JONES CREEK, BATTLE OF. The battle of Jones Creek was fought between colonists of the lower Brazos River and Karankawa Indians on June 22, 1824. After several Indian raids in which some immigrants were killed, Stephen F. Austin^qv commissioned Randal Jones^qv and a company of twenty-three other settlers to organize a retaliation. According to Jones, the problem began at a store belonging to James (Brit) Bailey,^qv when braves demanded to purchase ammunition. Fighting broke out, and the Indians fled to their encampment with Jones and the settlers in pursuit. The next morning the settlers attacked thirty Indians camped on the bank of what later became Jones Creek in southern Brazoria County. Both sides had many casualties; the settlers returned home, and the Indians retreated across the San Bernard River but continued to trouble the settlers. The creek has since then borne Jones's name. A Texas Historical Commission marker located on State Highway 36 commemorates the battle.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: John Henry Brown, Indian Wars and Pioneers of Texas (Austin: Daniell, 1880; reprod., Easley, South Carolina: Southern Historical Press, 1978). James A. Creighton, A Narrative History of Brazoria County (Angleton, Texas: Brazoria County Historical Commission, 1975). James T. DeShields, Border Wars of Texas, ed. Matt Bradley (Tioga, Texas, 1912; rpt., Waco: Texian Press, 1976). Marker Files, Texas Historical Commission, Austin.

Mary Merle Weir