Exhibit Room 1 Chronological Evolution Prehistoric Times - Sea shells and deposits of rock indigenous to Polk County indicate the light-colored sandy soil of the area was once part of the bottom of the sea. When the waters receded, new deposits of sand and clay were left. Mastodons, mammoths, and tapirs later fed from the lush vegetation between the Neches and Trinity rivers and, along with other forms of animal life, left their bones in the rich soil from which sprang the Big Thicket region and the East Texas timber country. Native Americans - The Polk County area's natural resources attracted Indian tribes long before the first white man left his footprint. When the European explorers arrived, the Atakapas and the Bedais were already farming the region's river bottom lands. In 1834, the Pakana Muskogees moved to the area, but few remained after the tribe's 1899 departure for Oklahoma. From 1763 to the 1780s, the Alabama and Coushatta tribes migrated from Alabama and Louisiana to the Big Thicket, laid trails and, since the 1850s, they have occupied a reservation in Polk County. Pioneers - The first official mention of residents to the territory that would become Polk County was in 1834 at Smithfield (later Ace). The next year, Moses L. Choate started a settlement he called Springfield (now Livingston), and financier Samuel Swartwout helped to finance a town. After Texas won its independence, 103 Army of the Republic veterans became property owners. One of these, Sam Houston, helped the Alabama and Coushatta obtain reservation land. By 1850, Polk County was home to more than 1,500 citizens. Farm Life - Anglo-American agriculture in Polk County began in the early 1830s in the rich soil of the Trinity River bottom land. While a few settlements later developed around other enterprises -- a ferry, stage stop, mail station, sawmill, general store, an inn, school or church -- raising corn, cotton and livestock continued to be the main focus of most Polk Countians in the 19th century. Early horse-powered grist mills and gins did a thriving business and the use of the steam engine in later years dramatically increased production. River Boats - Traffic increased along the Trinity River in the 1850s as Polk County shifted from subsistence farming to a plantation economy. From 1838 to the mid-1880s, ferry services at Patrick's Ferry, Swartwout, Drew's Landing and smaller locations offered docks for loading cotton and other freight bound for the Galveston market. The boats were fueled by firewood which was cut and stacked at designated points on the river. Among the river boats making frequent stops at area landings were the locally built and owned Betty Powell and Mary Hill. Timber Industry - The thicket that had discouraged Spanish explorers attracted other pioneers who cut timber by hand to build homes and farms. By the mid-1840s, logs were being cut, branded, arduously hauled by oxen to the Trinity and the Neches, rafted to mills downstream and sent to markets. From the 1860s to the 1890s, many steam-powered mills were built and dozens of sawmill towns sprang up in their shadows. With the arrival of trains in the 1880s, Polk County emerged as one of the state's major producers of lumber and wood products such as turpentine. Civil War - On Feb. 23, 1861, Polk County residents supported the secession of Texas from the Union by a vote of 604 to 23, and between 1861 and 1862, mustered one cavalry and six infantry companies for Confederate service, a total of more than 1,500 soldiers in actions from Bull Run to Appomattox Courthouse. The locally built steamer John F. Carr was used in the Battle of Galveston. At home, industries provided cotton cloth for uniforms, local manufacturers made wagons and cannon carts, and food items were sent to Confederate troops and to destitute families of soldiers. Iron Horse - Using local pine to build a 2,300-foot trestle spanning the Trinity, the area's first narrow-gauge railroad, the Houston, East and West Texas, crossed into Polk County in 1879. Though the new transportation boosted local economy, passengers dubbed the uncomfortable line "Hell Either Way Taken." As the main lines extended through the county, larger timber companies built feeder or tram lines to meet them and to ship Polk County timber to major markets in the U.S. and Canada. Ghosts & Survivors - an inter-active display of the county in which pushing a button lights up towns that began as sawmill towns and are now ghost towns. The wholesale felling of forests helped to silence the giant saws in many of the small operations and turn many once- lively mill towns and timber rail lines into abandoned sites. About Us | Mission Statement | Staff | Links | Exhibits | Gift Shop | Special Events | Back Information | Museum History | What's New | Volunteers | Genealogy Resources | Special Collections