The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 54, July 1950 - April, 1951 Page: 266
544 p. : ill., ports., maps. (some col.) ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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266 Southwestern Historical Quarterly
he did preserve the account.8 If he is not to the Snively Expedi-
tion what Josiah Gregg was to the Santa Fe Trail, he is, at least,
entitled to wear a Jacob Fowler mantle-not a mean tribute in
itself.
Miller's entries in the diary are apt throughout, and after more
than a hundred years his account remains as clear, as fresh, as
flavorful as the day it was written. Miller is a charming philoso-
pher, conscientious in the extreme, and by nature inclined to
be objective. He tells a fair and impartial story, already by
temperament the judge that he was later to become on the
bench., No keeper of a log ever gave greater fidelity to his
undertaking. Occasionally in writing Miller would delete a word
and add another, but every deletion may be clearly read. In
writing he made every effort to be correct, but all of his correc-
tions are immediate. On any given day he recorded the facts as
he saw them. In the days following he might learn of an error,
but what he had already written was sacred. He would not change
copy, but instead would note the error on the day on which he
learned of its existence.
Miller was one of the first to arrive at the appointed place of
rendezvous, Fort Johnson at the little settlement of Georgetown
near Coffee's Station on Red River in what was then Fannin
County.10 He was probably in many ways representative of the
sProbably the last survivor of the Snively Expedition, Miller lived a well-
ordered, useful, and exemplary life. After his death on March 27, 1893, his diary
passed into the hands of his daughter, Amelia, Mrs. C. C. Comer of Carthage,
who not only made the diary itself available to the present writer but also
furnished him with other information regarding her father, including letters,
pictures, and newspaper clippings.
9After his return from the Snively Expedition, Miller studied law with James
Carr, probably the first lawyer to locate in Crockett, and soon became associated
with Judge Royall T. Wheeler. Miller represented Houston County in the First
and Second Legislatures in 1846 and 1847 and was a member of the Texas Senate
in 1851, 1854, and 1861. He later served two terms as judge of Houston County.
Aldrich, The History of Houston County, Texas, 175-176.
10The area is now included in Grayson County, which was created out of Fannin
in 1846. Gammel (comp.), Laws of Texas, II, 1313-1314.
The site of Fort Johnson was marked by the Texas Centennial Commission in
1936. The inscription on the marker reads: "Site of Fort Johnson, Established by
William G. Cooke in 1840 as a part of the defense of the military road from Red
River to Austin. Named in honor of Colonel Francis W. Johnson (1799-1888),
commander of the Texas army at the capture of San Antonio, December lo, 1835.
Place of rendezvous of the Snively Expedition which set out on April 25, 1843.
The settlement in the vicinity was known as Georgetown."-Monuments Erected
by the State of Texas to Commemorate the Centenary of Texas Independence
(Austin, 1938), 134.
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 54, July 1950 - April, 1951, periodical, 1951; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101133/m1/374/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.