DUANE
Duane's take
The way the marker in Chambers County tells it, here's the story of Juan Davis Bradburn — and what a story it is. An adventurer out of Kentucky who first set foot in Texas in 1817, riding in with an expedition that had nothing less than the expulsion of Spain from North America on its mind. That right there ought to tell you something about the scale of ambition this man was working with.
Whether the ambition matched the results — well, that's the whole point, isn't it. In the 1820s, Bradburn served in the Army of the Republic of Mexico, and by 1830 he'd been sent south to establish a military post at the mouth of the Trinity River. Fort Anahuac.
Sounds imposing. The building of it, though, was a different matter. Bradburn imposed on the colonists around him — refused to pay for the supplies and labor that went into constructing the place.
That's not a small grievance. These were people who had what they had and nothing more. Then in 1831, he went a step further and arrested a Mexican commissioner who'd been sent out to issue land titles.
Now that alarmed the settlers in a bone-deep way, because land titles were the difference between having a home and having nothing. His own troops didn't help matters any — they were convicts, men he flat could not control, and when the civilians started steppin' in to curb the soldiers' outrages, Bradburn arrested several of them too. Among the men he locked up: Patrick C.
Jack and William B. Travis. Held for fifty days, awaiting a military trial that didn't come.
William H. Jack and others approached Bradburn with an offer — release the civilians, and the colonists would return the soldiers they were holding. Bradburn agreed.
He received his men. Then he refused to keep his promise. In the fighting that followed, several lives were lost.
Not a footnote. Several lives. His fellow officers had seen enough.
They deposed him. And on July 13, 1832, Juan Davis Bradburn escaped from Anahuac — pursued so closely that when he reached the Sabine River, he lost his horse and had to swim across. A man who'd built a fort on other people's labor, swimming a river to save his own skin.
You might think that was the end of it. But Bradburn came back in 1836, during the Texas War for Independence, riding in the rear guard of Santa Anna's army. The rear guard, mind you — not the front.
And once again, he was on the losin' side. Some men carry their luck with them wherever they go. Juan Davis Bradburn carried something else entirely.
What the marker says
Adventurer from Kentucky who first came to Texas in 1817 with an expedition seeking to expel Spain from North America. Bradburn served in the Army of the Republic of Mexico in the 1820s, and in 1830 was sent to establish a military post at the mouth of the Trinity. He imposed on colonists by refusing to pay for supplies and labor used in building Fort Anahuac, and in 1831 arrested Mexican commissioner sent to issue land titles, thereby alarming settlers, who feared to lose their homes and improvements. His troops were convicts whom he could not control, and after civilians began to curb soldiers' outrages, he arrested several men, including Patrick C. Jack and William B. Travis, who were held 50 days awaiting a military trial. Approached by William H. Jack and others, Bradburn agreed to release the civilians in return for soldiers held by the colonists. After he received his men, he refused to keep his promise. In fighting that ensued, several lives were lost. When fellow officers deposed him, Bradburn escaped from Anahuac on July 13, 1832, pursued so closely that at the Sabine he lost his horse and swam the river. In Texas War for Independence (1836), he returned in rear guard of Santa Anna's army -- again to be a loser. (1973)