DUANE
Duane's take
The official marker tells it this way, and I'm just the one passing it along — this is Duane, and this is the story of Mike Muckleroy. Now, some men earn a nickname and some men grow into one. Mike Muckleroy — born September 27, 1808, in Franklin County, Tennessee — grew into his.
By the time folks in Colorado County were done with him, they weren't calling him Mr. Muckleroy. They were calling him Uncle Mike.
And they meant it warmly. He came to Texas in 1840. Pioneer, farmer, soldier, county official — the marker gives him four titles, and he earned every one of them.
He settled in Colorado County and put down roots deep enough that they're still talking about him out here. But first, there was business to attend to. Two years after he arrived in Texas — and six years after Texas had won its independence from Mexico — a French mercenary by the name of General Adrian Woll came calling.
Woll was an officer in the Mexican Army, and in 1842, he led one thousand troops right into San Antonio. One thousand. That is not a small number, friends.
But the Texans forced their retreat back into Mexico, and Muckleroy was part of the campaign that made that happen. When the dust settled, he came back to Colorado County. The Republic of Texas gave him a land grant, and he put it to use.
He farmed the land. He built a home near this very site. And not just any home — a two-story log structure with a watch tower built right into it, there to guard against Indian raids.
That tower wasn't decoration. That was a man thinking seriously about survival. Now, that house had its own close call.
In the 1970s, it was staring down demolition. But it was saved — saved and moved about eighteen miles northwest to Henkel Square in Round Top, where it still stands today. Muckleroy also served Colorado County as a commissioner — from 1846 to 1852, and then again from 1876 to 1878.
Two separate stints. The county kept coming back to him, and he kept showing up. In 1895, he sold his property and moved to Terrell in Northeast Texas, living with family members in his final years.
On July 28, 1896, Uncle Mike Muckleroy passed on. He is buried in the Muckleroy graveyard, near the old homesite where he built that log house with the watch tower — where he farmed his land grant, served his county, and became the kind of man a whole region calls uncle. Not bad for a man who came to Texas in 1840 with everything still ahead of him.
What the marker says
(Sept. 27, 1808 - July 28, 1896) Pioneer, farmer, soldier, and county official Mike Muckleroy was born in Franklin County, Tennessee, and came to Texas in 1840. An early and long-time resident of Colorado County, he came to be affectionately known throughout the area as "Uncle Mike." Two years after his arrival in Texas and six years after Texas had won its Independence from Mexico, Muckleroy joined the campaign to expel General Adrian Woll from San Antonio. Woll, a French mercenary, was an officer in the Mexican Army who in 1842 led 1,000 troops to take San Antonio. The Texans soon forced their retreat into Mexico. Muckleroy returned to Colorado County, where he received a Republic of Texas land grant. He farmed the land and built a home near this site. His house, a two-story log structure with a watch tower to guard against Indian raids,was saved from demolition in the 1970s and moved to Henkel Square in Round Top (18 mi NW). From 1846 to 1852 and again from 1876 to 1878, Muckleroy served as a county commissioner. Mike Muckleroy sold his property in 1895 and moved to Terrell in Northeast Texas, where he lived with family members until his death. He is buried in the Muckleroy graveyard near his old homesite.