In Memory of Thomas Christian, William Strother and Josiah Wilbarger
Austin, Travis County, Texas
Marker Inscription
In Memory of Thomas Christian, William Strother and Josiah Wilbarger, members of a party of five who were attacked near here by Indians in August, 1833. Christian and Strother were killed, Wilbarger was scalped and eventually died of his wounds. The other two escaped.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In August 1833 a party of five men was attacked near this spot in what was then Mexican Texas. Thomas Christian and William Strother were killed, and Josiah Wilbarger was scalped—famously surviving the ordeal for years before eventually dying of his lingering wounds—while two of the party escaped. The episode became one of the best-known frontier survival stories of early Texas.
Why it matters
The memorial recalls the dangers of the settlement frontier in the years just before Texas independence, when Anglo colonists and Native peoples clashed along the Colorado River.
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Related people
- · Thomas Christian
- · William Strother
- · Josiah Wilbarger
Themes & tags
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