Four Corner - Texas Water Development Board

Figure VI presents the Four Comers project area drawn on a Fort Bend County map from the General Land Office
showing the original owners of the land. They include Jesse H. Cartwright, Mills M. Battle, D. A. Conner, John
Leverton, AndrewM. Clopper and the I. & G.N. RR Co. Jesse H. Cartwright has been discussed in the history of the
Cwruni.ngs Road project area. Mills M. Battle was also a member of the "Old Tluee Hundred" of the Austin colony.
He is listed as a contractor and carpenter in business. He was at various times, justice of t11e peace, deputy clerk of t11e
probate court, notary public and county clerk in Fort Bent County. He helped nominate Sam Houston for President of
the Republic of Texas in 1841 (fyler, 1996). No background infonnation could be located for D. A. Connor and John
Leverton. Andrew M. Clopper was the son of Nicholas Clopper. Nicholas Clopper joined the Austin colony in 1822
and was instrumental in developing a trade route using Buffalo Bayou. Nicholas was responsible for t11e acquisition
of t11e "Twin Sisters" used in the Battle of San Jacinto (Tyler, 1996). Andrew was a courier for President David
Burnett during t11e Texas Revolution and later worked as a surveyor in t11e general area (Lapham Letters, 1909). Also
shown on Figure VI is the estimated route of General Santa Anna on April 14th and 15th of 1836 on his way to
Harrisburg and eventually, t11e Battle of San Jacinto (Wharton, 1939). Tltis route was reconstructed using t11e personal
narrative of Jose Enrique de Ia Pena as well as recollections handed down from eye witness accounts. Santa Anna
crossed t11e Brazos River on April 14th, 1836 at Thompsons Ferry, moved north crossing Jones Creek and supposedly
made camp at nightfall on t11e western Andrew Clopper land tract. By noon on April 15, 1836, he had moved southeast
and burnt t11e plantation of Willian! Stafford (located just east of the George Brown and Charles Belknap tract) wltich
has been documented historically. This route on t11e monting of April 15u' could have takenltim across the southern
portion of the Four Corners project area. The actual route has not been finnly documented ltistorically or
archaeologically (Jeff Dunn, personal cmrununication, 1998).
There is no arcltival evidence that any of the original owners of t11e land built plantations or habitations in t11e project
area. In t11e case of Battle and Cartwright, it is more likely tlmt t11eir residences would lmve been built on Oyster Creek,
south of t11e project area. Since first settled, the main land use of the project area has been for growing crops (corn,
cotton potatoes and sugar cane) and/or for grazing cattle and horses (Lapham Letters, 1909). A 1956 aerial photograph,
Figure VII, shows tlmt the entire project area lms been under cultivation at some time (Fort Bend Soil Survey, 1956).
Approximately, thirty houses exist on tltis photograph tlmt are also present in Figure V.
Field Survey - The highest potential for prehistoric sites in tltis area is along the banks of Keegans Bayou located
beltind t11e Kingbridge Development in tl1e upper northeast section of the area and t11e banks of two drainage clmnnels,
one in tl1e northwestern section of t11e project area (Figure V) wltich drains into Red Gully iu the sout11west section of
the project area. Keegans Bayou appears to lmve been rerouted to its present location and the area has been extensively
modified by new construction. Limited acoess to t11e banks oftl1e drainage channels prevented a complete walk-tlirough
survey of tl1ese areas for potential prehistoric sites. However, lintited observations during the field survey and tl1e aerial
photographs indicate that t11e northwest drainage channel lms been heavily impacted by cultivation as well as
construction since 1956. Visual observations indicate tlmt tl1e banks of Red Gulch have been extensively modified from
the southwestern point adjacent to the land fill to the southern edge of the project area by landfill operations and
construction. Visual observations and the aerial photographs indicate that the banks of the western extension of Red
Gulch to the western boundary of the project area lmve been impacted by cultivation.
The remaining houses tlmt meet the age requirement for the National Register of Historic Places were examined and
only one could possibly qualify based on any of the other requirements. This is the residence at 9427 Gaines Road.
There was no evidence of any remains of preexisting historic structures on the rest of the project area which has also
been heavily impacted by cultivation and new constmction based on limited visual observations and the aerial
photographs.
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