Bethel Strawn was an 1858 settler and leading citizen of Palo Pinto County. In 1864 he enlisted in Company B, 1st Frontier District, Texas State Troops, in Major Wm. Quayle’s command. His service was mainly devoted to keeping down Indian depredations and protecting settlements that furnished food, salt, hides, leather, and other goods to aid the Confederate cause during the Civil War. In 1880, when the Texas & Pacific Railroad was built through western Palo Pinto County, a stop was named for him because he owned land at that point. By 1885 the Strawn settlement had grown into a town drawing off people from old Palo Pinto. During 20th century oil developments, the name Strawn came to be used for petroleum-bearing rock formations underlying this county and other areas. Strawn minerals included coal once mined locally. Among Texas places and names tied to the Civil War, Strawn is the one geological name commemorating a Texan in the war.