Near Site of the Signing of Turtle Bayou Resolutions
Anahuac, Chambers County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Drafted and signed at Turtle Bayou on June 13, 1832, this first formal protest of Texas colonists against Mexican tyranny formed an early step in events that led eventually to the Texas Revolution of 1836. The settlers were protesting recent restrictive laws of Mexico designed to limit immigration and trade between the United States and Texas, passed because Mexico feared losing Texas to the U.S. In particular, citizens of anahuac were enraged by unreasonable acts of Col. Juan davis Bradburn, a local agent of the Mexican government. Alarm spread after Bradburn unjustly imprisoned several Texans, one of whom was the later Alamo hero, William B. Travis. Fighting broke out on June 9 and 12, 1832, between citizens and Bradburn's militia. Following this, the Texans met at Turtle Bayou to plan future action. Here they drew up resolutions censuring violations of Mexico's constitution by President Bustamante, encouraging resistance to his regime, and inviting all Texans to uphold the cause of civil liberty. Signers of the document, most of whom later served with valor in the 1836 Revolution and in the Texas republic, were John Austin, W. H. Jack, Hugh B. Johnson, Luke Lesassier, Wylie Martin, and R. M. Williamson.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In June 1832, after fighting broke out at Anahuac over the heavy-handed rule of Mexican agent Juan Davis Bradburn—who had jailed colonists including the young William B. Travis—settlers gathered at Turtle Bayou. There they drafted resolutions condemning President Bustamante's violations of Mexico's 1824 constitution and calling Texans to the cause of civil liberty. Many who signed would fight in the Texas Revolution just four years later.
Why it matters
The Turtle Bayou Resolutions were among the first formal protests that set Anglo and Tejano Texas on the road to revolution and eventual union with the United States.
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Related people
- · William B. Travis
- · Juan Davis Bradburn
- · R. M. Williamson
- · W. H. Jack
Related events
- · Turtle Bayou Resolutions
- · Anahuac Disturbances
- · Texas Revolution
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Events at Anahuac Leading to the Texas Revolution
Anahuac, TX
In the spring of 1832, Col. Juan Bradburn, commanding the Mexican garrison at Anahuac, jailed William B. Travis, Patrick C. Jack, and other American colonists and refused to hand them over for civil trial. Alarmed settlers rallied at Liberty and marched on Anahuac, and when Bradburn broke his promise to free the prisoners, they sent to Brazoria for men and cannon—precipitating the Battle of Velasco on June 26. The standoff ended when the Mexican commander from Nacogdoches released the colonists and arrested Bradburn.
On this Site First Known as Perry's Point
Anahuac, TX
On this bluff first called Perry's Point, General Manuel Mier y Terán established a fort in 1830, naming it Anahuac after the Aztec name for Mexico City. The post was meant to halt Anglo-American colonization, but the imprisonment of settlers from Stephen F. Austin's colony provoked the first open rebellion against Mexican rule in 1832.
Juan Davis Bradburn
Anahuac, TX
Juan Davis Bradburn, a Kentucky adventurer turned officer in the Army of the Republic of Mexico, was sent in 1830 to build a military post at the mouth of the Trinity River. His high-handed rule at Fort Anahuac—seizing supplies, arresting a land commissioner, and jailing colonists including William B. Travis and Patrick C. Jack—provoked the 1832 Anahuac Disturbances. Deposed by his own officers, Bradburn fled that July, and returned in 1836 with Santa Anna's army only to lose again.
Fort Anahuac
Anahuac, TX
In 1830 the Mexican government planted a military post at this bluff above the mouth of the Trinity River to collect customs and enforce the law of April 6, 1830, which choked off further Anglo-American immigration. Commanded by the abrasive Col. Juan Davis Bradburn, Fort Anahuac controlled access to East Texas, but Bradburn's conscription of labor and his 1832 jailing of William B. Travis and others enraged the colonists. The resulting armed clash—linked to the fighting at Velasco and the Turtle Bayou Resolutions—forced Bradburn out and Mexican troops from the post.