Red River County
Charting Routes and Connections
Red River County’s geographic location on the southern banks of the Red River in the northeast corner of Texas meant that for enslaved people, freedom existed beyond a single border.

Methodology: Mapping Movement
Red River County’s geographic location on the southern banks of the Red River in the

History: Slavery in Red River County
Plat Map of Red River County, 1856. There is no single slave experience. In each

Sold into Slavery: Eli Terry’s Journey from Freedom to Slavery and Back, 1842-1850
In 1840, two men kidnapped and sold Solomon Northup, a free Black man, into slavery.

Lives of the Enslaved in Red River County: Interviews with Harriet Jones and Mose Hursey, 1936-8
Enslaved people left little evidence detailing their daily lives. The most common records documenting slavery

The Domestic Slave Trade Into & Within Red River County, 1836-1865
Historians estimate that between 1790-1860 over one million enslaved people were trafficked from the Upper

On the Run: Moving Toward Freedom & Family, 1836-1865
For the men, women, and children enslaved in Red River County, Texas, freedom lay directly