Scottish Texans

Scots came to Texas as individuals and very small groups of families, not as colonists. Their notable activities and few settlement patterns showed them in the light of rigorous uniqueness rather than the clan-forming reputation known in Europe.

Some of the first Scots in Texas were explorers, mapmakers, and naturalists. William Dunbar and Thomas Drummond were both naturalists commissioned to report on the Texas area. Dunbar was chosen by U.S. President Thomas Jefferson in 1805 for explorations as political as scientific; Drummond reported to the University of Glasgow.

Later Scots came as families and developers. Neil McLennon, from the Isle of Skye, after stops in North Carolina and Florida, arrived on the coast of Texas with a group of friends and family in their own three-masted schooner. Moving inland, they suffered Indian attacks in Robertson's colony in 1838. McLennon continued on with his family to become an early settler on the Brazos near present Waco. McLennon County bears his name.

Many of the Clan Cameron found Texas exciting enough for a home. Among them was John Cameron, who came to Texas in 1827, bought land, and by 1835 was a secretary in the state government at Monclova. But he allied himself with the revolutionaries and joined the siege of Béxar.

Ewen Cameron arrived during the Texas Revolution, enlisted in the army, and later received land warrants which he claimed in San Patricio County. There he participated in frontier defense vigorously enough to earn the name “Bruce of the West.”

Later, at the battle of Mier, when Texan forces were captured by Mexican troops, Cameron fought with rocks because he could not reload fast enough. As a prisoner in 1843, he was elected commander by the Texans when they were forced to draw black and white beans to determine who would be executed. Cameron drew a white bean, giving him the choice of life, a choice he could not take. He was shot after he attempted to escape.

Not all Scots were remembered as warriors. William Cameron, who did serve in the Civil War, was a lumberyard owner in Dallas and Denison. Later moving his operations to Waco, his William Cameron Company was eventually in charge of 60 retail locations. Before his death Cameron established himself in the timber and sawmill business, as a flour mill operator, and as a banker.

In the 1880s a number of Scottish stonecutters were contracted to make the journey to Texas as a group. Texas granite had been chosen for much of the new state capitol design, and native Scots brought experience with hard stone. Originally hired as strikebreakers themselves, the Scots faced other labor disputes while on the capitol job, but they cut and finished much of the stone for the present building. A few stayed in Texas and added their skills to later construction projects.

From 1890 to 1936, the Matador Land and Cattle Company, operating in the Panhandle and backed with Scottish money, was led by manager Murdo Mackenzie. The Matador herd, at 70,000 peak, was long regarded as one of the best in the United States.

Beginning just before the start of the 20th century, Texas Scots organized. By 1890 the Universal Order of Scottish Clans had a few lodges in Texas and was well established several decades later. The Scottish Society of Texas, dating from 1963 with a representation of more than 50 clans, holds annual Highland Games. “The Gathering of the Clans” is an often-held competition of field events, piping, and dancing in Salado.

These events, new only to Texas, provide Scottish identity for individuals who otherwise blend easily into Texas culture.