DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, you're rollin' through Taylor County, and if you glance over toward that creek, you might find yourself wonderin' — who in the world was Jim Ned? Well, pull up a log and let's talk about it.
The marker says this creek was probably named for Jim Ned, a Delaware Indian Chief. And right there in that word — probably — you get a little taste of how deep the mystery runs. History doesn't always hand you a notarized certificate.
Sometimes it just hands you a name on a creek and says, figure it out. What we do know is this: during the Republic of Texas and into the early days of Texas statehood, roughly 1840 to 1860, Jim Ned rode as a scout for the Texas militia. Not against just anyone — against what the marker calls wild Indians in this area.
That's the language of the time, and it tells you something about the world Jim Ned was movin' through. A Delaware chief, scouting for a new republic on the edge of a frontier that didn't quite know what it was yet. He rode several campaigns through this very country, knowin' the land in ways that mattered when mattering was life or death.
The creek that may carry his name winds through Taylor County, and where its two main forks come together, dams have since been built, gatherin' those waters up into Lake Brownwood. A chief who scouted these plains, a creek that might bear his name, and a lake born where the forks meet. That's the thing about a river — it keeps movin' long after the story stops.
What the marker says
Probably named for Jim Ned, Delaware Indian Chief. During Republic and early statehood of Texas (about 1840-1860), he was a scout for the Texas militia on several campaigns against wild Indians in this area. Dams near junction of two main forks of creek create Lake Brownwood. (1968)