Site of the Camp of Stephen F. Austin

Duane's take

The official marker tells it this way, and I'm just the one ridin' along to pass it on. Now picture this stretch of ground outside San Antonio, late October of 1835. Stephen F.

Austin himself made camp right here — October 20th through the 26th — pulling troops together, sizing up the situation, staring down the road toward a Mexican garrison dug in at San Antonio. You don't just walk up and knock on that door. You assemble.

You prepare. You wait for the moment. Austin was the man in charge of that gathering storm.

But here's where the story takes a turn — on November 12th, Austin received an appointment as Commissioner to the United States. That pulled him away from the action, away from this camp, away from the fight that was building like a thunderhead over the Texas plains. So who finished what Austin had started assembling right here on this ground?

Two men stepped into that breach: Colonel Ben Milam and Colonel Frank W. Johnson. And on December 10th, 1835, they didn't just approach San Antonio — they stormed it.

And they captured it. From a quiet camp of troops gathered on this very site, to a full assault on a Mexican garrison in less than two months. The State of Texas thought that was worth remembering, and in 1936 they made it official.

Some ground just has a way of holding history whether you mark it or not.

What the marker says

Site of the camp of Stephen F. Austin (October 20-26, 1835) while assembling troops preparatory to the attack on the Mexican garrison at San Antonio * * After his appointment on November 12 as Commissioner to the United States, the Texans, under Colonels Ben Milam and Frank W. Johnson stormed and captured San Antonio, December 10, 1835. Erected by the State of Texas 1936