Texas Historical Marker #04698
Silver Mine Pass. Named for silver mine opened near pass by Spaniards in 1700s or earlier. Ore was inferior, and mine was abandoned; but 14 shafts (some interconnecting) remain. Near the mine are remnants of a fortification made by 30 men under the leadership of James Bowie, later (1836) a hero of the siege to the Alamo. In 1831, while at work at this mine, Bowie's men repulsed a Comanche attack in a fierce, all-day battle. Hero of the fight was Bowie's slave, "Black Jim Bowie," who risked his life by leaving the fortification to bring water to the besieged. 1968 #4698
FM 83 and 127, Concan, TX, United States
Texas Historical Marker #00600
C.S.A. Saltpetre Mine. Important to Texas in waging the Civil War. Site of natural deposits of bat guano, worked in the 1860s to obtain the chief ingredient for gunpowder. Cave inhabited by bats, source of the guano, extends about 23 miles. One room in the great bat den is 585' x 325', and has a 45' ceiling. A narrow gauge railway with mule drawn cars was used in the digging. Corrals for the mules occupied one chamber of the cave. Putrefied and dried bat guano, mixed with smaller parts of sulphur and charcoal, gave firepower to Civil War guns. 1965 #600
FM 83 and 127, Concan, TX, United States