Because overland travel in early Texas was an enterprise often fraught with hardship, frustration, and danger, many individuals looked to rivers for a solution to the problem. From 1829 to the Civil War, optimistic Texans attempted to ply the area's long, meandering rivers, but met repeated disappointment.

The most serious drawback to navigation of the Colorado was "the raft." This was a series of timber masses -- some floating, some sunken -- choking off the river about 10-25 miles above its mouth. The length was variously given as 3-8 miles. In spite of this, the keelboat "David Crockett" became the first boat to navigate the river, in 1838. After that, flatboats brought cotton, hides, lumber, and pecans down as far as the raft, but there the goods had to be taken off and hauled laboriously by wagon to Matagorda. The Republic of Texas incorporated 2 companies to clear the river and the State authorized the construction of a new channel around the raft, but the obstruction remained an impediment and hazard.

Although shallow-draft boats managed occasional trips, the more-efficient railroads eventually took away much business. After the Civil War, Texas Rivers ceased to be an important factor in transportation.

Acreage for a community church, school, and graveyard was given in 1859 by George M. Sargeant. The first burial in the cemetery was for George W. Rolston (d.1859), a veteran of the War of 1812. Additional land for the New Haven Baptist Church and Cemetery was donated by John and Lillie (Doak) Jamison in 1898. Numerous pioneer families and war veterans are buried here, as is Dimple Dee, the infant daughter of W.W. and Katie Crockett, for whom the Dimple community is named. The historic cemetery continues to serve residents of the area.

From site near here, 1800 Longhorns were moved out April 1, 1866, on first trail drive from this area to northern markets. Crockett Cardwell, owner of cattle bedground, had gathered the herd. The trail boss was Thornton Chisholm, a native of DeWitt County. Indian Scout Jesse Chisholm in 1865 had marked the upper trail from the North Canadian to the Arkansas River.

Road here became a prong of the famous Chisholm Trail, going past Gonzales, San Marcos, Austin, Round Rock, Georgetown, Gatesville, Glen Rose and Red River Station, into Indian territory. The 30 men of this 1866 drive to St. Joseph, Mo., were gone 7 months, 10 days. The cook and many of the men made numerous later drives; but Thornton Chisholm died in 1868.

260,000 cattle - accumulated in Texas in 4 years of Civil War - went in 1866 up the Chisholm Trail, a flood channel from a vast reservoir of beef. Sold in northern markets or to the U.S. Government to feed Indians on reservations or soldiers in forts, the trailed cattle helped Texas recover from the war.

From 1866 to 1895 at least 10,000,000 cattle were driven up the Chisholm Trail by courageous Texas cowboys - the greatest movement of animals under the control of men in all history.

From Longhorn cattle gathering site, 1800 Longhorns were headed up and moved out of Cardwell Flats near here on April 1, 1866 on first Chisholm cattle drive to northern markets. Crockett Cardwell, owner of cattle bedground had gathered the herd with Thornton Chisholm of DeWitt County serving as Trail Boss and G.M. (Tip) Alexander of Cuero serving as one of the cowboy trail drivers. The Old Chisholm Trail on departing from site near Cuero Texas proceeded toward Doan's River crossing and then into Oklahoma, Kansas and finally terminated in Missouri 7 months later. It is the purpose of our association to perpetuate the memory of these brave hardy pioneers who blazed the trails in the wilderness before us, suffering the many hardships that accompanied the greatest movement of animals in history under the control and direction of men on the Old Chisholm Trail.

Joseph Redmond Rice (1805-1866) and his wife, Willie Masters Rice (1809-1881), natives of Tennessee and Kentucky, built a one-room log cabin on this site in 1828. Rice's brothers and his father-in-law, Jacob Masters, probably helped with the building. The men cut logs in the woods, Willie Rice drove a team that snaked them to the clearing for the house raising. Menaced by hostile Indians, the Rices fled to Louisiana, but returned in the 1830s. Over ensuing years, they enlarged the cabin and increased their family to eleven children. Their dwelling became known in the Republic of Texas as a place to lodge of take meals on the San Antonio Road, between the towns of Nacogdoches and Crockett. After Joseph and Willie Rice died, descendants lived in the log house until 1919, when a grandson shifted it some 300 feet and built a new frame house on the original site. The historic house was then used to store grain and shelter farm implements and the family automobile. The Rice homesite was commemorated in 1936 by the Texas Centennial Commission, and in 1973 the old log house was given to the State. Relocated in Tejas Mission Park (16 mi.NE), it has been restored and is on exhibition as a relic of frontier days.

Built about 1893. From its early days, boarded teachers, visiting athletic teams and business callers in city. Noted guests of 1919-1921 were geologists and lease men seeking to develop the now-significant oil fields of Crockett County.

In 1892 Claude B. Hudspeth (1877-1941) began publication of a weekly newspaper called the "Ozona Kicker." Following his three-year ownership, Hudspeth entered politics, serving first in the Texas Legislature and later as representative from the Sixteenth Texas District to the United States Congress.

The newspaper was published by later owners as the "Enterprise," "Courier," and "Optimist." When County Judge Charles E. Davidson purchased the operation in 1913, he changed the name to "Ozona Stockman" to reflect the important role of cattlemen and the ranching industry in the development of Crockett County and the surrounding area. W. Evart White took over as publisher and editor in 1926. A native of Tom Green County, he had served on newspaper staffs in Austin, San Angelo, San Antonio, and Cuero before purchasing the "Stockman." Under his leadership the content and format of the paper were changed to match the style of leading daily publications. In 1941 White directed the work on an 88-page special edition. Printed in honor of Crockett County's 50th anniversary, it was considered a major achievement for the staff of a weekly paper. White retired in 1972 after 46 years with the "Stockman."

Focus for civic life in early Ozona. City founder E.M. Powell provided the water well equipped with 18-foot windmill, a water trough, and a small cypress tank.

At first meeting of Crockett County Commissioners Court, July 22, 1891, under a live oak near the well, the Sheriff was instructed to operate the city water works. At the time, tents housed most homes and stores, and water was hauled from city well -- often by children using toy wagons. In a few years homes had private wells and windmills. A modern system piped water throughout the city in the early 1900s.

This site was selected for the Crockett County seat in 1891 because of a producing water well (200' northwest). Joe Moss, who drilled for water throughout the area, dug the well for E.M. Powell (1847-1925), railroad surveyor, financier, and land developer. Powell laid out the town, donated the water well, windmill, storage cistern, and land for public buildings. Immediately the Commissioners Court designated the well site as County property. Residents hauled water home by hand, on horseback, and by wagon. Later a wagon delivered barrels of water door-to-door.

As a result of Ozona's rapid growth by 1900, Judge Charles E. Davidson organized locally-owned "Ozona Improvement Company." The business drilled more wells and laid a pipeline in town. This hilltop, a familiar site of windmills and sprawling storage tanks, was called "Waterworks Hill." In a few years power equipment was added to provide electricity and ice. A municipal water district was formed in the late 1930s under the guidance of Joe North.

Ozona's has not suffered from a decrease in its water supply during times of drought. Its water system utilizes the vast underground limestone formations in which moisture is stored.

By the 1920s many ranchers in Crockett County had fenced their land, preventing their neighbors from driving sheep and cattle to the railroad shipping point in Barnhart (23 miles north of here). A solution to the problem was offered by the Ozona-Barnhart Trap Co., which was organized in Ozona in 1924. By buying or leasing land for trails, traps (small pastures), pens, and water wells, the company established a corridor through which ranchers could drive their livestock to the railroad without crossing their neighbor's fences or destroying his grass supply. The main trail extended about 34 miles, from south of Ozona to Barnhart, with branch lines throughout the county. The McNutt traps (2 miles northwest), with 1340 acres of pasture, were the hub of the trail. Sale of stock to area ranchmen financed the enterprise, and operating expenses were handled by a charge per head of livestock for services used. The O.-B. Trap Co. saved the ranching industry at a time when it was the only important business in Crockett County.

The need for the trail dwindled with the rise of truck transportation in the 1930s, but drives were still held until the 1950s. The O.-B. Trap Co. now leases its land for grazing or gas production.