Early Settlers of Burleson County in the Texas War for Independence

The Runaway Scrape reached this country in March 1836. Alarmed by the fall of the Alamo and by fugitives streaming east on the Old San Antonio Road, residents joined the mass flight. One of the men on the muster rolls was surveyor George B. Erath, who had come to Tenoxtitlan in 1833 and enlisted March 1 as a private in Jesse Billingsley's company of Edward Burleson's regiment. He fought at San Jacinto. When news of the victory spread, the settlers came home and found their houses untouched.

What the plaque says

Early Settlers of Burleson County in the Texas War for Independence When Mexican dictator Santa Anna revoked national rights, 30 or more men from this sparsely settled area left to resist his armies: in Grass Fight (Nov. 26, 1835), Siege of Bexar (Dec. 5-9) and other actions. While able men were absent, the foe came within 40 miles of here, pillaging the country. Civilians fled over the swollen Brazos, toward safety in the United States. Their men on April 21, 1836, helped win Battle of San Jacinto and independence. Some were in Regular Infantry Company A; Companies C, F, and H, 1st Regiment, and 4th Company, 2nd Regiment, Texas Volunteers. (1973)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Lake Somerville State Park and Trailway — 18 mi
  Two park units on an 11,000-acre lake between Austin and College Station, joined by a thirteen-mile trailway for hikers, cyclists and riders with primitive camps along the way.
• George H.W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum — 21 mi
  The library of the forty-first president on the Texas A&M campus, opened in 1997, where George and Barbara Bush and their daughter Robin are buried in a family plot on the grounds.
• Independence and Old Baylor Park — 25 mi
  A crossroads north of Brenham that was the richest town in Texas when it won Baylor University in 1845, refused the railroad, and lost the college to Waco and Belton in 1886.
• Milam County Courthouse and Jail — 28 mi
  Cameron's 1892 Renaissance Revival courthouse and the 1895 St. Louis-built jail beside it, now the county museum, are listed together on the National Register.

More markers nearby

• Burleson County C.S.A. — steps away
• John Mitchell — steps away
• City of Caldwell — steps away
• Burleson County — steps away