Historical Marker
The Runaway Scrape
Dayton, Liberty County · Texas
Erected 1972
At least two Hardin households were on that road. The Handbook of Texas says Augustine Hardin, after signing the Declaration of Independence, took charge of escorting Hardin family members to Louisiana. Harriet Evans, the girl the Hardins held in slavery who became known as Aunt Harriet, went through the flight with Franklin Hardin's household. The Handbook describes the Runaway Scrape in general as marked by panic and lack of preparation, and says many refugees turned back to homes that no longer existed.
What the plaque says
The Runaway Scrape Famous flight of Texians to escape Santa Anna's invading Mexican army. Tales of the Alamo butchery on March 6, 1836, and the continuing retreat of Gen. Sam Houston's army prompted colonists to abandon homes and property and seek refuge in east Texas. Families left beds unmade, breakfast uneaten, and ran for their lives, traveling in wagons, carts, sleds, on foot, or by horseback, dropping gear as they went. Many Liberty Countians remained at home until mid-April, helping refugees struggle toward the Sabine in order to cross to safety in the United States. Terrible hardships plagued the runaways trying to ferry the swollen Trinity River. In rain-soaked camps many children died of measles and other ills. Wading through flooded bottomlands, the wayfarers came with relief to the prairie and the Samaritans in Liberty. After resting a few days, tending the sick, and burying the dead, most of the wanderers moved on toward Louisiana. East of Liberty, stragglers heard the cannonading at the Battle San Jacinto on April 21, 1836. Fearing that Santa Anna's legions had whipped the ragged Texian forces, they hurried on, but shortly heard joyful news: "Turn back, turn back". Freedom had been won for them by Sam Houston's army. (1972)
Where it stands
30.04967, -94.88020 · Directions
Worth the stop nearby
- Sam Houston Regional Library and Research Center — 7.8 miA state archives and museum north of Liberty with an exhibit on Southeast Texas history and a campus of historic buildings, including an 1848 house and an 1898 church.
- San Jacinto Battleground State Historic Site — 24 miThe 1,200 acres of coastal prairie and marsh where the Texas Revolution ended in eighteen minutes, and the 567-foot shaft of fossil-studded limestone that has stood over them since 1939.