DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker says about the Battle of Jones Creek, down in Brazoria County. Now, before we get into it, I want you to sit with the weight of what this marker's describing — a violent clash between two peoples, with lives lost, and that deserves a straight reckoning. Alright.
The year is 1824, and Stephen F. Austin sends out a force of twenty-three Texan soldiers, tasked with heading down to the lower Brazos to fight the Karankawa Indians, a people the marker describes as cannibals. Leading those twenty-three men is Captain Randal Jones — born 1786, died 1873 — a man who, by the sound of things, had seen his share of hard country.
The scouts go out ahead, and they find the Karankawa camp right there at Jones Creek. Now here's the thing about an attack at dawn — you tend to assume surprise is on your side. But when Jones and his men moved in with the first light, the Karankawa were ready.
Spears up. The fight was joined hard and fast. Jones' guns accounted for fifteen Indians killed.
The rest were dispersed. Twenty-three men, one dawn, and a moment of frontier violence that the land here has been carrying ever since. The marker went up in 1965, but the creek was there long before anybody thought to put words beside it.
What the marker says
Fought by Texan army of 23 men under Capt. Randal Jones (1786-1873), sent out 1824 by Stephen F. Austin to the lower Brazos to fight cannibal Karankawa Indians. Scouts found the camp here. Attack at dawn found Indians ready with spears. Jones' guns got 15 Indians, dispersed the rest. (1965)