Van Dorn Trail

                               (One Mile North)
     First important wagon road in Wichita County.
Blazed by brevet major (later General) Earl Van Dorn
in September 1858 with 200 men of the crack 2nd 
U. S. Cavalry. Just ahead of him went young L. S. "Sul"
ross (Governor of Texas 1887-91, and President of 
Texas A&M College (1891-98) with 100 Indian Scouts
from the Brazos Reservation. Loyal Tonkawa Chief
Placido guided Ross and his party.
     After opening the trail, Van Dorn camped on Otter
Creek, in present Oklahoma, for over a year. He routed
the Comanches in a battle near Rush Springs (70 mi. E.),
although he and Ross were wounded in the fighting.
     In 1859 Van Dorn won another decisive victory
over the Comanches in Ford County, Kansas. Famous
persons in this battle were Kirby Smith (later a  
noted Confederate General) and Fitzhugh Lee (later
Governor of Virginia). They had recently ridden up
the west branch of the trail. the 15 Army wagons
which brought supplies to the men leveled a trail
much used by pioneer settlers who came afterward.
     The trail ran from Fort Belknap, near Newcastle,
Texas, to Camp Radziminski on Otter Creek, north of
Frederick, Oklahoma. At Van Dorn Crossing the road
branched off to Montague County for supplies.
                                                                                 (1969)

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    The marker is located next to a church building on the corner of Farm Road 1206 and Arkansas Lane, off Highway 258 West.
    GPS coordinates thanks to Google Earth: 33-degrees 52' 17.17" North, -98-degrees 45' 48.56" West.

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