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Tuesday, January 14, 2014

The Runaway Scrape

By Anna Kathryn Lanier

At the beginning of 1836, General Santa Anna and his Mexican troops of 4,000 men and artillery crossed the Rio Grande River. As news of this invasion spread from San Patricio, Refugio and San Antonio, panic also increased and families fled. When the Alamo fell on March 6, 1836, full-fledged terror set in. Sam Houston, commander of the Texas Army, was in Gonzalez at the time. Thirty-two of the town’s men were killed at the Alamo, so everyone was related to or knew of someone who died.  Expecting Santa Anna to continue his march across Texas, Houston ordered the evacuation of and the burning of the Gonzalez to prevent the Mexican army any provisions. Thus began the largest exodus to take place in the United States as thousands of Texans made their way east toward the Louisiana border (and the United States).

People packed and left so fast that it is said one household left a dinner of fried chicken, coffee and a fresh pitcher of milk on the table. Families quickly hauled clothes, bedding, provisions onto sleighs, wagons, handcarts and often, their backs.  Recently widowed women gathered up children and babes in arms and made for safety in America. The travel, however, was anything but swift and sure.

Recent and continuing rains made the wagon trails boggy and muddy.  People slogged along in the sucking muck. Rivers were raging waters that made each crossing a horrifying event.  Horse thieves, claiming to be with Army, would steal the animals. Indian war parties struck families that fled, as well as those who stayed behind, kidnapping women and children.

Conrad Juergans and his very pregnant wife Mary stayed behind, thinking Santa Anna’s army would pass north of them, which they did. Shortly afterward, though, a party of Indian braves attacked the cabin.  Conrad was injured, but managed to escape to the woods.  Mary and her two young sons, however were taken captive and forced to trek toward the Red River valley.  Three months later, Mary appeared at a trading post within Indian Territory. Her family arrived and paid the $300 bounty for her release.  She had given birth to a daughter while in captivity (am not sure if she had her daughter with her or not). The fate of her two sons is unknown.

One excellent source of the Runaway Scrape was documented by Dr. Pleasant W. Rose, who lived with his family near Stafford Point.  In 1900, his daughter, Dilue Rose Harris published an account of the Runaway Scrape in the Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association. While recalling her own memories as an eleven-year-old at the time of the Scrape, Dilue relied heavily on her father’s journal, which by 1900 had been lost for some time, but that she had read it multiple times before its disappeared.  The events of the Rose family were typical of other fleeing families.

Dilue recalled that the family quickly put belongings into a sleigh and traveled eastward with several other local families. The family’s hardship began at the Trinity River. Though the family made it across the treacherous river, the last trip made by the ferry boat, it swamped badly, leaving them stranded for several hours in the middle of the river. Finally they were rescued, but their river ordeal was only one of many faced by the evacuees.

W.G. Dewees recalled another river crossing. “There were about seventy-five wagons in the company and on arriving at the river we found no way to cross; the river was up to the top of the banks and there was no ferry.” Eventually, two large pine trees were cut down “so their length might be sufficient to reach across the river…that we might place the wagons on them and pull them across…with a rope.”

At Cedar Bayou, Emily Bryan Perry took charge of a situation when the cart of a woman and two small girls became stuck in the middle of the stream, efficiently blocking everyone else’s progress.  Emily handed off her new born baby, climbed down from her wagon and waded out to the woman. She spoke softly but firmly to the woman, encouraging her to try again.  “Up Buck!  Up Ball! Do your duty!” the woman yelled as she cracked the whip over the oxen’s head. The oxen strained hard, and managed to pull the cart free.

Dilue Rose reported seeing “children falling from the wagons which still kept on leaving the children behind, till another wagon came along and picked them up. Mothers in this manner have been separated from their children for days, and some for weeks, as the wagons would often take a different course.” William Fairfax Gary relayed seeing a family that had found a small, unattended infant. The family now had the care of the child, which they and others took turns carrying.

After a very difficult trip in mud and muck, the Roses finally arrived in Liberty. It was there that Dilue’s little sister died. The rigors of the escape proved hard, illnesses ran rampant through the groups heading toward Louisiana, and infants, small children and the elderly were particularly vulnerable. Many families lost a loved one to such diseases as cholera.

The Roses stayed in Liberty for several weeks and one day heard what they thought was distant thunder. Instead, it was the sound of cannon fire.  Sam Houston and his troops had caught up with Santa Anna and his troops. The Battle of San Jacinto could be heard thirty-five miles away. On April 21, 1836, in less than fifteen minutes, Sam Houston overtook the Mexican Army and forced their surrender.  Texas had won the war.

When word of the defeat of Santa Anna’s army reached the evacuees, they made their way back homes.  Some were burned to the ground, others had been ransacked, while others were found to be as they’d been left. The Roses returned home to find the hogs running wild. Her father’s bookcase had been toppled and his medical books and supplies scattered on the ground, the hogs sleeping on them. Emily Perry’s plantation near Peach Point didn’t fare any better. Although the house was not robbed, it was in disarray. “The hens had taken possession of beds, closet, bureaus,” Emily’s cousin wrote.   On the upside, there was an abundant supply of eggs.

In Women and the Texas Revolution, edited by Mary L Scheer, it says “The Runaway Scrape occurred in several stages. It began as an evacuation, starting South of San Antonio in February before it spread eastward to Gonzalez and Victoria early in the following month, culminating in civilian flight from the Colorado and Brazos valleys in mid- to late March.” (pp 159). Thousands, mostly women and children joined the flight away from the Mexican Army. It was an event that would define their life and the memories outlasted most of the hardships.

Works cited:

In Women and the Texas Revolution, edited by Mary L Scheer ISBN 978-57441-469-1


Anna Kathryn Lanier
Romance Author, A GIFT BEYOND ALL MEASURE
http://aklanier.com/
Never let your memories be greater than your dreams. ~Doug Ivester 

15 comments:

  1. I can't even imagine the destruction left behind by war. Grrr. What's wrong with people? As always, a wonderfully informative post.

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  2. Thanks, Tanya. There's a lot more on this subject and I may write another post about it. I've been trying to get this one done for months now...but you know me. I'm always doing it last minute!

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  3. Oh, this was something I had never read about before. Thanks for sharing these details. I'm certain it was quite an ordeal for the families. This makes our lives here in Texas seem pretty easy by comparison.

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  4. Yeah, it's not very well known. I'd say most of those escaping were women. Certainly those leaving Gonzalez were, as 35 men were killed at the Alamo. When they do the re-enactment at San Jacinto Monument in April, they talk about the Runaway Scrape and even include it in the reenactment.

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  5. BTW, the book I used "Women and the Texas Revolution" was edited by a professor at a college in Beaumont and is an excellent resources, Mary L Scheer.

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  6. Wonderful post, Anna! Very interesting and certainly something you don't normally consider.

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  7. Wonderful post, Anna Kathryn. I am thankful I have never had to flee my home. One year, grass fires reached close to our rural home and we had decided what we would grab should we have to evacuate. But we had a car and a pickup and real roads. I can't imagine fleeing on foot or in a wagon in the rain.

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  8. What a great post, Anna! I've heard of the Runaway Scrape but had not read many detail before. Thanks for sharing your research.

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  9. Fantastic post, Anna! The Runaway Scrape has always seemed such a sad thing to me. Imagine one of your children falling from a wagon, and you've got to keep moving, hoping someone else will look after the child. On the positive side, early Texas women were tough as nails. No damsels in distress, those ladies! We Texans have quite a tradition to uphold. :-)

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  10. Anna--I thought I knew a lot about The Runaway Scrape, but I guess I didn't know everything. Probably, most people would say the Trail of Tears was the largest exodus of any peoples in America, but no...it definitely was the Runaway Scrape.
    I thank you so much for bringing this to light, and getting the facts straight, and letting us know just how horrid it was.
    Most simply don't get how horrible it was for women and children. A man, bigger and stronger can walk, run, hide...but a woman with children, and who might be pregnant...think how horrible.
    Wonderful post, Anna Kathryn.

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  11. Hi, everyone. I don't recall when I first heard of the Runaway Scrape, but I learned more about last April when I went to the re-enactment of The Battle of San Jacinto. Mary Scheer gave a talk on the women of the Revolution. The book is a collection of essays. It's truly amazing what the women went through. I left off the information that Emily Perry's infant (whom she passed off to another so she could help a woman trapped in the river), also died because of the rigors of the trip. So sad. And you have to wonder if all the lost children were found by their parents again....

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  12. Whew! This was certainly a case of damned if you do; damned if you don't. It reminded me of Hannible at the gate--and people fled in terror. How awful that those who stayed and managed to escape Santa Anna, didn't escape the Indians. Yexas certainly paid a big price for freedom.
    Great blog. I didn't know any of this.Hanging my head in shame now.

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  13. Hi, Sarah. Thanks for stopping by. I didn't know about it until a few years ago either. Maybe because it was mostly women....or because it's shameful to admit we fled for the U.S. when thing got tough....personally, I think perhaps because the war and fighting was going on at the same time and that took the lead part in history....

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  14. Excellent post, Anna. I only knew about the Runaway Scrape from some of my mother's research for a book she was writing way back when. Fascinating stuff. Thanks for sharing.

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  15. So interesting! My ancestors lived near Mina in the Austin Colony at the time. My 2nd great grandfather was the oldest man killed at the Alamo. (Gordon C. Jennings). My 2nd great grandmother (his wife) and 4 of his children as well as a daughter-in-law were in the Runaway Scrape. Ten year old Katy (my great aunt) rode to warn the settlers about the approaching Mexican army. It was months before she rejoined her family. My great grandfather, Samuel K. Jennings, was 7 at the time. He later became one of Captain Cady's first Mounted Texas Rangers at 17 years old. He joined twice. I am researching info on the daughter-in-law for a dedication in a new book that releases soon. Reading the comments is very interesting! You all have a lot of information to provide. Mary Jean Kelso, Author.

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