DUANE
Duane's take
The way the official marker tells it, here's what happened at the Samuel McCarley homesite on Spring Creek. Now, Samuel McCarley — born in 1775 — brought his wife Celia and their ten children out to settle near Spring Creek in 1831. Ten children.
Just let that settle for a moment. By 1836, the McCarley place sat right on a well-traveled road connecting Washington-on-the-Brazos, thirty miles to the northwest, with Harrisburg, forty miles to the southeast. Their neighbor Abraham Roberts lived about three miles east, right at a fork in the road — one branch heading east toward the Trinity River, the other swinging southeast toward Harrisburg.
It was, in other words, a crossroads that mattered. And on April 15, 1836, that crossroads got a lot more interesting. General Sam Houston led the Texas army out of camp near the Brazos River and marched east.
Eleven hundred soldiers. They arrived at the McCarley homesite at dusk — tired, and by all accounts, hungry. Overnight, those eleven hundred men consumed the McCarleys' cattle, their corn, their bacon.
And when they needed fuel for the fires that night, they burned about four thousand fence rails belonging to the family. Four thousand. You can imagine how a farm looks the morning after that visit.
Now here's where the story gets a little tense around the campfire. According to post-war accounts, many in the Texas army strongly suspected that Houston was unwilling to engage the Mexican army — which was known to be advancing toward Harrisburg. The grumbling must have been considerable.
After all you've marched this far, eaten this family's provisions, burned down their fences — and for what, if not to fight? But then came April 16th. At the fork in the road — the very fork three miles east where Abraham Roberts lived — Houston and his soldiers took the Harrisburg Road.
And on April 21, 1836, they defeated the Mexican army at the Battle of San Jacinto and won Texas independence. Samuel McCarley didn't live long enough to see much made of it. He died in 1838.
Celia — born in 1794, and as it turned out, built to outlast all of it — waited twenty years before the state of Texas, in 1858, awarded her four hundred and sixty dollars as compensation for the damages the Texas army had caused that April night. Four hundred and sixty dollars. For cattle, corn, bacon, and four thousand fence rails that helped fuel the march to San Jacinto.
Some debts take a long time to settle, and some never quite do.
What the marker says
Texas Army Camp - April 15, 1836 Samuel McCarley (1775-1838), his wife Celia (1794-1873), and their ten children settled near here on Spring Creek in 1831. By 1836 the McCarley home was located on a well-traveled road linking Washington-on-the-Brazos (30 mi. NW) with Harrisburg (40 mi. SE). Their neighbor, Abraham Roberts, lived about three miles east at a fork in the road. One fork led east to the Trinity River and the other southeast to Harrisburg. On April 15, 1836, the Texas army led by General Sam Houston left camp near the Brazos River and marched east, arriving here at dusk. Overnight, Houston's 1100 hungry soldiers consumed cattle, corn, and bacon belonging to the McCarleys and burned about 4,000 of their fence rails for fuel. According to post-war accounts, many in the Texas army strongly suspected that Houston was unwilling to engage the Mexican army, known to be advancing toward Harrisburg. On April 16, however, Houston and the Texas soldiers took the Harrisburg Road at the fork and on April 21 defeated the Mexican army at the Battle of San Jacinto to win Texas independence. Samuel McCarley died in 1838 and in 1858 the state of Texas awarded his widow, Celia, $460 as compensation for damages caused by the Texas army. Sam Houston Bicentennial 1793-1993