Fort Boggy

The Keechis in this story had a long record here before the fort. Peter Samuel Davenport reported in 1809 that the principal Kichai village, with sixty warriors and their families, lay near present Leona. The Handbook says a band of Keechis killed Stephen Rogers's son while he swam in the Trinity in 1841, and settlers answered with a raid. By the end of the 1840s Keechis and Kickapoos had been driven from the county. The Kichais, a Caddoan people, were sent to the Brazos reservation in 1855 and fled to Indian Territory in 1858.

What the plaque says

Fort Boggy Pioneers who settled in this area bout 1840 included members of the Middleton, Byrns, Staley, Erwin, Jones, Capp, Bloodworth, Philpott, Easton, Howell, and Hinton families. Nearby Kichai and Kickapoo Indian camps afforded these early settlers little sense of security. On February 5, 1840, Christopher C. Staley was ambushed and killed by a group of Indians while out hunting near his home. This incident led to the building of Fort Boggy for the protection and safety of the settlers. Named for its proximity to Boggy Creek, the fort consisted of two blockhouses with eleven dwellings inside an area of about 5000 square feet. A military company, authorized by Texas President Mirabeau B. Lamar, was formed under the leadership of Capt. Thomas Greer to protect the fort. According to one account, 77 people moved into the fort upon its completion. Illness proved to be a major problem for them. In 1841, while leading a scouting party beyond the fort, Captain Greer was killed in an Indian attack. Soon after, the threat of raids lessened, and the need for Fort Boggy no longer was vital. For many years, however, a community church and school retained the name "Boggy." As an early aid in the settlement of this area, Fort Boggy remains significant to the history of Leon County. (1985)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Fort Boggy State Park — 0.7 mi
  A 1,847-acre park in Leon County named for a settlers' palisade of 1840, with a 15-acre lake, short trails and the story of Tennessee farmers, the Keechi and a Ranger captain.

More markers nearby

• Site of Fort Boggy — 0.7 mi
• Site of the First Court House Built in Leon County — 3.1 mi
• Wm. B. Middleton — 3.3 mi
• Concord Missionary Baptist Church — 9.6 mi