In 1840 Benjamin Bryant established, at the request of Sam Houston, president of the Texas Republic, a pioneer trading post and fort on the north bank of the Little River near the western border of Milam County.
Houston also requested John Torrey and his brothers David and Thomas to establish a trading house on the upper Brazos.
John F. Torrey was born at Ashford, Connecticut in 1821. At 17, he came to Texas and settled in the new city of Houston.
The following year David, the oldest brother, arrived in Houston, and was soon followed by brother Thomas in 1840 and James in 1841.
The Torrey brothers established a merchandising business in Houston under the name John Torrey and Company.
The trading house, the first of many established by the Torreys, catered to the needs of the Indians.
In Houston the brothers became closely associated with President Houston who used their Indian trade to develop his Indian policy. Three Indian councils were all held on the council grounds a few miles beyond Torrey’s Post No. 2.
The first council was set for September, 1844, but because of numerous delays, it did not take place until October. This meeting turned out to be what was probably the greatest Indian council ever held in the Republic.
President Houston was on hand and a treaty was made to bind the Anglo and Indian populations.
On Oct. 9, 1844, the treaty was concluded when it was signed by the authorized agents of Texas and chiefs of the Waco, Tawakoni, and Kichai Tribes.
Houston did not sign the treaty because he felt that as president he should sign only after the Senate had ratified it.
The second council meeting met at Torrey’s Trading Post Sept. 19, 1845. At this council no treaty was signed because all the tribes attending the meeting had signed the treaty in 1844.
The third council met on Nov. 15, 1845. Of all the tribes attending, the Wichita was the only tribe not to have signed the peace treaty which was accomplished at the meeting.
The John Torrey and Company Trading Post No. 2 was sold to George Barnard in 1848 and the Torreys moved further west. John Torrey turned his attention to the grist and saw mill business and the blind and sash factory that he owned in New Braunfels.
The trading post under Bernard continued for a few years to supply the Indians, but it lost the excitement and importance that it had enjoyed under the Torreys.
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