by Liz Brookshire


May 2010 - I fell in love with history when I was in elementary school. My mother gave me a children’s book titled The Tree in the Trail, the story of an old cottonwood tree on the Santa Fe Trail. The tree started out as a little sapling between twin buttes near a pool of water. It stood for centuries as Indians, conquistadors, trappers, traders and pioneers stopped to drink and rest in the shade of the tree. Many of the travelers left behind some evidence of their visit there at the tree. At last, blown down in a storm, the old cottonwood tree found new life as an ox yoke. As the wood was carved the tree told the story of the people who had passed along the trail. Embedded in the wood were stone and iron arrow heads, French lead balls and the broken blade of a Spanish dagger which gave the curious craftsman a glimpse into events long ago.

It was then I understood history as a connection between a place and people in the passage of time. A place is marked forever by those who pass through and those who stop to make a home there. As life and space intersect we are shaped by our experiences and the places where we live and work are changed by us. Nature and the environment also impact communities. Floods, droughts and hailstorms are recorded along with the hardships endured. Houses are built to shelter families and these buildings alter the landscape and form the structure of life and memory.

 A town’s history is told in buildings erected and buildings torn down; names scratched in sidewalks and carved into stone. The tombstones in the cemetery and the memorial stained glass windows in the churches tell the stories of those who came before us. Dates on cornerstones, commemorative plaques and even a hitching ring embedded in a sidewalk on Main Street remind us of the struggles and achievements of those who settled and established a community. If we only take time to listen, we can discover the story of this place, our town.

Come join us at Pioneer Museum as we tell the story of Fredericksburg and the people of Gillespie County.