Editing Cameron, Texas (section)

===Early years===

Soon after Texas became a U.S. state, the [[Texas Legislature]] authorized a seven-member commission to find a permanent site for the Milam County seat.<ref name="Texas Handbook">{{cite web | url = https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hfc01 | title = Cameron, Texas | publisher = [[The Handbook of Texas]] online | access-date = 2013-06-28 | archive-date = February 23, 2020 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200223191803/https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hfc01 | url-status = live }}</ref> The commission purchased a 60-acre tract of Daniel Monroe's headright on the [[Little River (Texas)|Little River]] in 1846 and named the new community Cameron after [[Ewen Cameron (Captain)|Ewen Cameron]], a [[Scottish people|Scottish highlander]] prominent in the [[Texas Revolution]] and a member of the [[Mier Expedition]] during the war with [[Mexico]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cameron-tx.com/tourism/history.html |title=History |publisher=Cameron Area Chamber of Commerce |access-date=2009-05-30 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080603022341/http://www.cameron-tx.com/tourism/history.html |archive-date=June 3, 2008 }}</ref> When the courthouse in Cameron was completed later that year, county records were transferred to Cameron from [[Nashville, Texas|Nashville]]—a community situated along the [[Brazos River]] that had served as the Milam County seat during the period when Texas was an independent [[Republic of Texas|republic]].<ref name="Texas Escapes"/><ref name="Kubiak">{{cite web | url = http://www.forttumbleweed.net/cameron.html | title = Cameron, Texas Webpage | work = Leonard Kubiak's Online Texas History Webpages | publisher = Leonard Kubiak | access-date = 2009-05-30 | archive-date = December 2, 2008 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081202225017/http://www.forttumbleweed.net/cameron.html | url-status = live }}</ref> The new town struggled due to its isolated location, with the nearest railroad being 50 miles away. In the late 1840s and early 1850s, several attempts were made to navigate the Little River to give Cameron easier access to trade routes.<ref name="Kubiak"/> The most successful attempts occurred in 1850 after heavy rains made the river rise. J.W. McCown Sr. persuaded Captain Basil M. Hatfield to bring his steamboat ''Washington'' through the upper Brazos up to the Little River. The steamboat and the merchandise it brought caused great excitement among the locals, and a two-day celebration was held when the boat tied up 2.5 miles east of Cameron.<ref name="Texas Handbook"/> Despite this, however, navigation of the river was impractical on a regular basis, and places such as [[Port Sullivan, Texas|Port Sullivan]] and Nashville developed into Milam County's dominant business centers during the 1850s and 1860s.<ref name="Texas Handbook"/> More competition came in the 1870s when nearby [[Rockdale, Texas|Rockdale]] was established on the [[International-Great Northern Railroad]]. Faced with these challenges, some Milam County residents began to question whether Cameron should remain the county seat instead of the newly prosperous town of Rockdale. Elections were held in 1874 and 1880 on the issue, with the results going in favor of maintaining the status quo.<ref name="Texas Escapes"/>