The present-day location of this ferry can trace its origins back to 1822 when it was constructed by Nathaniel Lynch just below the confluence of the San Jacinto River and the Buffalo Bayou and was known as Lynch's Ferry. The ferry was used by the Republic of Texas troops fighting Mexican forces in the Battle of San Jacinto April 1836. In what was later referred to as the Runaway Scrape, as many as 5,000 Texans fled eastward to escape the advancing army of Mexican General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna utilizing the ferry. In the following days, Sam Houston's army defeated Santa Anna at San Jacinto, which resulted in Texas independence.