Juan Davis Bradburn

John Davis Bradburn (1787-1842) was born in Virginia and reared in Kentucky. He entered Mexico in 1817 with Francisco Mina's army to help upset Spanish colonial forces in the War of Independence. He became a naturalized Mexican citizen and in 1821 married into an aristocratic family. Bradburn hired Henry Austin to operate a steamboat on the Rio Grande in 1828. Best known as the Mexican commander at the Anahuac disturbances in 1830-32, he was promoted to general in 1832, and died in 1842. The exact location of his grave is unknown; he reportedly is buried on the hill nearby. (1996)