About Mount Bonnell

History of Mount Bonnell

Covert Park is the official name of Mount Bonnell Austin TX (after the land was donated by Frank Covert in 1939), though you’ll rarely hear it called that by the locals. The park is now a 5.1 acre historic linear park, with a history dating back to the 1830’s.

The name Mount Bonnell is believed to have come from George W. Bonnell, a soldier who fought for Texas independence and became the Commissioner of Indian Affairs for the Republic of Texas. He visited the site in 1838 and wrote about it in his journal. Bonnell went on to become the publisher of The Texas Sentinel newspaper and was prominent in the early affairs Texas and Austin (then Travis County).

You may also hear Mount Bonnell referred to as Antoinette’s leap. Legend says that a young woman leapt from the peak of Mount Bonell in order to avoid being captured by Native Americans who had killed her fiancé.

The leap of Antoinette is not the only story of Mount. Bonnell. Frontiersman W.A.A “Bigfoot” Wallace was crossing a narrow ledge 50 feet above the river when he came face to face with a Native American. After killing the Native American, Wallace hid in one of the caves of Mount. Bonnell to recover from ‘flux’. It is believed he hid for so long that his sweetheart thought he was dead and so she eloped with someone else. Wallace described Austin Mt Bonnell as a great hunting ground, being one of the best places to hunt bear in the country. But don’t expect to find any bears are your walk up there today as no carnivores now live in the area.

Several years on from George W. Bonnell’s journal, the author and historian Julia Lee Sinks wrote: “Our home was on the beaten track of the Indians into town from the pass of Mount Bonnel Austin. The knolls beyond the quarry branch were interspersed with timber, and sometimes though not often, we would see galloping past the open spaces beyond the blanketed Indian. The path along the quarry branch, secluded as it was, became their main inlet to the town. It was a sheltered road, never traveled at night by whites, so the Indians claimed right of way, and all full moons brought moccasin tracks in abundance”. During the Republic years, Sinks lived on West Pecan (present day 6th Street).

The peak has been visited by several historical figures including: General Sam Houston (first president of the Republic of Texas) as well as General George Armstrong Custer and his wife. In 1969 Mount Bernal was designated a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark and was then listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2015.