Comfort, Texas

The last few days we have visited a few small towns in the area. One of these in particular reflects the interesting history of the area. Certainly, most of us have heard the stories of the Alamo standoff during the Texas fight for independent from Mexico, not long after that nation had gained its independence from Spain. For many, the actual history may be a bit fuzzy and based on movies starring the likes of Fess Parker or John Wayne.

Underlying the build up to these events, was the decision by people like Sam Houston to entice more “Anglo” settlers to the Texas region. As a result, many villages in Europe, especially in Germany, were invited to migrate to the Texas region. Comfort is a prime example of that activity. Today, this is a quiet country town. During the Civil War, a number of the German settlers were loyal to the Union cause. This led to a relatively unknown events that resulted in the lost of life for many of these settlers at the hands of the Confederate forces. The small monument to this event is also unique, in that it is one of just a hand full of places that is officially allowed to display the United States Flag at half mast 24 hours a day, year around.

One of the good things about traveling this country by RV at a leisurely pace is the ability to not only see the sites of major events in our history, but also the smaller less known ones, as well. These smaller places and less known events often give us a better understanding of the how and why of the big events. If we do not know and understand our history, we can never appreciate our present or how we came to where we are.