The Dawson Massacre

San Antonio, TX

This Neo-Classical Revival residence was completed in 1909 for Gen. John Lapham Bullis, a New Yorker who spent much of his career on the Southwestern frontier. In 1873 Bullis took command of a company of Seminole Scouts whose skill at tracking raiders on the Texas border drew national attention. He lived in the house, designed by San Antonio architect Harvey Page, until his death in 1911; nearby Camp Bullis bears his name.

San Antonio, TX

South Carolinian John "Jack" Coker came to Texas in 1834 and fought at the Battle of San Jacinto, earning a large land grant along Salado Creek north of San Antonio, where he summoned his brothers to help settle. The cemetery began in 1857 with the burial of a six-year-old killed by a rattlesnake, his limestone headstone still the most prominent stone on the knoll. In 1873 the family set aside three acres for a church, school, and graveyard, and the church still stands beside the cemetery today.

San Antonio, TX

John 'Jack' Coker (1789–1861) came from South Carolina to Texas in 1834 and fought at the Battle of San Jacinto in 1836. He was among the party led with 'Deaf' Smith that destroyed Vince's Bridge, a stroke that may have blocked Santa Anna's army from retreat or reinforcement and helped secure the Texan victory. For his service the Texas Legislature awarded him 1,920 acres, where he and his brother Joseph founded the Coker community.

San Antonio, TX

This marker honors a Vermont-born soldier who served in the army of the Republic of Texas from 1836 to 1837, the perilous first years of Texas independence. Like many volunteers who came from the Northern states, he stayed on after the fighting, and he lived in Texas until his death in 1876.