In the vicinity of Harris' place
Winona, Smith County, Texas
Marker Inscription
In the vicinity of Harris' place scouts from the Army of the Republic of Texas were dispatched from the present county of Van Zandt after the battle with Cherokees and associate tribes July 16, 1839 in which Chief Bowles was killed. Erected by the State of Texas 1936
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
This site recalls the aftermath of the Battle of the Neches on July 16, 1839, when forces of the Republic of Texas defeated the Cherokees and allied tribes, killing their leader Chief Bowles. Army scouts fanned out through the surrounding country in the days that followed. The 1936 state marker commemorates that campaign, which drove the Cherokees from East Texas.
Why it matters
The events remembered here mark the violent expulsion of the Cherokee from Texas, a pivotal and painful chapter in the young republic's dispossession of Native peoples.
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Related people
- · Chief Bowles
Related events
- · Battle of the Neches
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
On Burleson Lake_Camp of the Army of the Republic of Texas
Lindale, TX
In the summer of 1839 the young Republic of Texas waged war on the Cherokee and allied tribes living in its eastern reaches, culminating in the Battle of the Neches in mid-July. Nearby, on Burleson Lake, stood the last camp of the Republic's army under generals Douglass, Rusk, and Burleson before Secretary of War Albert Sidney Johnston ordered it mustered out. From here the soldiers departed for home on July 25, leaving behind a campaign that drove the Cherokees from Texas.
John Crane
Chandler, TX
A Virginia-born veteran of the War of 1812, John Crane joined Joseph Vehlein's colony and moved his family to Texas in 1834, fighting at the Siege of Bexar and serving through the Texas Revolution. In July 1839 he rode with Republic forces under Douglass, Burleson, and Rusk against Chief Bowles and the Cherokee at the Battle of the Neches, where he was killed. Bowles fell the next day, and his death led to the expulsion of the Cherokee from Texas.
Here Was the Camp of the Army of the Republic of Texas
Garden Valley, TX
In July 1839 the army of the young Republic of Texas encamped here under generals including Thomas J. Rusk and Edward Burleson during the campaign against Chief Bowles and the Cherokees and their allies. After the decisive fighting in nearby Van Zandt County on July 16, the soldiers disbanded and returned home nine days later. The state marked the spot during the 1936 Texas Centennial.
Nicholas Wren
Winona, TX
Nicholas Wren came to Texas in 1833 and joined its army in 1836, later commissioned a lieutenant of Rangers by President Sam Houston. He fought during the Vasquez and Woll incursions of the Republic era and reportedly had a horse shot from under him at the Battle of the Hondo. Settling in Smith County by its organization in 1846, he died in the Mount Carmel community in 1859, his grave later marked by his grandsons.