"The First Settler"

The permanent settlement of what is now Bosque County began about 1849 and 1850. The first white settlers located their homes in the Bosque and Brazos valleys above Waco. By the beginning of 1854, there were sufficient residents for a county, and the Texas Legislature created Bosque County on February 4, 1854. A site was chosen for the county seat and lots sold for the new town of Meridian on July 4, 1854. The county was organized into a functioning unit on August 7, 1854, with the election of county officials.

The settlement of what became the Iredell area began about the time the county was organized or just following that event. Early traditions are in agreement that Dixon Walker was the first settler and Walker Creek perpetuates his name. Old timers referred to him as Manse Walker.

According to the late Mrs. John H. Myers, who was the first white child born in the vicinity of Iredell, her father and family (Robert A. Hester) arrived in this area to make their home in January 1855. They found two families residing in the area, the Walkers and Barcrofts. These two families must have arrived in 1854, probably in the fall of that year with the Walker family arriving first.

It's always interesting to know something about those who are first. What is known about Dixon Walker and family who made the first settlement in the Iredell area? Dixon Walker was a native of Tennessee and was evidently the Dickson (sic) Walker listed in the 1830 Census of Hickman County, Tennessee. He is shown as being married and that he and his wife were both between 20 and 30 years of age with a small daughter under 5 years of age.

The 1850 Census lists him as 46 years of age and residing in Rusk County Texas, with his eleven year old son, John. This indicates that he was a widower and that his daughter, if living, was married and had a home of her own. When Walker arrived in Bosque County, he had married and acquired a family of several children. His second wife was Mrs. Elizabeth Jones, widow of Wiley Jones.

Dixon Walker erected a cabin about two miles below present day Iredell on the North side of the Bosque River and near the juncture of Walker's Creek with the Bosque River. Like many other early settlers, he seems to have just selected his location without first obtaining legal possession of the land. On November 1855, he purchased a tract of 150 acres from Robert-Martin. This tract of land was the northeast portion of the James A. McCullough Survey and Walker's cabin was located on it. This transaction was not recorded in the county records until December 23, 1856.

Dixon Walker was a substantial citizen and was held in high esteem by his fellow citizens. The 1850 census of Bosque County shows him with financial resources of approximately $9,000 - a rather large holding for a frontiersman of that day.

Indian raids were frequent, causing Bosque County to form 2 bands of militia to protect the area. One group kept watch from Meridian Knobs near Meridian and the other from Lookout Mountain at present Fairy. In 1860, Dixon Walker was lieutenant-in-command of the Bosque County Rangers, usually referred to as Walker's Rangers. A letter of his reporting Indian atrocities farther out on the frontier to Governor Sam Houston has been preserved and may be found in "Texas Indian Papers, 1860-1916." The citizens of Bosque County showed their appreciation to Walker and his rangers by giving a barbecue in their honor.

Indian raids led to intense hostility toward the Indians on the two reservations established in 1854, in what is now Young and Throckmorton Counties. Citizens of the frontier counties were convinced that most of the raids originated from these reservations and this finally resulted in the removal of the Indians to Oklahoma in 1859. Dixon Walker was present at one of the conventions of citizens in Palo Pinto County on January 6, 1859. About 200 citizens from the frontier counties were present and Dixon Walker was chosen along with George B. Erath and J. M. Norris as commissioners to make know to the Indians and officials of the reservations, the attitude of the frontier citizens and their demand that the Indians remain on the reservation. The agreement was effective very briefly and later that year the Indians were removed to Oklahoma.

Dixon Walker was one of eight Master Masons who signed a petition for a dispensation to form a Masonic Lodge at Meridian. The dispensation was granted September 4, 1860, and Meridian Lodge No. 268, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, was formally chartered on June 15, 1861. Dixon Walker served as the lodge's first Tiler. Walker's name does not appear on the 1862 annual returns of Meridian Lodge and no explanation is given. Descendants think he enlisted in the Confederate military service, was wounded and eventually died from the effects of the wounds. The date of his death and place of his burial are unknown to the writer.

Elizabeth Walker, the wife of Dixon Walker, died October 22, 1896, at the age of 77 and is buried in the Duffau Cemetery.

Information on John L. Walker, the son of Dixon Walker and his first wife, is not available to the writer. John married and had a family and there are a number of descendants including Tom Strange of Iredell. Izilla Jones, step-daughter of Elizabeth Walker, married Stephen H. Medford and they had a daughter, Alice, born about April 1860. After Medford's death, Izilla married John McCarty and had a second family that included Floyd and David McCarty. Floyd B. and John G. Jones, brothers of Izilla, both married and raised families. Floyd spent his last years near Hamilton and John died in New Mexico where he had resided many years.

"Tragedy at Johnson Peak"

    Coming soon....