Matagorda Island Wildlife Management Area
Matagorda Island, with its historic lighthouse, was on the Texas coastline where Buffalo Soldiers might have helped with federal security after the Civil War. The safety of nearby ports like Indianola was…
After the 9th Cavalry and 41st Infantry Buffalo Soldiers were formed in New Orleans, Louisiana, they were dispatched to Texas to protect the frontier. They traveled on Morgan Line’s steamships that took them across the Gulf of Mexico to Indianola, Texas - a major Texas seaport at the time. From there, the 9th Cavalry marched over 150 miles to San Antonio, while the 41st Calvary traveled nearly 250 miles to the Mexican border at Brownsville. The trip by ship and the following long marches inland were just the beginning of the tough and important job these soldiers would do on the Texas frontier.
Matagorda Island, with its historic lighthouse, was on the Texas coastline where Buffalo Soldiers might have helped with federal security after the Civil War. The safety of nearby ports like Indianola was…
Resaca de la Palma State Park in Brownsville is steeped in military history. Fort Brown in the Lower Rio Grande Valley was a major hub for Buffalo Soldiers, like the 9th Cavalry…
Standing watch over the Laguna Madre, the Port Isabel Lighthouse guided ships through a crucial Gulf Coast harbor. While no records show Buffalo Soldiers were stationed at the lighthouse itself, the port’s…
Sabine Pass Battleground preserves the site of a key Civil War victory for Confederate forces, where a small garrison repelled a much larger Union invasion. Decades later, during the post–Civil War frontier…
Varner-Hogg Plantation tells the story of more than a century of Texas history, from its early days as a sugar plantation worked by enslaved people to its later role in the state’s…
Fort Brown, located in Brownsville, served as fortification against Mexican soldiers, Native American incursions, the Confederacy, the Union Army, as well as providing a front for the battle against malaria, all in…
The Battleship Texas is currently closed for a major repair project, and will be relocating to Pier 15 in Galveston in 2026. The USS Texas holds the distinguished designation of a National…
Independence Trail Region
302 N. Esplanade Cuero, TX 77954 (361) 277-2866 Website
Tropical Trail Region
80 Fort Brown UT-Brownsville and Texas Southmost College Brownsville, TX 78520 (800) 262-8857 Website
Independence Trail Region
Matagorda Island Port O'Connor, TX 77982 (979) 323-9553 Website
Tropical Trail Region
421 East Queen Isabella Blvd Port Isabel, TX 78578 (956) 943-2262 Website
Tropical Trail Region
1000 New Carmen Ave Brownsville, TX 78521 (956) 350-2920 Website
Forest Trail Region
6100 Dick Dowling Road Port Arthur, TX 77640 (512) 463-7948 Website
Independence Trail Region
1702 North 13th St. West Columbia, TX 77486 (979) 345-4656 Website