DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm gonna let it breathe a little. Picture Lee County, Texas — and a creek that carries a name somebody had to give it. That somebody was James Shaw, born in 1808, died in 1879, and in between those two years he packed in more living than most men manage in two lifetimes.
But we'll get to that. First, let's talk about this ground he found himself standing on. There was an old buffalo trail running through here, worn deep by hooves and time, and alongside it ran a creek fed by a spring — cool, reliable water in country that didn't always promise such things.
Buffalo had known it. And before Shaw ever arrived, Indian hunting parties had known it too, camping along its banks the way you camp somewhere you trust. Now the year is 1837.
Shaw rode into this country and encountered a band of Tonkawa Indians near this very site. And here's the thing — they were friendly. Hospitable, even.
Shaw remembered that. He didn't forget it, and he didn't let it go unnamed. He called the creek Indian Camp Branch, in honor of that hospitality.
Not just a place marker on a map. A recognition. A thank-you pressed into the landscape itself.
Shaw built a cabin in this area not long after, and settlers followed, the way settlers do when one brave soul plants a flag and says this place is worth staying. But James Shaw wasn't just a man with a cabin and a good memory. This was a veteran of the Battle of San Jacinto — April 21, 1836 — which means he'd already been through the kind of day that changes a republic's future.
After that, he came here. He taught. He surveyed land.
He served as postmaster. And then, as if that weren't enough, he served as both senator and representative in the Congresses of the Republic and state of Texas. Teacher.
Surveyor. Postmaster. Soldier.
Lawmaker. The creek he named is still out there, running along that old buffalo trail. James Shaw left his mark on this place — and then he left the place a name worth carrying forward.
What the marker says
Located along an old buffalo trail, this creek was once fed by a spring and was a favorite camping place for Indian hunting parties. It was named Indian Camp Branch by James Shaw (1808-1879), a veteran of the Battle of San Jacinto (April 21, 1836), to honor the hospitality of a band of friendly Tonkawa Indians he encountered near this site in 1837. Shaw built a cabin in this area and was soon joined by other Anglo-American settlers. A teacher, surveyor, and postmaster, Shaw also served as a senator and representative in Congresses of the Republic and state of Texas.