Historical Marker
Indian Fort, Site of
Gonzales, Gonzales County · Texas
Erected 1966
The fort went up in a colony that was always short of money. Green DeWitt had won his grant at Saltillo on April 15, 1825, to settle 400 families, and he spent his family's resources on it. His boundary with Martín De León's colony to the south was never fixed, which led to bitter disputes. Noah Smithwick recalled that "money was as scarce as bread," and DeWitt issued his own handwritten scrip in five, ten and twenty dollar notes for settlers to buy land, one of the earliest Texas paper currencies. His contract expired in 1831 unfulfilled.
What the plaque says
Indian Fort, Site of An Indian raid July 2, 1826, left one Gonzales settler dead, another shot, homes plundered. Settlers fled to Burnham Station on the Colorado, or moved to Lavaca River. In 1827 DeWitt's Colonist were ordered back here. On this lot they built a fort for security. (1966)
Where it stands
29.49942, -97.45494 · Directions
More markers nearby
- Gonzales Cannon Burial Site — steps away
- 1834 Homesite of Capt. and Mrs. Almaron Dickinson — steps away
- Plaza — steps away
- Battle of Gonzales — steps away