Rachel Plummer - Establishment in Texas

Establishment in Texas

The Plummers joined other Parker family members, including father James, his brothers Silas and Benjamin and their families, in moving to Texas. The older brother Daniel Parker was already in Texas, though not with the other Parkers. The Parker clan led by James, including the Plummer family, moved to their land grant, and built Fort Parker at the headwaters of the Navasota River. It was completed in March 1834, before they had even been legally awarded the land on which it was built. Rachel's grandfather, Elder John Parker, then joined them, with his second wife, Sally “Granny” (White) Parker. Fort Parker's 12-foot (4 m) high pointed log walls enclosed 4 acres (16,000 m2). Blockhouses were placed on two corners for lookouts and to make defense of the fort possible. Six cabins were attached to the inside walls. The fort had one large gate facing south, and a small rear gate for easy access to the spring waters.

Though the families in the Parker group were beginning to build cabins outside the Fort, the vast majority still slept inside for protection. Elder John Parker had negotiated treaties with local Indian chiefs, and believed they would protect the little colony. Luther Plummer believed his family was safe, but his father-in-law, James Parker, was not so sure, since he understood what his relatives did not, that the Comanche were not a unified "tribe" as the Europeans understood such, but a group of bands and divisions united by common cultural ties. His brother Silas had raised, and become Captain, of a local Ranger company, which James felt could attract the anger of Indians who felt abused by the Rangers.