DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it — and partner, this one deserves every word. Somewhere about a hundred feet south of where you're standing, there's a patch of Texas ground set aside in perpetuity. That word — perpetuity — means forever.
And the woman resting there? She earned it. Her name was Sarah Ann Vouchere Walker.
Born in Louisiana in 1811. She married and came to Texas in 1829, and made her way to this part of the state in 1844. She received Republic of Texas Land Grant Number One — not number two, not number fifty-seven — Number One, Sabine County, a league and labor east of the Brazos.
That's the kind of detail that sits with you. Now, her husband was Jacob Walker. The marker says he is said to have been the last man to die in the Alamo.
The last one. So Sarah Ann Walker was not just a widow — she was the widow left behind when the very last defender fell. She carried that her whole life, and she kept right on going.
And here is where the story lifts off the ground entirely. At some point — and you just have to picture this — Sarah Ann saddled up and rode three hundred miles on horseback to warn General Sam Houston of an impending Indian attack. Three hundred miles.
On horseback. To warn Sam Houston. The marker doesn't editorialize on that.
Doesn't have to. Three hundred miles says everything. Her burial site was set aside in perpetuity by her grandson, George Anthony Stanfield.
A man making sure the world would not forget. And in 1965, her descendants, through the McLennan County Historical Survey Committee, erected this marker to make certain of it. Sarah Ann Vouchere Walker.
Born in Louisiana in 1811. Widow, landholder, rider of three hundred miles. Texas has always had a talent for producing people the rest of the country couldn't quite keep up with — and she was one of the first.
What the marker says
Widow of Jacob Walker, said to have been last man to die in the Alamo. Born in Louisiana in 1811. Married and came to Texas 1829, and to this area 1844. Received Republic of Texas Land Grant No. 1, Sabine County, a league and labor E. of the Brazos. Once rode horseback 300 mi. to warn Gen. Sam Houston of an impending Indian attack. Her burial site, about 100 ft. to the south, set aside in perpetuity by her grandson, George Anthony Stanfield. This marker erected by her descendants, through McLennan County Historical Survey Committee, 1965.