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Our neighborhood was choice territory in 1840 — a lovely spot filled with trees and hills, transected by limestone creeks, and a green valley. However, had it been named for the wild actions its beauty and promise provoked, Lakewood might well have been called Buffalo Bone, Indian Problem, or just simply Land Grab, Texas.

In 1836, Texas became The Republic of Texas, and things went downhill for American Indians. "In 1842, pioneers began settling what is now Dallas County, and settler James Beeman observed a massive herd of bison in White Rock Creek valley," writes historian Steven Butler.

Gil Glover

A semi-antique postcard shows White Rock Lake under a full moon.

Suddenly, this desirable land that wasn't up for grabs was grabbed up, as was the custom of the day, from the Comanche and Caddo natives. The buffalo soon roamed no more, starving those who were already busy dodging bullets. See President Andrew Jackson's "Indian Removal Act" of 1830 for a real PR piece.

Butler writes, "In the 1840s, white settlers began establishing homesteads on the high ground surrounding the White Rock Valley. Among them were the Coxes, the Dixons, the Humbards, the McCommases, and the Fishers."

Lakewood might have been named for any of these pioneers, had their settlements survived. Cox settlement leaves only Cox Cemetery; Dixon Branch was close by on the feeder creek still called Dixon Branch.

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