"I started with 20 men and three wagons from Fredericksburg in January, 1847." That's how John O. Meusebach, Mason Courthouse - Mason, Texas Commissioner General for the Society for the Protection of German Immigrants in Texas, described his last official mission. He had already submitted his resignation, but agreed to travel north of the Llano River to make one more treaty with the Comanches who dominated the area now known as Mason County.

And though he was successful; for $3,000 worth of presents, the Comanche chiefs agreed not to "disturb our surveyors in their work, nor to do any harm to our colonists," it wasn't until after Fort Mason was established in 1851 that settlers began to arrive in any numbers.

Commanded by officers as distinguished as James Longstreet, Albert Sydney Johnston and Robert E. Lee, Fort Mason provided welcome protection for settlers and stimulated the local economy. By 1853, there were 149 soldiers at the fort ("armed with musketoons, sabers, and Colt's pistols"), and the area progressed rapidly. The first settlers lived on isolated farms, but schools were established in 1854, a road was built from the fort to Willow Creek in 1855 (where the first real community was formed by five German families in 1856) and mail service began in 1857.

Mason County was formed in 1858, and by 1860 its population had grown to 630. The town of Mason was designated county seat in 1861.

The Civil War brought growth to an abrupt halt, and led to a resurgence in attacks by the Comanches. Even after the war was over, and the population was growing rapidly, Mason experienced some tense and dangerous times during the 1870s. The famous Mason County War (or Hoodoo War) of 1874 was the most violent time, but the booming cattle business and accompanying thievery caused hard feelings between German and English settlers for years.

Gradually, the "land of wild beasts and wild men" was tamed; the Lutheran Church was built and the Baptist Church was organized in 1872, ...

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