Erastus ("Deaf") Smith
Richmond, Fort Bend County, Texas
Marker Inscription
(April 17, 1787 - November 30, 1837) Most famous scout in Texas War for Independence. Obeyed Gen. Sam Houston's strategic order, then raised San Jacinto Battle Cry: "Fight for your lives! Vince's Bridge has been cut down." A native of New York, Smith settled in 1821 in San Antonio. Trading in land and goods, he traveled Texas province, making him invaluable guide for Army during the War for Independence. He married Guadalupe Ruiz Duran. They had three daughters. Dying here in home of Randall Jones (a friend), he was buried in Calvary Churchyard, Houston at 6th. Grave is now unidentified.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Erastus "Deaf" Smith was the most celebrated scout of the Texas War for Independence. A New Yorker who settled in San Antonio in 1821 and married into a Tejano family, his years trading and traveling across the province made him an invaluable guide for the Texian army. At San Jacinto in 1836 he carried out Sam Houston's order to destroy Vince's Bridge, then raised the battle cry that sealed the Texians' retreat-cutting victory. He died in 1837 at a friend's home in Richmond.
Why it matters
Smith's scouting and the felling of Vince's Bridge were pivotal to the decisive Texian victory at San Jacinto, which secured Texas independence from Mexico.
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Related people
- · Erastus "Deaf" Smith
- · Sam Houston
- · Guadalupe Ruiz Duran
- · Randall Jones
Related events
- · Battle of San Jacinto
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Site of the Home of Randal Jones
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Randal Jones joined James Long's filibustering expedition into Texas in 1819, served as a militia captain under Stephen F. Austin in 1824, and sat in the 1835 Consultation that set the Texas Revolution in motion. On land granted to him in 1824 he built a house where the famed scout Erastus "Deaf" Smith died in 1837. The state marked the site during the 1936 Texas centennial.
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