Mount Bonnell

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An engraved rock at the top of Mount Bonnell.

Mount Bonnell, also known as Covert Park, is a prominent point alongside Lake Austin in Austin, Texas. It has been a popular picnicking and tourist spot since the mid-1800s (C.E.). The mount provides a vista for viewing the city of Austin, Lake Austin, and the surrounding hills.

[edit] Geography

Mount Bonnell is located at 30.3210°N, 97.7736°W (WGS 84 datum). Although the mount is often described as the highest point in Austin, the elevation at its peak (about 780 feet above mean sea level (AMSL)) is less than that of the Jollyville Plateau (max. elevation about 1100 feet AMSL [1]).

[edit] Origin of Mount's Name

A couple enjoys a Texas sunset on Mount Bonnell.

It had been generally thought that Mount Bonnell was named after early Texas newspaper publisher, George W. Bonnell, who moved to Texas in 1836. George W. Bonnell was publisher of the local paper The Texas Sentinel and was prominent in early Texas and Travis County (Austin) affairs.

In 2004, amateur historian Seldon Graham discovered historical evidence suggesting that Mount Bonnell might have been named for 1825 West Point graduate Joseph Bonnell. Graham uncovered evidence that Bonnell, due to the trust he had developed with the Caddo Native American tribe, convinced 1,700 warriors, who had been incited by the Mexican Army to attack Sam Houston's forces, to turn back during the Texas Revolution. Sam Houston's army defeated the Mexican Army several days later at the Battle of San Jacinto. Officers that served with Bonnell in the United States Army came to Austin to defend the city from Native American attacks in 1839, and speculation is that they set up defences on Mount Bonnell and named the peak after their old friend.

In 2004, the Travis County Historical Commission recommended that the Texas Historical Commission revise the plaque at Mount Bonnell to honor both Bonnells, and the Texas Historical Commission announced it would review the changing of the plaque.

Legend has it that Mount Bonnell was once called Antoinette's Leap, named after a young woman who leaped to her death to avoid capture from Native Americans that killed her fiancé.