized a line of army forts from the Rio Grande to the Red River. Fort Mason's location on Post Oak Hill near Comanche and Centennial creeks in the northern part of what was then called Gillespie County was chosen by Lt. Col. William J. Hardee, assisted by Richard Austin Howard , on July 6, 1851. Hardee left the actual establishment of the post to Bvt. Maj. Hamilton W. Merrill and companies A and B of the Second Dragoons. The post was most likely named either for Lt. George T. Mason, who was killed at Brownsville during the Mexican War, or for Gen. Richard Barnes Mason, who died only a year before the fort was established. During the next ten years, or until the beginning of the Civil War , the fort played an important part in settlement of the area. Settlers at first stayed close to the fort, but as the aggressive attitude of the military became apparent, additional settlers located farther from the post. The Indians-Kiowas, Lipan Apaches, and Comanches-were driven farther away and began making fewer raids into the settlements. The fort was closed several times during that decade, first in January 1854. It was reoccupied by Company A, First Dragoons, from March to May and was occupied by various companies of the Second United States Cavalry from January 14, 1856, to March 29, 1861, when it passed into the hands of the secessionists. The fort reached its maximum population in January 1856, when the headquarters and companies B, C, D, G, H, and I of the Second Cavalry were all stationed there, with Col. Albert Sidney Johnston in command. Twenty officers stationed at Fort Mason before the Civil War became generals. Twelve fought for the Confederacy, eight for the Union. Among these generals were Earl Van Dorn, Fitzhugh Lee, E. Kirby Smith, George H. Thomas, Robert E. Lee, John Bell Hood , William J. Hardee, and Philip St. George Cooke. Fort Mason was designated regimental headquarters for the Second Cavalry several times. For a short period during 1862 the Confederate Army held 215 men prisoner, mostly civilians accused of being Union sympathizers, in the fort. During August 1862 they were marched to Austin. Indian depredations during the Civil War and immediately afterward were worse than they had ever been. The area was terrorized by killings, thefts, and nuisance raids. Texas state troops and minutemen had been unable to cope with the problem. The United States Army, in the form of the Headquarters Company with field staff and officers and the regimental band and Company F of the Fourth United States Cavalry , reoccupied the fort on December 24, 1866. Gen. John Porter Hatch was the commanding officer. The fort was repaired and improved through the use of civilian artisans and military labor. Reconstruction lawlessness also affected military personnel; a large number of desertions and courts-martial were reported. Cavalry were replaced with soldiers from the Thirty-fifth Infantry over a period of time. The last inspection of the fort occurred on January 13, 1869. The report listed twenty-five buildings, mostly vacant and in need of repair; only sixty-nine men were present. The order to close the fort was carried out on March 23, 1869. During 1870 the state of Texas organized several companies of frontier forces. Fort Mason was reopened in September of that year as headquarters for Companies A and B, Frontier Forces. Capt. James M. Hunter, later county judge of Mason County, was in command for most of that year. During the next year the forces were disbanded or moved, and for the last time the fort was closed. Although the fort buildings and land became private property, the rock buildings wer

Tsha Handbook → · 18.5 mi away

Mason County War

1874

The Mason County War, commonly known as the Hoodoo War, was one of a number of feuds that developed over the stealing and killing of cattle. As early as June 25, 1874, Wilson Hey, presiding justice of Mason County, wrote Governor Richard Coke requesting that troops be stationed in the county to help deal with cattle rustling . Since many of the settlers of the county were Germans , there began to be a perception that they were pitted against the American-born residents, and neither group was able to get protection from the cattle thieves. The trouble began seriously when the sheriff, John Clark, jailed nine men on charges of stealing cattle. Before a trial was held, four of them escaped, but a mob of about forty men took the remaining five from the jail on February 18, 1875, led them to a place near Hick Springs, and hanged them. Daniel W. Roberts of the Texas Rangers , a few of his men, and a group of citizens followed the mob but were not in time to save the prisoners. Lige Baccus and his cousin were dead; Tom Turley was hanged but not dead; a man named Johnson escaped; and the fifth, Wiggins, was shot, and died the next day. Though a district court investigated the incident, nothing came of it. On May 13, 1875, Sheriff Clark sent Deputy Sheriff John Worley to Castell to bring Tim Williamson to Mason to make bond on a charge of cattle stealing. Worley and his prisoner were attacked by twelve men with blackened faces. Though Williamson was not armed, he and his horse were killed. No trial was held for this murder, and a real feud ensued. Scott Cooley, a former Ranger, swore revenge for the death of his friend Williamson. He collected the names of the men he thought responsible for Williamson's death, got together a following of his own-including John and Mose Beard, George Gladden, and John Ringgold-and began a ruthless retaliation that resulted in the killing of at least a dozen men. One of his early victims was John Worley, who was killed on August 10, 1875, while he was working on his well. It was commonly agreed that Scott Cooley shot him through the head and took his scalp. A number of violent incidents followed Worley's death, and sources disagree over the names and dates. The citizens of Mason sent a petition to Governor Coke asking for protection. A week later John Ringgold and several others are said to have killed John Cheney (Cheyney) as he was preparing breakfast for some strangers at his home. The governor sent Maj. John B. Jones with twenty or thirty men from Company A and ten from Company D of the Texas Rangers to quiet the difficulties. On September 28, when they reached Cold Springs, they found Clark and fifteen to twenty followers, who said they had heard that the Cooley faction was heading that way to "burn out the Dutch." That day Daniel Hoerster was shot off his horse in broad daylight as he was passing the Southern Hotel, and Peter Jordan (a friend of Hoerster's) and Gladden were wounded. Jones made an investigation at Cold Springs before he joined Daniel Roberts to attempt to get to the source of the trouble. During a gunfight at Keller's store on the Llano River, Clark and Keller's son wounded Mose Beard and George Gladden. Beard died, but Gladden was sent to his home at Loyal Valley to recover. At some point during the feud, a mob appeared at John Gamel's ranch on Mill Creek looking for Gamel and William Coke. They arrested Coke and Gamel's foreman, Ike Beam, and Sheriff Clark sent them back to Mason under separate guard; Coke was never seen again. Johnson, one of the survivors of the February 1875 lynching, is said to have shot a man named Miller, reportedly the last person to have been seen with Coke; Johnson then fled the county. Clark was later investigated regarding the Coke incident, but the case against him could not be proven; he subsequently left Mason. Meanwhile, Major Jones and his rangers continued to search for Cooley and his followers without success and with little cooperation from the

Tsha Handbook → · 18.5 mi away

Bush, Wanda May Harper

1949

Wanda Harper Bush, the most decorated cowgirl in the history of the Women's Professional Rodeo Association (WPRA), was born to Alvin and Gussie (Martin) Harper on October 6, 1931, in Mason County, Texas. Wanda helped around the family's ranch and rode horses. When she was eight, her brother, Alvin Clarence "A.C.," was born. At a young age, she learned rodeo skills by roping and tying goats. After Wanda progressed from goats to calves, she began competing in rodeos . Before she graduated from Mason High School in the spring of 1949, she became one of the first members of the Girls Rodeo Association (GRA), which later became the WPRA, and held membership card number fourteen. She quickly made a name for herself in rodeo circles and became the all-around GRA champion in 1951, 1952, and 1954. In 1953 she was barrel race champion and came in second in the all-around category. She regularly took the championship title in barrel racing, ribbon and calf roping. Nearly two decades before Billie Jean King defeated Bobby Riggs in the famed "Battle of the Sexes" tennis match at the Astrodome ( see SPORTS ), Wanda Harper competed against a man, Pete Taylor of Doole, Texas, in a calf roping contest in San Angelo in 1956 and beat his time by 21.1 seconds. Although a humble woman who focused more on training her horses than media attention about her accomplishments, she appeared on an episode of the television show To Tell the Truth in April 1958. Over her long rodeo career, Wanda competed in barrel racing, cutting, flag racing, calf roping, and ribbon roping. She earned thirty-two world championships and nine all-around titles throughout her career. This made her the most decorated cowgirl in the Women's Professional Rodeo Association's history as of 2017. In 1957 Wanda married Stanley Bush, a cutting horse trainer and later world cutting champion, in Mason County, Texas. The couple competed in rodeos as well as bred and trained horses, many of which became champions, for five decades. Before she married, she trained famous champion quarter horses , Dee Gee, Phoebe Chess, and Flying Eagle, at the Harper family ranch. Then, she and her husband raised and trained their progeny. After their marriage, the couple continued the tradition of training champion mares. Stanley Bush's cutting horse Royal Chess, progeny of Phoebe Chess, was inducted into the National Cutting Horse Association Hall of Fame in 1970. Wanda and Stanley had a daughter, Shanna, on August 14, 1959, who followed in her parents' footsteps when, in 1984, she qualified for the National Finals Rodeo. Wanda not only taught her daughter rodeo skills, she also traveled the country and held skills clinics for young people. In the 1980s Wanda served on the WPRA board as the Texas ProRodeo Circuit director at a crucial point in the WPRA's history. Many of the top rodeos were in Texas. Barrel racers earned less than half the amount of winnings as men in similar events despite having similar costs and fees. Barrel racing was also one of the more popular rodeo events. In 1981 the WPRA began requiring that purse (prize) money for barrel racing events in all rodeos be equal to half the purses offered in men's events and equal purse money for women's events by 1985. Wanda Bush played a crucial role in keeping Texas rodeos in the barrel racing circuit and bringing gender equality to Texas rodeos. Every single Texas rodeo agreed to raise the purse winnings and stay on the circuit, and many credit, at least in part, the respect and clout Wanda had built during her career as a barrel racer in rodeo with this success. She was later honored by the WPRA with the Coca-Cola WPRA Woman of the Year in 1989. After her rodeo career ended, Wanda and Stanley, along with Wanda's brother A. C., continued to train horses on the Harper-Bush Ranch. At eighty-four years old, Wanda Bush died of a heart attack on December 29, 2015. Her service was held at the Mason Funeral Home Chapel, and she was interred in the Ha

Tsha Handbook → · 18.5 mi away

Pontotoc, Texas

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Pontotoc, TX RoadyGoat

Pontotoc, TX RoadyGoat

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Pontotoc and San Fernando Academy

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Fort Mason

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