Climax of first Anglo-American rebellion in East Texas. In 1826 colonizer Hayden Edwards defied expulsion orders of Mexico and founded Republic of Fredonia - raising flag of "Independence, Liberty and Justice." When Ayish Bayou settlers refused to join, he ordered their banishment. Fredonians, from log fort at this site, were ordered to take Ayish Bayou on Jan. 21, 1827. That day, however, without a shot, Stephen Prather's nine Anglos and sixty native Americans took the fort and 200 soldiers. At news of this, Edwards fled to the U.S., ending the Fredonia Rebellion. (1966)