Bonus Content
Find more interesting bits of Texas history and stories of brave and strong Texans on my “Texas Brave and Strong” podcast. You'll also find a transcript of each episode on this website.
If you’ve already read the book, this is for you. If you haven’t read the book yet, beware. This contains spoilers!
Early readers asked, “What events in the book really happened?” I’m guessing you might be curious also. So, here is the list of actual happenings.
Real events in Gone to Dallas
- In 1852, John Neely Bryan sold the rights to Dallas land and the Trinity River Ferry to Alexander Cockrell for $7,000. Cockrell began to offer land grants in 1853.
- Bryan left his family several times. Once, for a year, to join the 1849 California Gold Rush. In 1855, he shot a man and fled Dallas, spending a year in Indian Territory and five additional years in California. He returned in the Spring of 1861. He left the same year to join the Confederate army. He was released in 1862 for medical reasons. Bryan was again active in Dallas civic affairs until 1874. He died in 1877 at the Texas State Mental Hospital in Austin.
- The story of “The King Solomon” Church is true. The congregation did split the building in half, with each half going to a different location. This ended the squabble about where to relocate the church. It reminded me of Biblical King Solomon’s suggestion to split a baby to deal with two mothers, each arguing that the child was hers. Don’t know how the congregation referred to the church, but King Solomon’s church is how I like to think of it.
- The Dolly Varden fashion craze really did occur across the country. I have taken the liberty of moving it more than a decade in time to coincide with the opening of Sara’s store.
- La Reunion had Sunday afternoon celebrations and Dallas settlers were often invited.
- Straight-away horse racing on the prairie (with betting) was a common activity for settlers.
- The Trinity froze solidly enough for skating in 1857. This was followed in the same year by both a drought and a plague of locusts. It was a difficult year for farmers!
- Edrid’s Great Circus and Menageries visited Dallas in 1857. The acts, animals, and egress signs were as described. Daniel’s description of it as a “mud and muck” circus is appropriate.
- Buffalo roamed the West in the tens of millions in the 1850s. While they were no longer seen east of the Trinity in the late 1850s, they did still occasionally graze just west of the river in the summer. Buffalo killing was going on at the time of this story and Dallas was a supply stop for hunters. Hides and buffalo tongue were in high demand; however, the mass killing of buffalos intensified in the 1870s, as a deliberate attack on the Indian way of life.
- Alexander Cockrell was killed in a duel with Marshal Moore in 1858. The comment Moore made to the widow Cockrell, after the killing, has been documented. She did sue and collect the debt owed by Moore.
- Alexander Cockrell’s bridge collapsed when the Trinity River flooded in 1858. Following the bridge collapse, Sarah Cockrell re-instituted the ferry boat crossing and pledged to build a new iron bridge across the river. A promise ultimately kept after the Civil War.
- There was neither a national paper currency, nor a Texas state currency during the period of the book. The Panic of 1837 had led to bank failures and a general distrust of bank-issued currency. The 1845 Constitution of the State of Texas prohibited the chartering of banks. This prohibition carried forward through the Civil War.
- Sarah Cockrell held a formal ball upon the opening of her St. Nickolas Hotel in 1859. The description of the ball was reported in the “History of Early Dallas,” written by Frank Cockrell, one of Sarah’s sons. A related fact: Women settlers who had them, often brought a ballgown with them to Texas. (Dallas women still love to dress up, perhaps it’s in our pioneer genes!)
- The first county fair, a precursor to the State Fair, took place as described, although without the wooden merry-go-round. Today’s State Fair midway—with its numerous rides—more than compensates for the first fair’s missing merry-go-round.
- The Comanche attack on Ellie Duffield’s family is based on first hand accounts from the time. Ellie’s assumption that the Comanches took her brother is reasonable. There are numerous books about life with the Indians written by men who were captured as boys, adopted, and who became Indian braves. Nine Years Among The Indians, 1870-1879, by Herman Lehmann, is a true tale of the captivity of an eleven-year-old boy and his life among the Apaches and Comanches. The fascinating story of Cynthia Ann Parker—a young girl taken by the Comanches—and her son, Chief Quanah Parker—is a true tale which most every Texan can tell you.
- The story of Josiah Wilbarger, “the man who would not die,” is true.
- By law, all local men from ages eighteen to forty-five had to devote five days a year to working on Dallas’ town roads. Perhaps that would be a solution to today’s potholed city roads?
- The Singer’s sewing machine ad in the book actually ran in the December 7, 1859 issue of The Dallas Herald. At the time, the company was named Singer’s.
- The Great Conflagration really occurred, burning all the buildings around the square to the ground. The only surviving structures were Bryan’s original cabin and most of the exterior walls of the brick courthouse. Modern historians are divided as to the cause of the fire; however, three slaves were blamed and hung.
- Diebold and Bahmann of Cincinnati did indeed make a fireproof safe, as described in this story; however, there is no evidence one existed in Dallas at the time of the fire.
- Dallas was designated as a Confederate Commissary or supply center for the area west of the Mississippi River. It was managed by Doc Pryor.
- Yes, as discussed above, there were camels in Texas!
characters who were Real People
- John Neely Bryan – The frontiersman known as the father of Dallas. Born in Tennessee in 1810, he settled on the Trinity River in 1841. His original cabin (with renovations) sits in downtown Dallas next to “Big Red,” Dallas’ former City Hall, now a museum.
- Mrs. John Neely Bryan (nee Beeman) – The John Beeman family was one of the first two families to settle in Dallas. In 1841, Bryan convinced Beeman to move twenty-two miles from Byrd’s Fort to the Elm Fork of the Trinity. Margaret was one of ten Beeman children and was age sixteen at the time of the move. She married Bryan two years later at age eighteen. He was thirty-three.
- • Alexander Cockrell – The entrepreneur who purchased rights to Dallas land and the Trinity River ferry in 1852 from Bryan. Cockrell took over the development of Dallas until he was killed by Marshall Andrew Moore in 1858.
- Mrs. Alexander Cockrell (nee Horton) – Alexander Cockrell’s widow. For decades, Sarah Cockrell was the quiet power behind Dallas’ growth. She had been involved in the Cockrell businesses prior to her husband’s death. He was brilliant, but illiterate, so his wife handled business finances and correspondence. After he was killed, she dealt with the colony’s land grants, established numerous businesses, built office buildings, constructed two grand hotels, managed the toll bridge and ferry crossing, formed the company that built the 1872 Trinity River bridge, and raised four children. She was Dallas’ first millionaire. At her death in 1892 (age seventy-three), she owned twenty-five percent of downtown Dallas. She is often referred to as the town’s first capitalist.
- Adolphe Gouhenant (often spelled phonetically as Gounah) – French photographer, painter, owner of the Art Saloon.
- Dr. Samuel B. Pryor – Physician, civic leader and first Mayor of Dallas. He arrived in 1846. Known as Old Doc Pryor.
- Andrew Moore – Dallas Marshal who killed Alexander Cockrell in a duel in 1858.
- “Old Man” Tom Crutchfield – Owner of Crutchfield House Hotel.
- James Wellington (Weck) Latimer – Publisher/editor of the Dallas Herald from 1849 until his death in 1859
- J.W. Swindells – Latimer’s partner. Following Latimer’s death, he became publisher of the Dallas Herald for the next 17 years.
- Victor Considerant – The French organizer of La Reunion, the communal settlement of Europeans across the Trinity River from Dallas. He subsequently abandoned the colony.
- Julien Reverchon – Naturalist, for whom Dallas’ Reverchon Park was named.
- R. and D.G. Mills – Although Benjamin Brown is fictitious, the cotton factoring, commission merchandising, and currency business of R. and D.G. Mills existed in Galveston and operated as described. I found no record of them in business in Dallas. Company owners and brothers Robert and David G. Mills were among the most successful businessmen in the South. “Mills Money” circulated in Texas and New Orleans and was known to be “as good as gold.” Reputed to be worth three to five million dollars each, the brothers owned at least two hundred thousand acres scattered across Texas, plus more than 3,300 acres in cultivation. Their ships sailed the world with cotton and sugar. During the Civil War, their steamboats were acquired by the Confederacy and their sailing ships were blockade runners. They ended their lives in bankruptcy.
- The Trinity River – The river weaves through Dallas’ history as a major player. It is a significant reason John Neely Bryan chose the location for his town. The river tolerates bridges, then destroys them. It floods. It refuses to be navigable. The river shapes the town and its inhabitants. More than a character in the story, the Trinity River is a story all its own.
- The Preston Road – This early road is also a key element in the story. Coffee’s Trading Post and Ferry and Colbert’s Ferry on the Red River were strategic crossing points from Indian Territory into north Texas. Eager to facilitate immigration, in 1841, The Republic of Texas built The Preston Road connecting these two Red River crossings to the new capital of Austin. The road ran through Dallas and was the route Sara’s wagon train followed. A few years later, travelers approaching Texas from the East, could also take the Central National Road, which began near the northeast corner of Texas and connected with The Preston Road at Dallas. These roads were merely cleared trails, but they meant Dallas was ultimately on the stage line routes, was a kicking-off point for buffalo hunters, and was on the main road south for travelers. After the Civil War, The Preston Road formed part of both the famed Shawnee and Chisholm cattle trails connecting Texas with cattle markets in Kansas and Missouri. Somewhere along the way, the word “The” preceding Preston Road fell away. Today the road is merely named Preston Road.
Several minor characters simply mentioned in the story were also real:
- Berry Derrit – A Cockrell slave, who tended the Trinity toll bridge and ferry crossing, beginning in the 1850s. When emancipation was declared, Derrit rejected it and asked to remain in charge of the Trinity River ferry crossing. He continued in that role as a free man, retiring only when the new bridge was completed in 1872.
- Maxime Guillot – An early French immigrant to Dallas who established a carriage and wagon making company. His wagons were considered top quality and were in great demand. Owning a Guillot “rig” was an indication of high social standing and buyers came from as far away as 350 miles.
- Pocahontas Pryor – One of the eight children of “Old Doc Pryor,” Dallas’ first Mayor.
- Edward Fitzgerald Beale – Surveyor. While surveying for a road from New Mexico to the California border, Beale led a caravan of camels from Texas to California to help the military determine if camels were superior to mules for military goods transport. The camels were deemed far superior; however, the Civil War ended the camel corps experiment and it was never revived. Most of the camels remained in their camel khan (corral) at Camp Verde, Texas. Others in remained in California. The last known camel from the experiment, Topsy, died in Los Angeles in 1934 at the age of 80. Interestingly, camel sightings continued to be reported in the West for decades thereafter.
- Edward Browder – District Clerk. He cut the entrance ribbon for the first Dallas County Fair.
- Kate Warne – Head of the Women’s Division of The Pinkerton Agency.
- Sam Houston – Hero of the Battle of San Jacinto, President of the Republic of Texas, Governor of the state of Texas.
- John Brown – Abolitionist who led the raid on the Harpers’ Ferry Federal Armory.
Comments on some fictional characters:
Many of the fictional characters in the book have been developed around the occupations and businesses
which existed at the time of the story. For example, the earliest residents of La Reunion did include a
dance master, carpenter, baker, milliner, musicians, butcher, brewer, stone mason, dressmaker, and only
two farmers among the others! I have provided fictional characters for some of the occupations
represented at LaReunion and woven them into the story. The same has been done for some of the
occupations present in Dallas at the time.
Novella Adison and Devil Jack Black are fictitious, although there were bordello madams and gamblers
in Boggy Bayou. Surprisingly, the Pinkerton Agency did have a division of female agents in the 1850s.
As you have probably guessed, the shenanigans of these characters in the story are products of my
imagination.
A bit more history: The founding of Dallas.
As legend has it, John Neely Bryan; his Indian pony, Walking Wolf; along with Ned, his Cherokee Indian companion; and Bryan’s dog, Tubby, first came to the Three Forks area in 1839. Bryan staked a spot on the limestone bluff above the Trinity River with a buckskin flag marked with his name. He returned in the Fall of 1841, with the plan of gaining a grant for the land and establishing a ferry crossing and trading post.
Bryan did not immediately realize that he was, in fact, a squatter. The previous January, the Republic of Texas had granted a large tract of land, which included the site of Dallas, to an investment group, led by W. S. Peters. Initially known as the Cross Timbers Colony, the grant was soon simply referred to as The Peters’ Colony. It included the land on which Bryan subsequently settled. Bryan had chosen his location well. The spot was one of the best places to cross the Trinity River. This Trinity crossing on the Preston Road connected to the Coffee Crossing and Colbert’s Crossing on the Red River to the north.
In 1844, despite the land ownership issue, Bryan had the village of Dallas surveyed. It was laid out in blocks two hundred feet by two hundred feet and extended eight blocks west to east and ten blocks north to south. Bryan sold his first lot in 1845, but most likely did not patent (register) the Dallas survey until 1854. By then, the Peters’ Company had largely abandoned the Colony, following an armed confrontation with unhappy Dallas County settlers, who drove the company representative, Henry O. Hedgcoxe, from the county and seized the company’s records placing them “where they would never be found.” Bowing to such strong public sentiment, the legislature ultimately agreed to grant clear titles to the settlers and the Peters’ Group was granted new land in West Texas.
To complicate matters further, an even earlier Republic of Texas grant to John Grigsby, a soldier of the Battle of San Jacinto, was discovered in the 1870s. This grant covered much of downtown Dallas and created ownership complications for decades.
Meet Mrs. Sarah Cockrell from GONE TO DALLAS, The Storekeeper 1856-1861
Sarah, the wife of Alexander Cockrell, was a real person, and very involved in helping her husband coordinate their numerous activities—from Dallas land grants to managing their numerous business enterprises. He was brilliant, but illiterate. She could read and write. Together they were a dynamic team.
Although GONE TO DALLAS, The Storekeeper 1856-1861 is fictional, my goal was to represent the real people in the story as accurately as I could—based on available research. By all accounts, Sarah Cockrell was major force in the development of Dallas. When she died in 1892, she owned an estimated 25% of downtown Dallas as well as properties in numerous other Texas towns.
Why did I name my strong female protagonist Sara (note the different spelling)? I tried to change her name, I swear. Sarah and Sara wouldn’t let me. The two strong women named Sara/Sarah overruled me!
Here are some insights on how I imagined Sarah Cockrell from GONE TO DALLAS.
Her appearance: “Sarah Cockrell was a slender woman with shiny, mahogany-colored hair parted in the middle, pulled back, and turned under into a bun at the nape of her neck. Heavy brows arched above deep-set gray eyes. She wore a white cotton blouse with long, full sleeves and a rounded collar. Her skirt was black cotton embroidered with white flowers and very full. A solid black sash was tied in a bow at the front of her waist. She looks as fashionable as if she’s stepped out of Godey’s Ladyʼs Book.
Her philosophy: “I’m guided by just a few rules: Work quietly behind the scenes— there are some in town who resent a successful woman. Smile, speak softly, don’t be afraid to say no, and never back down. Be an iron fist in a velvet glove. And keep a pistol in your drawer, just in case.”
Her strength upon the death of her husband: “I never imagined anything like this. I loved him.” She took a deep breath. “Thought we’d grow old together. My task now is to keep his legacy alive and be sure his children remember him for the fine man he was.”
Her business savvy: “. . .Sara was invited to Sarah Cockrell’s office for tea. When Sara arrived, Mrs. Cockrell was concluding a meeting with two men who were challenging the terms of a contract they had signed with the Cockrell lumber company. “Do come in, Sara, we’re almost through here.”
“We’re not happy with the contract terms,” one man said forcefully.
“Yet you agreed to them before and signed the contract,” Mrs. Cockrell said in a calm, matter-of-fact voice.
“Well things have changed,” the other man said.
“I understand things have changed.” Mrs. Cockrell paused and looked at each of them, holding her gaze for several seconds. “My husband is dead, and you thought you’d see if the widow would agree to better terms for you, to her disadvantage. Please understand that I will not.”
The first man began to bluster. “Well, well . . . ”
“Well,” Mrs. Cockrell said, “if you can show me how we would both benefit from a change in price and terms, I’ll be happy to meet to discuss it. Until then, good day, gentlemen.” She rose from her chair. Mrs. Cockrell’s young, male assistant appeared from nowhere with their hats and ushered them out.