David Burkett
Gonzales, Gonzales County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Progressive patriot and citizen soldier in Texas war for independence. A member of Green Dewitt's Colony. Came to Texas with his family, 1830. Served as a guard for women and children fleeing Gonzales before the approach of Santa Anna, 1836. Is buried on his 4,428-acre land grant extending south from this site.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
David Burkett came to Texas with his family in 1830 as a member of Green DeWitt's colony and took up the cause of Texas independence as a citizen soldier. In 1836 he served as a guard for the women and children fleeing Gonzales ahead of Santa Anna's advancing army — the desperate flight remembered as the Runaway Scrape. He is buried on his 4,428-acre land grant that once stretched south from this site.
Why it matters
Burkett represents the ordinary colonists of DeWitt's grant who became the rank-and-file of the Texas Revolution and the settlers of its new republic.
The story behind this marker
AI contextThe era
In 1830, when David Burkett's family arrived, Gonzales was the capital of Green DeWitt's colony, one of the empresario grants through which Mexico invited settlers into Texas. Families received large grants of land in exchange for building homes and farms on the frontier.
Gonzales soon found itself at the front of the Revolution. In October 1835 its settlers refused to give up a small cannon to Mexican troops, and the skirmish that followed, famous for its "Come and Take It" flag, is remembered as the first fight of the Texas Revolution.
In early 1836 the war came back to Gonzales. After the Alamo fell in March, Santa Anna's army advanced east. Settlers across Texas fled ahead of it in a desperate, chaotic flight remembered as the Runaway Scrape, and Gonzales itself was burned as the Texian army pulled back.
People & events
David Burkett was one of the ordinary colonists who made DeWitt's colony work. He came with his family in 1830, received his land, and built a life on the frontier. The marker calls him a "progressive patriot and citizen soldier": a settler who took up the fight for independence when it came.
His most important service came in the war's darkest days. As news of the Alamo spread and Mexican forces advanced, families in Gonzales had to flee with whatever they could carry. Burkett served as a guard for the women and children on that flight, keeping watch over some of the most vulnerable people in the colony as they escaped across rain-swollen country.
The Runaway Scrape was miserable and frightening, marked by bad weather, flooded rivers, and fear. Guarding refugees was not glamorous duty, but it mattered enormously. After independence Burkett came home to his land, and he is buried on his grant of more than 4,000 acres, which stretches south from this spot.
Its place in the American story
The Texas Revolution is often told through famous commanders, but it was fought and survived by families like Burkett's. His story is a reminder that war reaches far beyond the battlefield, and that protecting civilians was part of the struggle for independence too.
The Runaway Scrape shows how close the whole effort came to failing. Thousands of people abandoned their homes, and the fate of Texas hung on the outcome at San Jacinto in April 1836.
Burkett's land grant also ties him to a larger pattern in American history: the use of land to draw settlers onto the frontier. Those grants shaped who came to Texas, where they lived, and how the region grew once it joined the United States.
If you visit
Gonzales is one of the most rewarding stops in Texas for anyone interested in the Revolution. The town takes pride in its role as the place where the fighting began, and you will find reminders of that history around the area.
At this marker, look south across the land and picture a grant of more than 4,000 acres. Then imagine the spring of 1836, when families left these fields in a hurry and armed neighbors like Burkett walked beside them.
This stop fits well into a road trip tracing the Revolution from Gonzales toward San Antonio and east toward San Jacinto. It adds the story of the settlers who lived through the war to the story of the soldiers who fought it.
Written by AI to add context, grounded in the marker’s inscription and the historical record. The inscription above is the original, unaltered text.
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Related people
- · David Burkett
- · Green DeWitt
Related events
- · Runaway Scrape
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Route of Gen. Sam Houston to San Jacinto
Gonzales, TX
In March 1836, reeling from news that the Alamo had fallen and facing an advancing Mexican army, Sam Houston assembled the core of his Texan force at Gonzales. On March 13 he ordered the town burned to deny it to the enemy and began the long eastward retreat later called the Runaway Scrape. Six weeks later, on April 21, that army won independence at the Battle of San Jacinto.
Jail Square
Gonzales, TX
First mapped in 1825 as Market Square, this Gonzales public square had become known as Jail Square by 1836. That year, as Santa Anna's army advanced, Gonzales was burned by order of General Sam Houston to keep its buildings and supplies from falling into enemy hands—part of the desperate retreat known as the Runaway Scrape. Gonzales, already famed as the site of the war's opening 'Come and Take It' clash, thus sacrificed itself in the campaign for independence.
James W. Robinson
Gonzales, TX
Indiana-born James W. Robinson came to Texas in 1833 and was elected the Republic's first lieutenant governor in 1835, briefly serving as governor before shouldering a musket as a private at the Battle of San Jacinto in April 1836. He later settled in Gonzales, sat as a district judge, and served on the state Supreme Court. The office he first held became the second-highest in Texas, wielding broad power over the Senate and legislation.
Andrew Ponton
Gonzales, TX
Andrew Ponton came to Texas in 1829, settled in Green DeWitt's colony, and by 1834 served as alcalde—mayor—of Gonzales. When Mexican forces demanded the town's cannon in 1835, his delay in surrendering it helped spark the "Come and Take It" fight now remembered as the opening battle of the Texas Revolution. He also helped rally the Gonzales men, the "Immortal 32," who answered Travis's call and died at the Alamo, and he later served the Republic of Texas as a legislator and judge.