Victoria Regional History Center//VC/UHV Library

John L. JarrattJohn L. Jarratt Collection

Self-trained as an archaeologist, Jarratt laid the groundwork for several major site studies in Victoria County, Texas, and the surrounding region. The John L. Jarratt Collection consists of his field notes on three major archaeological explorations.

Site Investigations Biographical Note For More Information

Site Investigations:

  1. One set concerns Indian burial mounds in a site later disrupted by development of Victoria's Riverside Park. Toncahua Bank and sites on the Guadalupe River near Victoria.
  2. A second traces the movements of the Spanish Mission Espiritu Santo de Zuniga from its first location on Garcitas Creek in Jackson County, to Tonkawa Bank on the Guadalupe River, to a third site in the Mission Valley area. [Go to Tonkawa Bank site in item #1.]
  3. A third investigation provides evidence for the location of Fort Saint Louis, established by the French explorer and colonizer Robert Cavalier, Sieur de La Salle. Jarratt's conclusion supported historian H. E. Bolton's contention that Fort Saint Louis was located on Garcitas Creek near Lavaca Bay. This location is now known as the Keeran Site.
For More Information:

Gilmore, Kathleen. The Keeran Site: The Probable Site of La Salle's Fort St. Louis in Texas. Austin: Texas Historical Commission, 1973.

Fox, Anne A. Preliminary Report of Archaeological Testing at the Tonkawa Bluff, Victoria City Park, Victoria, Texas. San Antonio: Center for Archaeological Research, The University of Texas at San Antonio, 1979.

Hindes, V. Kay, Anne A. Fox, and E. H. Schmiedlin. Test Excavations and Documentary Research at 41VT10, The Tonkawa Bank Archaeological Site, Victoria City Park, Victoria, Texas, 1996.

Biographical note on John L. Jarratt:

"He was born Sept. 9, 1895 in Gonzales County, but had resided in Victoria for a considerable period. He formerly owned and operated an auto dealership in Victoria, as well as an automotive service. He also formerly owned and operated an insurance agency in Victoria, later becoming an insurance inspector for this area. Mr. Jarratt served in the Victoria Police Department for a considerable time, and later became police chief in Yoakum. A veteran of World War I, he was a charter member of the local VFW organization, and also was a member of the American Legion. He was a member of Victoria Mason Lodge No. 40, and Knights Templar. Mr. Jaratt had been retired for the past five years, and was a member of First Presbyterian Church. He was the son of the late Ben F. and Martha Littlefield Jarratt."
[From his obituary: "Historian-Archaeologist John Jarratt Dies at 73," The Victoria Advocate, April 10, 1969.]

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