Crockett's Bounty
Granbury, Hood County, Texas
Marker Inscription
David (Davy) Crockett (1786-1836), famed frontiersman and congress-man, came to Texas from Tennessee in early 1836. He signed a pledge of allegiance to the provisional Texian government and proceeded to San Antonio de Béxar, besieged by the Mexican Army during the Texas Revolution. Crockett reached the Alamo in early February, just weeks before Mexican General Antonio López de Santa Anna arrived with troops. Crockett died with the other Alamo defenders on March 6, 1836, and the battle inspired Texas forces. For Crockett’s service and sacrifice to the Texas Revolution, his heirs received almost 1,300 acres of land. In 1853, 17 years after her husband’s death, Elizabeth (Patton) Crockett, and sons, George Patton and Robert Crockett, arrived to claim Crockett’s bounty. They received land in this area and contracted with William L. Mitchell to locate and survey the acreage, exchanging half for his service. Here the Crocketts, later joined by other family members, built at least two log cabins and began clearing and farming the land. After Elizabeth’s death in 1860, the Crocketts continued to live on the property, later subdividing and selling it. The final tract sold in 1889, but the family remained active in the community, with grandson Ashley Crockett operating area newspapers. Subsequent owners of Crockett’s bounty included John Berry, a cattleman, and James Travis Shirley, whose family established the Rocky Point School, a chapel and a baptismal pool on the property. During the Great Depression, John Ward Harrison established a dairy on the land, providing jobs for many workers. In the 1940s, Herbert Calhoun began a cattle and quarter horse operation on Crockett’s bounty, continuing the legacy of the land and its stewards.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Frontiersman and former congressman David Crockett came to Texas in early 1836, pledged allegiance to the provisional government, and died with the Alamo's defenders that March. For his sacrifice his heirs were granted nearly 1,300 acres, and in 1853 his widow Elizabeth and their sons arrived to claim the land, building cabins and farming here. Over later generations the tract passed through the hands of cattlemen, a Depression-era dairy, and a quarter-horse operation.
Why it matters
The bounty land turned the legend of the Alamo into a lived family history, tying one of America's most famous frontier figures directly to the soil his descendants worked.
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Related people
- · David Crockett
- · Elizabeth Crockett
Related events
- · Battle of the Alamo
- · Texas Revolution
Themes & tags
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