DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, the early 1820s — picture that for a moment. Stephen F.
Austin is piecing together his first Texas colony, and most of those settlers, what history calls the Old Three Hundred, have come straight out of the United States. They're proud people. Anglo-American through and through.
And Austin, bless his practical heart, knew that pride had to be kept quiet. Mexican authorities were watching. Colonization laws had teeth.
So Austin discouraged any display of American loyalties that might rattle the wrong cages. But customs have a way of persisting whether anybody encourages them or not. July Fourth has a way of persisting.
And so it did. On July 4, 1826 — fifty years to the day from the signing of the American Declaration of Independence — settlers around Beason's Crossing, the nucleus of what is now Columbus, planned themselves a barbecue. A proper commemoration.
No doubt colonists traveled long distances for that gathering, because that's what you did when something mattered. Now here's where the story turns. West of the Colorado River, over in Green DeWitt's Colony, a small group set out from Gonzales on July 2, heading to Beason's to join the celebration.
They made camp for the night. And while they slept — or tried to — they were attacked by Indians. They managed to escape.
They turned back toward Gonzales, and what they found waiting for them was worse than what they'd fled. Their homes had been plundered. One man had been killed.
The other settlers had been visiting at a nearby cabin and escaped the raid that way. The survivors, shaken and scattered, then made their way to the safety of older settlements along the Colorado. Fifty years after the Declaration of Independence, while folks at Beason's Crossing were raising a glass to liberty, a few miles west, a small group of colonists were just trying to survive long enough to see July 5th.
What the marker says
Most of the "Old Three Hundred" settlers in Stephen F. Austin's first Texas colony in the early 1820s came from the United States and were proud of their Anglo-American heritage. Austin discouraged any display of American loyalties which might anger the Mexican authorities or violate colonization laws. Many customs persisted, however, including observance of July Fourth as American Independence Day. On July 4, 1826, settlers around Beason's Crossing, nucleus of the present town of Columbus, planned a barbecue to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the signing of the American Declaration of Independence. No doubt, many colonists traveled long distances for this important gathering. West of the Colorado River in Green DeWitt's Colony, a small group set out from Gonzales on July 2 to attend the barbecue at Beason's. While camped for the night, they were attacked by Indians but managed to escape. Returning to Gonzales, they found their homes plundered and one man killed. The other settlers were visiting at a nearby cabin and escaped the Indian raid. The survivors then proceeded to the safety of older settlements along the the Colorado. (1976)