Sam Houston Park on F.M. 410 in northern part of county has markers commemorating grave of Jane Chandler Gill, oldest known Anglo grave in Texas, the site of Sam Houston's entry into Texas and the town of Jonesboro, one of first Anglo settlements in Texas.
Jonesboro, Texas
(19th century town) One of first ports of entry into Texas for Anglo-Americans. Opened early as 1814; heavily used by 1817. Named for 1819-21 ferry owner Henry Jones (1789-1861). Claimed by both Mexico and the United States, town was 1828-37 county seat of Miller County, Ark. Community had 2,350 people by 1834. At this crossing Sam Houston (1832) and David Crockett (1835) entered Texas. A well-known road led southeastward to other colonies by way of Nacogdoches. In 1836, Clarksville became Red River District's capital. By 1840 Jonesboro had lost its trade and many settlers to other areas.
Sam Houston Memorial
"Near here at the Old Jonesboro Crossing, Sam Houston, an envoy of President Andrew Jackson first set foot on Texas soil, December 2, 1832." Dedicated 1936
Jesse B Bowman Marker
"Alamo defender Jesse B. Bowman was born in Tennessee about 1785. By 1811 he was living in Illinois where his son Joseph T. Bowman was born that year. Bowman and his family settled in Ouichita County, Arkansas, until it became more populated and they moved to Hempstead County. In the 1830s Jesse B. Bowman and his family moved with his brother and other family members to this area of Texas, where they soon qualified for a league and labor of land. On February 23, 1836, Bowman answered the roll call at the Alamo garrison in Bexar. He was listed as a private and permanent volunteer under the command of Jim Bowie. On March 6, Jesse Bowman lost his life at the fall of the Alamo. His body and those of the other Alamo defenders were burned by the Mexican Army under General Santa Anna." (1999)