Belt's Ferry

Fort Teran was a Mexican military encampment or station established in 1831 at a Neches River crossing that Spanish government representatives in Nacogdoches at the beginning of the nineteenth century had referred to as the "pass to the south." Three important trails crossed the Neches River at this point, underscoring the significance of this strategic site. The fort was named in honor of Gen. Manuel de Mier y Terán, commandant general of the eastern division of the Provincias Internas (which included Texas), and constructed at this location as part of a program to control the flow of smugglers and illegal immigrants into Texas.

The site was in what is now Tyler County about a half mile downstream from the mouth of Shawnee Creek and three miles west of Rockland. The crossing at this point provided access to a feasible route across the Kisatchie Wold, a ridge that extends from the Mississippi River to the lower Rio Grande valley of Texas and that was a formidable obstacle for north-south travel. In northern Tyler County this ridge reaches heights of 400 to 450 feet above sea level at several of its peaks and has forced the Neches River to run eastward along the northern boundary of Tyler County.