Martin County

Martin, a Georgian, fought under Andrew Jackson at Horseshoe Bend in the War of 1812 and resigned his army commission in 1823, reputedly after killing a man in a duel. A leader of the so-called Peace party, he opposed independence, yet he signed the declaration against Santa Anna's Centralists in November 1835, and at Bexar that December he drew a pen-and-ink sketch of William B. Travis, the only known portrait of Travis made from life. In 1836 he guarded the lower Brazos crossings with forty-six men. At sixty-five he was the Republic's oldest senator.

What the plaque says

Martin County On lower great plains of west Texas. Formed from Young and Bexar territories. Created Aug. 21, 1876, and organized Nov. 4, 1884. Named for Wyly Martin, member of Austin's colony and Texas patriot. County seat established by the first commissioners court which authorized construction of courthouse in Stanton (then called Mariensfield). Early C. C. Slaughter ranch headquarters, 12 miles northwest of Stanton at Mustang Spring, best campsite west of Big Spring. Economy based on grain sorghum, cotton farming; cattle ranching; petroleum. (1936) Formed from Young and Bexar territories created August 21, 1876. Organized November 4, 1884. Named in honor of Wyly Martin 1776-1842. An alcalde in Austin's colony member of the consultation in 1835, soldier in the Texas revolution, member of the Texas congress. County seat, Marienfeld, 1884; Stanton since 1890.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Bush Family Home State Historic Site — 19 mi
  The small 1939 frame house on West Ohio Avenue where George and Barbara Bush raised their young family in Midland's 1950s oil boom, now a Texas Historical Commission site.
• Hangar 25 Air Museum — 19 mi
  A restored World War II hangar on the old air base above Big Spring, telling the story of the bombardier school of 1942 and of Webb Air Force Base, which trained pilots until 1977.
• Museum of the Southwest — 19 mi
  Midland's art and science museum in the 1937 house of oilman Fred Turner and his wife Juliette, with added galleries, a children's museum and a planetarium on the grounds.
• Permian Basin Petroleum Museum — 19 mi
  Midland's museum of the oil basin it sits on, from a restored diorama of the Permian reef to a 40-acre yard of drilling rigs and Jim Hall's Chaparral race cars.

More markers nearby

• Marienfeld — 1.3 mi
• First United Methodist Church of Stanton — 1.4 mi
• Site of St. Joseph's Church — 1.4 mi
• Marcy Trail — 13 mi