The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 50, July 1946 - April, 1947 Page: 79
582 p. : ill. (some col.), maps ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Early Times in Comal County
the preceding night a severe thunderstorm brought to an abrupt
end a cannibalistic orgy by Lipans, Tonkaways, and Caran-
kawas. They had killed a Waco brave and then had cooked,
roasted, and eaten him. On the following morning some Tonka-
way squaws appeared at the immigrant camp and gave signs
of great satisfaction over the grand meal and expressed the
hope that they might bear sons who would become as brave
warriors as the Waco had been."4
For the protection of both the officials and settlers a stockade
was built on the east bank of Comal Creek and named the
Zinkenburg in honor of Nicolaus Zink, the engineer and sur-
veyor who platted the settlement into town and farm lots."
Prince Solms moved the seat of government to the Vereinsberg
and lived there in a thatch-covered hut until French Smith of
Seguin completed two two-room blockhouses.'" On April 28 the
prince laid the cornerstone of the Sophienburg, which he named
in honor of Princess Sophia of Salm-Salm, his ladylove. This
building was larger than either of the others and was to serve
the dual purpose of a fort and headquarters of the Adelsverein's
officials."7
On the occasion of the cornerstone laying for the Sophienburg
a holiday was granted to the officials and employees. During
the ceremony salutes were fired, and in the absence of a German
flag the black and yellow flag of Austria was raised on the site
of the fort. At the same time the settlers assembled on the
market place, raised the Texas flag, elected Oscar von Claren,
a former Hannoverian artillery officer, as commandant, and
organized two companies for the protection of the settlement
against Indian raids.'"
For home sites and for farming lots the Adelsverein, by a
public drawing of lots, gave to each head of a family and to
each single man over seventeen years old a half-acre town lot9
and a ten-acre farm lot. Most of the settlers accepted these
town lots with great reluctance and much preferred to be trans-
ported to the grant, which of course was out of the question at
14Seele, Die Cypresse, 115-116, 169.
15Biesele, German Settlements in Texas, 121.
'Seele, Die Cypresse, 116; Solms-Braunfels Archiv, XLIII, 27.
17"Berichte" in Kalender, 63.
'8Seele, Die Cypresse, 172.
""The town lots were 96 feet wide and 192 feet deep and constituted a
half-acre Bavarian measurement. This made them 3,348 square feet short
of a half acre by American land measure.
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 50, July 1946 - April, 1947, periodical, 1947; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101117/m1/95/?rotate=90: accessed March 29, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.