Texas Almanac, 1941-1942 Page: 54

54 TEXAS ALMANAC -1941-42

mentioned tribes settled largely in East-
ern Texas among the Cherokees and
were expelled with the Cherokees in
1839. Part of the Seminoles came in with
the Cherokees, but a later migration en-
tered the state from Florida. Part of the
Seminoles drifted westward to the vi-
cinity of Kinney County and a small
reservation was maintained for them
for a number of years near Fort Clark
at Brackettville, this being abandoned
only in recent years. Most of these Semi-
noles eventually drifted across the Rio
Grande. A few Seminoles still dwell in
the vicinity of Brackettville.
By the time of the Lamar administra-
tion, 1839-41, the Caddoes, once the most
powerful and most highly civilized Indian
stock in Texas, had practically disap-
peared. Warfare and pestilence thinned
the ranks of these Indians rapidly after
their contact with the French and Span-
ish. Some of them joined the Chero-
kees during the migration of the latter
to Texas and later drifted northward into
Indian Territory. Only the Indians of
the western and southwestern parts of
the state remained to oppose the oncom-
ing tide of white man's civilization.
The Karankawas had been thinned to
the point of extinction and driven
southward and the Lipans had retreated
westward, many of them crossing the
Rio Grande. There continued to be
forays from across the Rio Grande for a
number of years, but the line of con-
flict lay primarily between the frontiers-
man and the Indians of the northwestern
plains.
Council House Fight.
The Comanches were giving much
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. Appearng 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
Lockhart, the volunteer army of Ameri-
cans being led by Gen. Felix Houston,

Col. Edward Burleson, Capt. Matthew
Caldwell 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.
Houston's Second Term.
Sam Houston was elected again to the
presidency in September, 1841, after a
particularly bitter campaign in which
ice-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. A detachment
of Woll's army was defeated by a small
company of Texans on the Salado. How-
ever, a company of fifty-five from La-
Grange under command of Capt. Nicho-
las Mosby Dawson, while endeavoring to
join the Texas forces at San Antonio, was
surrounded, and thirty-three were slain,
including Captain Dawson. Most of the
remaining men who surrendered were
either slain or died in captivity in Mex-
ico. Public sentiment in Texas had been
raised to fever heat and punitive meas-
ures 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. Ewen 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.
T 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-