The Republic’s Greatest President

Copyright 2021 by Timothy Frazier

The President had a problem. People were engaged in bitter conflict within the boundaries of his nation. They were all residents of his country. They worked, raised families, and socialized within their communities.

And they killed each other.

There were frequent attacks arising from disputes over property. Two factions that were at odds over cultural and political values. The previous president of the republic had sided with one faction, and burned through the nation’s funds trying to drive the other group completely out of the country. It seemed to be a futile and endless war.

The current President had a wife from the opposition, and had actually lived in their community for some time before his election to the highest office in the land. He had not been in office long, but he was determined to end the national internal war without continuing the bloodshed.

This gave him a different perspective from his predecessor. With friends among both groups, he saw the devastation and heartbreak the war inflicted upon them, regardless of which side they were on. He proposed a meeting to iron out differences between the two groups. The President sent messages to his friends on both sides. Weary of sending their best young men to fight and die in futile battles, the two groups agreed to talk.

So it was that President Sam Houston of the Republic of Texas instigated a peace treaty with multiple American Native Nations and the Republic of Texas. Originally planned to be held at Fort Bird, the peace talk was moved to Grapevine Springs after the Native Americans expressed suspicions that the fort venue could be a trap.

Before the treaty was signed President Houston was forced to return to the Texas capital due to other affairs of state, such as war with Mexico and the pending annexation to the United States of America. The final details of a peace treaty were ironed out between his Indian Commissioners and the tribe representatives. The terms might have gone better for the tribes if Houston had been able to remain.

The treaty of Bird Fort did not happen at Bird Fort in the Trinity River bottoms. It happened six miles away at Grapevine Springs, on Grapevine Prairie, so named for the abundant wild Mustang Grapes that grew there and can often be found growing wild in the hedgerows of our pastures and bushes of our lawns in this area to this day.

With the signing of the treaty, the region was opened to safer settlement for non-native Americans. By modern standards, it was a terribly one-sided deal, with the death penalty prescribed for “Indians” who killed white people and more lenient “felony punishments” for white men who killed “Indians” among other inequalities.

It was the de facto end to “indian wars” in Texas, and the beginning of the settlement that is the City of Grapevine today. A city that sprung out of three major historic events, the ending of one war, the midst of another, and the ending of the Independent Republic of Texas.

It is a place where peace was made. One people sacrificed much of their freedom and future for it, while another people secured the prosperity and future of their own progeny.

As I travel this region in my daily endeavors, I try to remember that this land was once the domain of people who fought bravely for it and lost, and others who fought bravely for it and won. I remember there was honor and deceit among both, and that I should strive to treat my fellow humans with honor and respect so the sins of the past remain there, rather than being revived in the present or future.

copyright 2021 by Timothy Frazier