LONG GONE BUT STILL REMEMBERED

Fort Parker Memorial Cemetery, located near the Brazos Trail Region community of Groesbeck, is the burial site of a number of the settlers who died in the attack on Fort Parker in 1836. The tragic event, known to most Texans for the kidnapping of Cynthia Ann Parker, left settlers Elder John Parker, Benjamin F. Parker, Silas M. Parker, Samuel M. Frost, and Robert Frost dead after Caddo and Comanche Indians attacked the simple fortifications. Today, visitors to the cemetery will find a large slab over the mass grave of these five dead settlers. The slab is engraved with their names (although Benjamin’s name is spelled differently) and includes the words “In memory of those who laid foundations others have built upon”, perhaps a reference to the pioneers’ efforts to help settle the Texas frontier. Visitors will also find a large monument dedicated to the Fort Parker settlers, including the survivors of the attack, complete with bigger than life-size stone figures mounted on a columned base. The monument, erected in 1932, has withstood time far better than the actual fort, a timber stockade that was reconstructed nearby in the late 1960s and currently open for visitors to tour.