Warren Angus Ferris
Warren Angus Ferris (December 26, 1810 – February 8, 1873) was a trapper, cartographer and diarist in the Rocky Mountains from 1830 to 1835.
In 1806, Ferris' grandfather, Warren Ferriss, was appointed Brigadier General of Militia in Washington Co. by Governor Morgan Lewis.
[4] Ferris's father, Angus, died from a sudden illness in 1813, leaving a widow and 2 infant children.
[6]: 1–4 Although it is unclear whether Ferris received a formal education, his mother provided her children with books and helped expose them to nature and science.
This proximity to Native American culture and the accessibility to travel inspired Ferris's spirit of adventure and prompted him to move out west.
Ferris managed to attract some students during his first term teaching, but closed the school because parents did not pay him tuition fees due to his bad temper.
[2] On one trip in 1834, Ferris acted as a clerk for the American Fur Company in a trapping party to the mountains of western Wyoming.
Out of curiosity, Ferris found Native American guides and made a side journey into what is today Yellowstone National Park.
...These explosions and discharges occur at intervals of about two hours....[8]: 70 When Ferris returned to Buffalo, he found that while he had been away, his brother Charles had taken care of the family.
Their half-brother Joshua issued a lawsuit against Charles, and while waiting for case to be settled, he devoted his time to writing his journal.
Ferris decided to accompany his brother to Texas in the hopes of earning a fortune; this left Joshua in charge of family affairs in January 1837.
[6]: 59–69 Ferris became the official surveyor for Nacogdoches County in late 1837, a position that gave him social status and financial security.
[6]: 75–85 In 1839 Ferris surveyed at the Three Forks of the Trinity River, deciding the lines and direction of streets for today's Dallas County.
Ferris entered and surveyed this land prior to John Neely Bryan, the commonly accepted founder of Dallas.
[2] Ferris followed the direction of streams and rivers in Dallas, and, therefore, the streets run northeast to southwest instead of north-south and east-west.
After Melinda's death in 1844, Ferris was determined to fulfill her dying wish, that he find another wife to raise her children.
[6]: 122, 135 The next year Ferris courted Angeline Cook, Melinda's cousin, but she broke off their engagement due to her family's lack of approval.
[6] On February 8, 2025, Jim Cornelius of Frontier Partisans released a podcast entitled "Warren Angus Ferris - Man of the Mountain Land".
Cornelius eloquently reads excerpts from the journal as well as provides a historian's reflection of the era and important events throughout the podcast.
