Lest We Forget

Lest We Forget. . , Fannin residents keep the memory of the battle alive, The Battle of Coleto Creek was a harsh loss for the Texians. Although it did not inspire movies and books as the Alamo defeat did, it helped rally the Texian forces a few weeks later at the battle of San Jacinto. The Coleto Creek battle was marked by missteps by Colonel Fannin and resulted in the surrender and execution of his troops, but local residents refused to let the memory of the battle fade into history. , The entrenchments hastily dug by Fannin's men eventually eroded and disappeared, but a battle survivor, William L. Hunter, returned to the location of the surrender and piled rocks to mark the spot. In 1894, landowner Sol Parks placed a distinctive iron press screw, taken from a nearby cotton gin, at the earlier rock pile. The next landowner, Hugh B. Hanley, had such reverence for the site that he would never cultivate it or allow cattle on it. The gin screw was the only historical marker at the site for decades, and is still a distinctive feature of the site., Captions , Upper Left: Woman reading monument, 1960s, Middle Left: The Residents of Fannin Remember , In 1913, Hugh Hanley deeded to the state 10 acres of his land where the Texians under Commander Fannin made their last stand. Pictured here are the members of the survey party shortly after the agreement. Mr. Hanley has his hand on the gin screw, while Ross Hanley sits atop it. , Upper Right: Map of Coleto Creek Battle , The approximate location of the gin screw in relation to the actual battle based on archeological evidence. , Images: Goliad County Library, Markethouse Museum Collection; Texas State Library