DUANE
Duane's take
The official marker out here in Falls County tells it like this, and I'm just the voice carryin' it forward. Now, picture Falls County, Texas, January 16, 1839. Winter.
The kind of cold that makes the land feel older than it already is. Right here, near the pioneer home of a man named George Morgan, something was about to unfold that the people of this region would not soon forget. A battle.
Settlers on one side, and on the other, Indians riding under Chief Jose Maria. You might think, out here on the Texas frontier, the colonists held an edge. You might think that.
The marker doesn't leave you in suspense for long, though — the colonists were defeated. Defeated, right here near George Morgan's front door, on that January day. Now, that's where a lesser story would end.
But here's the part worth sittin' with: a treaty with these Indians was made soon after that battle. And what did it bring? Comparative peace to this region.
Not perfect peace, mind you — the marker is honest enough to say comparative — but peace enough. Sometimes the hardest-fought loss opens the door that stubbornness never could. Falls County carries that history in its soil, and this marker makes sure nobody drives past it without knowin'.
What the marker says
At this site, near the pioneer home of George Morgan, a battle took place, January 16, 1839, between settlers in this region and Indians under Chief Jose Maria in which the colonists were defeated. A treaty with these Indians made soon after brought comparative peace to this region.