Battle Creek Burial Ground
Dawson, Navarro County, Texas
Marker Inscription
A surveying party of 25 Texans ran into about 300 Kickapoo Indians on a buffalo hunt; failing to heed warning to leave, the Texans were ambushed on October 8, 1838. Only seven survived, and four of these were wounded. After the escape, they came back to bury their comrades in a common grave. (1966)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In October 1838 a party of twenty-five Texan surveyors pressing into Kickapoo hunting grounds ignored warnings to withdraw and was ambushed, with only seven men escaping and four of those wounded. Survivors later returned to bury their fallen comrades together in a common grave on this ground. The episode became known as the Battle Creek fight, one of the bloodiest surveyor clashes of the Republic era.
Why it matters
The burial ground marks the deadly friction of the surveyor's chain, where the mapping of Texas land ran straight into Native peoples defending their hunting territory.
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Related events
- · Battle Creek Fight
- · Surveyors' Fight
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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On the raw frontier of the Republic of Texas, Dr. George Washington Hill practiced medicine while helping build a fledgling nation. Trained at Transylvania University, he came to Texas in 1836, served as a surgeon at Fort Houston, and rose to sit in the Republic's Congress, act as Indian agent, and briefly serve as secretary of war. His home, Spring Hill, was the first settlement in Navarro County, and stood near the site where surveyors, including his own brother, met a violent end in a clash with the Kickapoo.
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