The Brazos Valley, for which our Houston Chapter was named, is a beautiful river valley in Texas that is significant in the history of the State.

The Spanish explorers of Texas were courageous and hardy men, but often illiterate. So, wisely, when King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella sent delegations to the New World, they were accompanied by a well educated a priest or monk who served the expedition beyond the call of religious duty. The priests kept daily records and made maps of the land. Places were named, weather recorded. They carried out these secular tasks in addition to ministering to the spiritual life of their party, and the natives they met along the way.

On the earliest maps of Texas, the waterway that we now call the Brazos River was "El Rio de los Brazos de Dios" — the welcoming arms of God. Late one afternoon, after a very hot, daylong walk across the dry Texas prairie, a tired priest and his company saw a wavering green line through the shimmering heat. Drawing closer, they discovered trees along a stream.  The cool water and the shade trees seemed like extended, welcoming arms of God to the parched bodies of the weary travelers; hence, the enchanting name on the Priest’s map.

The fertile Brazos valley, alluvial lands alongside the wonderful river that winds through Texas down to the Gulf of Mexico, produced abundant food crops, and provided a place for the growth of promising patriotic ideas and ideals. The Convention of 1836, which declared Texas independence, met at Washington-on-the-Brazos. Later, by executive order of President Sam Houston, the town served as the Capital of the Republic of Texas from 1842 until December 1845, when the Joint Resolution of the Congress  of the United States ratified the Texas decision to become a state. We are proud that our Houston Texas DAR chapter is named for such an historically interesting and picturesque river valley.   -Revised 2009 Naomi Joyner-