AN ODYSSEY OF COWBOYS AND KARANKAWA INDIANS

The collection in the Texana Museum, located in Edna, is as eclectic as the museum’s name. “Texana” refers to the unique history and culture of all things Texan, something that the museum covers with an unusual array of artifacts and objects. An exhibit on the Karankawa Indians, explores some of the region’s first known human inhabitants. Alongside this informative display are remnants of cowboy culture and turn of the 19th century artifacts like a dentist’s office (toothache, anyone?), a general country store, and a three-hundred year old violin. The Texana Museum also holds artifacts uncovered by the Texas Historical Commission during a recent excavation of Fort St. Louis: the first French settlement established in Texas. The Texas Historical Commission excavated the site in effort to develop greater understanding of the failed French attempt to colonize Texas in the late 1600s under the direction of French explorer Sieur de la Salle. The museum’s library archives documents on surrounding Jackson County, one of the original Texas counties formed after independence in 1836. Edna serves as county seat, after arresting the designation from the nearby town of Texana in the early 1880’s. The New York, Texas and Mexican Railway elected to bypass the Texana community, a decision that helped turn Texana into a ghost town and bestow Edna’s county crown. The surrounding community, however, managed to save the historic Texana Church. Its construction date of 1859 makes it the oldest surviving church in Jackson County and is now located six and a half miles east of Edna in the Brackenridge Park Campground.

Watch the following videos to learn more about the history of Fort St. Louis and its recent excavation. To learn more about the La Salle Odyssey, check out our mobile tour!