Wilson Van Dyke
Belton, Bell County, Texas
Marker Inscription
(Dec. 25, 1817-Aug. 3, 1881) A native of South Carolina, Wilson Van Dyke served as a member of the Somervell Expedition, which was organized in 1842 to expel the Mexican Army from Texas. Under command of Col. W.S. Fisher, he crossed the Rio Grande and was captured. A survivor of the "Black Bean Episode", Van Dyke was imprisoned near Mexico City until Sept. 1844. He later participated in muster activities during the Civil War and died at his home in Bell County. Recorded - 1984
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
South Carolina native Wilson Van Dyke joined the 1842 Somervell Expedition, mounted to drive the Mexican army from Texas, and pushed on across the Rio Grande in the ill-fated venture that followed. Captured, he survived the notorious "Black Bean Episode" — in which prisoners drew beans to decide who would be executed — and endured imprisonment near Mexico City until 1844, later taking part in Civil War-era musters before dying at his Bell County home.
Why it matters
Van Dyke's ordeal preserves the memory of the Mier Expedition and the Black Bean lottery, among the harshest chapters of the Republic of Texas's border wars with Mexico.
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Related people
- · Wilson Van Dyke
- · William S. Fisher
Related events
- · Somervell Expedition
- · Black Bean Episode
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Bell County
Belton vicinity, TX
Settlement along the Lampasas River began in 1847, and Bell County was created in 1850, taking its name from Peter Hansbrough Bell—a San Jacinto veteran, Mexican War officer, and governor of Texas. The county seat soon moved from Nolanville to Belton, and by 1860 nearly 4,800 people lived there. When the Civil War came, the county sent a dozen troop companies and supplied its cause with flour mills, a hat factory, tanneries, and workshops.
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In November 1836, some twenty Rangers under Lt. George B. Erath built this Republic of Texas outpost, raising seven or eight cabins, a blockhouse, and a picket stockade around a half-acre near a spring. Rations were spare — an ear of corn a day, plus game, honey, and a little coffee. The Rangers withdrew by mid-1837, and settlers and hunters later used the site before its remains were cleared in the 1840s.
William Whitaker Reed
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Captain Andrew Caddell
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