DUANE
Duane's take
Here's what the official marker has to say, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Way out here in Callahan County, there's a creek with a name that didn't come easy. Back in 1840, a small band of men rode into this country lookin' for hostile Indians.
They found more than they bargained for. A raiding party attacked the group near the creek, and when the dust settled, that waterway had itself a name — Battle Creek. Simple, direct, and earned the hard way.
Now, twenty years is a long time for land to sit with just a story attached to it. But around that mark, a cattleman by the name of John Hittson came along — born in 1831, and he'd be gone by 1880 — and Hittson saw something in this ground where that fight had taken place. He established his ranch headquarters right there at the site of that old battleground.
It wasn't a grand operation, mind you. The headquarters was used only when cattle were rounded up from the surrounding lands. What he put together was corrals, branding pens, and a small shelter.
Spare and practical, the way working outfits tend to be. But here's the thing that makes it matter beyond just one man's cattle operation — it is believed to be the first ranching headquarters established in all of Callahan County. First one.
On ground that had already seen a fight, already carried a name with blood in it. Some land just seems to pull history toward it whether you invite it or not.
What the marker says
Nearby Battle Creek was given its name in 1840 by a small band of men who had traveled to this area in search of hostile Indians. A fight took place near the creek when a raiding party attacked the group. Approximately, twenty years later, cattleman John Hittson (1831-1880) established his ranch headquarters at the site of the battleground. The headquarters, used only when cattle were rounded up from surrounding lands, consisted of corrals, branding pens, and a small shelter. It is believed to be the first ranching headquarters established in Callahan County. (1984)