| Marker Text |
Milam, the first county seat of Sabine County, has a history of travelers and visitors stretching back centuries. Native Americans and Spanish explorers, soldiers and missionaries passed through and often camped on Las Boregas Creek. Texian settlers encountering the natural abundance echoed the words of Stephen F. Austin, who recorded in his diary entry of July 16, 1821: We then suddenly came to an open rolling country thinly timbered soil about the color of Spanish Browne, & in some places redder this red land is very productive and is covered with the most luxuriant growth of grass I ever beheld in any country. The settlement first called Red Mound (Red Mount) was the seat of government for the Sabine district since 1822, and was surveyed as a town site in 1828. Milam Cemetery is on a high hill overlooking the historic community. The exact date of the first burial will never be known. Spanish explorers were passing through present-day Milam as early as 1539 and camped on Las Boregas creek a few hundred yards west of the cemetery. Local historians believe Anglo burials occurred here probably as early as 1775, since travelers used the campsite down the hill on Las Boregas. The land on which the cemetery is located was granted to john smith on Feb. 26, 1835. The first marked burial is dated 1864, although more than one hundred unmarked graves are suspected. Numerous military veterans dating back to the Creek War are interred here, as well as prominent early citizens from the Causey, Weatherred, McGrew and Nethery families. Milam Cemetery may be the oldest organized cemetery in Sabine County, and a cherished chronicle of generations of visitors and residents. Historic Texas Cemetery - 2011 |
