Texas Almanac, 1939-1940 Page: 70
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70 THE TEXAS ALMANAC-1939.
trouble in the vicinity of San Antonio and
a council between leaders of the tribe
and the whites was agreed upon, the as-
sembly taking place at San Antonio. To
this meeting, which was held March 19,
1840, the Indians were to have brought
their white prisoners for exchange and
settlement, but when they appeared with
only one prisoner the whites determined
to hold the thirty or forty assembled
warriors as hostages. A fight ensued in
which the Indians were killed with one
or two exceptions.
Linnville Raid of 1840.
The council house fight only intensi-
fied the feeling among the Comanches
and in August of 1840 they made what
was probably the greatest single raid
ever conducted by Indians in the south-
west. Appearing Aug. 5, the band of
1,000 or more Indians swept down the
valley of the Guadalupe, killing a large
number of persons in the vicinity of
Cuero and Victoria and sacking the
town of Linnville, while residents of the
town took refuge in boats on the bay.
After several days of raiding and with
1,500 or more stolen horses and much
merchandise taken at Linnville, the In-
dians started their retreat, but were
overtaken and decisively defeated in the
Battle of Plum Creek Aug. 12, near San
Marcos, the volunteer army of Americans
being led by Gen. Felix Houston, Col.
Edward Burleson, Capt. Matthew Cald.
well and others.
After the Battle of Plum Creek and
with the growing population of Texas,
rapid progress was made in pushing the
frontier westward, despite frequent In-
dian raids.
Sam Houston was elected again to the
presidency in September, 1841, after a
particularly bitter campaign in which
Vice-President Burnet opposed him.
Houston immediately restored the policy
of friendly relationships with the In-
dians. However, the conciliatory policy
towards Mexico, pursued in his first ad-
ministration, was not possible because
the Santa Fe expedition and the activi-
ties of the Texas Navy during Lamar's
administration had spurred the Mexican
Government to aggressive action. In
March, 1842, a Mexican expeditionary
force suddenly appeared and took posses-
sion of San Antonio, Victoria, Goliad,
Refugio and some other places. There
was feverish activity to organize forces
to attack the Mexicans, but before it
could be assembled the Mexican army
retired across the Rio Grande. In Sep-
tember the Mexicans struck again with
a force of 1,500 soldiers under General
Adrian Woll, recapturing San Antonio
although they retreated toward the Rio
Grande a few days later. However, pub-
lic sentiment in Texas had been raised
to fever heat and punitive measures
were decided upon.Mier Expedition.
Under Gen. Alexander Somervell a
force marched to the Rio Grande, where
the larger part of the expedition turned
back under orders. About 300 of the
men, however, organized an independent
expedition under Col. W. S. Fisher and
crossing the Rio Grande, attacked Mier,
which at that time was a place of con-
siderable size and strategic importance.
After a bitter fight they surrendered to
a much larger force and were started as
prisoners of war toward Mexico City. At
Salado they escaped, were recaptured
later and every tenth man was executed
as the result of the famous drawing of
the black beans. Capt. Ewan Cameron
was also executed for having headed the
break for liberty. The others were
marched to Mexico City and imprisoned
in the Castle of Perote. Thirty-five of
them were eventually released.
The Archive War.
The Mexican invasions resulted in one
of the comic opera incidents of Texas
history-one which might have had
tragic results. In 1839, following a care-
ful investigation by a government com-
mission, the site of Austin on the Colo-
rado had been selected for the capital
and a city established there despite its
frontier position. When the first Mexi-
can invasion of 1842 took place the seat
of government was moved back to
Houston by President Houston.
Fearing that Houston would be par-
tial to the city which bore his name, citi-
zens of Austin seized state papers and
held them. In December, 1842, Houston
sent a small company to seize the ar-
chives, but this force was driven from
the city after partially loading their wag-
ons, pursued and forced to return.
A few shots were fired during the en-
counter. Houston had ordered the ar-
chives sent to Washington-on-the-Brazos
and the seat of government was main-
tained there briefly, .but returned to
Austin under President Anson Jones in
1844.
Moderators and Regulators.
A more serious ,disturbance broke out
in Eastern Texas in 1842, resulting from
charges of land fraud. Shelby County,
which then included a large portion of
East Texas besides the present Shelby
County, became two armed camps that
became known as the "Moderators" and
the "Regulators." A vendetta prevailed
for about two years, during which time
about fifty men were slain and courts
ceased to function. President Houston
succeeded in quieting the disturbance in
1844, but bitterness and ill effects lasted
for many years.
Snively Expedition.
Another military project during the
second Houston administration was the
Snively expedition in the early part of
1843, which marched into New Mexico
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Texas Almanac, 1939-1940, book, 1939; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth117163/m1/72/?rotate=90: accessed April 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.