DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, some names just carry weight — and William McFaddin is one of 'em. Born in 1819, this is a man who showed up for Texas not once, but twice in the fights that mattered most.
He was there at the first Siege of the Alamo. Let that land for a second. Then he was at San Jacinto.
The man had a habit of being exactly where history was being made. By the time 1898 rolled around and McFaddin drew his last breath, he'd lived a life that stretched from the birth of a republic clear through a civil war and out the other side. During that war, he served as a supply agent — keeping things moving when everything was falling apart.
But here's the thing about William McFaddin that the marker wants you to carry with you down the road: he was noted for his hospitality and his generosity. Not just his fights, not just his service — his open hand and his open door. And on top of all that, he founded a ranching empire that, by the time that marker was written, still survived.
Still going. Some empires crumble. Some just keep on running cattle.
What the marker says
(1819-1898) Served in Texas War for Independence at first Siege of the Alamo and San Jacinto. Supply agent in Civil War. McFaddin, noted for his hospitality and generosity, founded empire in ranching that survives today.