Chief Bowles' Last Homesite
Alto vicinity, Cherokee County, Texas
Marker Inscription
In 1836, General Sam Houston negotiated a treaty with the Cherokees in Texas allowing possession of the lands they occupied in east Texas. The leading figure among the Cherokees at that time was Duwali (also known as Bowl, Chief Bowles and Bold Hunter). After the Texas Revolution, the Senate of the Republic of Texas declared the treaty invalid. Near this site in 1839, Chief Bowles learned of Texas president Mirabeau B. Lamar's orders to remove the Cherokee from Texas. Bowl mobilized his people to resist the expulsion, but they were defeated and the chief was killed at the Battle of the Neches on July 16, 1839, in what is now Van Zandt County. (2001)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In 1836 Sam Houston negotiated a treaty recognizing the Cherokees' right to the East Texas lands they occupied, where their leading figure was Duwali — known also as Bowl or Chief Bowles. But after the Texas Revolution the Senate of the new Republic voided the treaty, and in 1839 President Mirabeau B. Lamar ordered the Cherokee expelled. Learning of the order near this site, Bowles rallied his people to resist and was killed at the Battle of the Neches on July 16, 1839.
Why it matters
Chief Bowles's death marks the violent expulsion of the Cherokee from Texas, a stark chapter in the young republic's Indian-removal policy.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related people
- · Duwali (Chief Bowles)
- · Sam Houston
- · Mirabeau B. Lamar
Related events
- · Battle of the Neches (1839)
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Site of Lacy's Fort
Alto, TX
Before 1835, Martin Lacy—an Indian agent for the Mexican government—built this home and trading post on the East Texas frontier. When the Killough family was attacked on October 5, 1838, in what became known as one of the largest such incidents in the region, settlers fled to Lacy's Fort for refuge amid the turmoil between Anglo colonists and Native peoples during the young Republic of Texas.
Ellis P. Bean
Alto, TX
Peter Ellis Bean led one of the most improbable lives on the early Southwestern frontier. Arriving with Philip Nolan's mustang hunters in 1800, he was captured by Spanish troops, imprisoned in Mexico, then freed to fight—first for royalists, then for the Mexican rebels under Morelos. He even joined Andrew Jackson at the Battle of New Orleans before returning to Mexico, later serving as an Indian agent in Texas and settling near this site.
Cook's Fort
Rusk, TX
Named for early Nacogdoches settler Joseph T. Cook, this site grew up around a frontier fort built by a military company under Captain Black—a stronghold, the marker notes, that was never attacked. James Cook added a store and blacksmith shop, and a village of some 250 people had gathered here by 1846. After the county seat was established at nearby Rusk, the residents moved away and the settlement faded.
Cherokee County
Rusk, TX
When Spanish and French explorers reached this region in the seventeenth century, they found Tejas and Hasinai peoples living here, and the Spanish planted missions among them. The Cherokee, driven from the United States, migrated to the area around 1822 and were present during early Anglo colonization before President Mirabeau B. Lamar's administration expelled them in 1839. Formally created from Nacogdoches County in 1846, Cherokee County filled quickly with farms and towns and has since produced two Texas governors, a Wyoming governor, and a Texas House speaker.