The Lexington chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution erected a monument in August 1896 to commemorate the importance of a nearby spring in helping preserve the fort from the attack by Indians and Canadians. The pioneer women, led by Mary "Polly" Hawkins Craig (wife of "The Travelling Church" patriarch Toliver Craig, Sr.), fetched water from the spring to not only prevent dangerously weakening dehydration in the unusually hot summer, but also to defend against the use of burning arrows by the attackers. If the defenders had succumbed to heat exhaustion or the fort had burned, the attackers could have reached the women and children sheltering there. A flaming arrow stuck in the cradle near the head of the infant who later became Col. Richard Mentor Johnson. Johnson would later be credited in all the earliest accounts of the War of 1812's Battle of the Thames with the slaying of Tecumseh, using a pistol loaded by his orderly Capt. Elijah Craig, who had also been present as an 18-year-old defender during the siege of Bryan Station. Located a couple of miles south of the fort's site, Bryan Station High School was named in its honor. The athletic teams compete under the name "Defenders." See also List of battles fought in Kentucky References James Truslow Adams, Dictionary of American History, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1940 "Outline of the Battle of Blue Licks," Carlisle Mercury, August 17, 1882, University of Kentucky Special Collections, 51W8 External links Reuben T. Durrett, Bryant's Station and the Memorial Proceedings (Filson Club Publications 12; Louisville: Morton, 1897). George W. Ranck, The Story of Bryan's Station: As Told in the Historical Address Delivered at Bryan's Station, Fayette County, Kentucky, August 18th, 1896 (corrected and approved ed.; Lexington, KY: Transylvania Printing, 1896). Photos of Bryan Station Monument Geography of Fayette County, Kentucky Former populated places in Kentucky American Revolutionary War sites Battles of the American Revolutionary War in Kentucky