The Men Who War the Star: The Story of the Texas Rangers by Charles M. Robinson III
Authors: Charles M. Robinson III
Tags: Fiction
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federal government. Soon the defiance broke into open revolt. On December 16, Edwards’s followers unfurled their own flag and proclaimed the Republic of Fredonia.
Shaken from its lethargy, Mexico reacted by dispatching troops to east Texas to put down the rebellion. Seeing his own situation threatened, Austin issued a proclamation condemning the “Nacogdoches madmen,” and the majority of the American colonists joined him in supporting the government. 15 In fact, so many men went with militia units aiding federal forces against Edwards that Austin feared the settlements would be unprotected from depredations by the prairie Indians. To counter that threat, he ordered Abner Kuykendall to take eight rangers and patrol the country “between the Colorado and Brazos along the San Antonio road to detect any inroad of the Wacoes or other northern tribes[.]” 16
The rebellion was suppressed, and Edwards was expelled. Nevertheless, the Mexicans began to see an American plot at every turn. 17
MEXICO NOW TOOK steps to strengthen its hold on Texas. Although the rights of the states and people were being suppressed throughout the country, specific actions were taken dealing with the American colonists. Tariffs were imposed on the imports on which the Texans depended for even the most basic goods. Further emigration from the United States was banned, and the settlements were garrisoned by federal soldiers, often convict troops who opted for the army instead of prison. These acts are considered among the first links in the chain of events that led to the rupture with Mexico. 18
Even as relations deteriorated between the colonists and the government in Mexico City, Indian depredations continued on the frontier. In 1828 and 1829 there were numerous murders and thefts by prairie tribes. Indian war parties prowled the countryside, disrupting trade between the colonists and the Mexican interior. The settlers believed the time had come for some sort of decisive action.
The first organized war against these Indians broke out in July 1829, after a group of whites killed four Indians during a fight on the Colorado about twenty-five miles east of the present city of Austin. Retaliation was certain, and Austin called up two companies of fifty volunteers each. A third company was organized in Gonzales, seventy miles east of San Antonio, in response to murders and depredations in that area, and together the three companies moved up the Colorado looking for hostile bands. Near the confluence of the Colorado and the San Saba rivers, scouts reported a camp of Wacos and Tawakonis. The Indians, however, had spotted the colonists and fled, leaving much of their equipment behind. Capt. Bartlett Simms took fifteen men and chased the fleeing Indians several miles before overtaking their pony herd and capturing many of the animals. The volunteers returned home, hoping the loss of camp, equipment, and animals would discourage the Indians from raiding in the future.
This expedition seems to have ranged farther than any previously, and it was a learning experience. They spent thirty-two days on the march, reaching a point about 150 miles northwest of San Antonio, well beyond the pale of any settlement, Mexican or American. Poorly prepared, they ran out of provisions, and at one point lived for three days on acorns and wild persimmons. 19
THE COLONISTS ALSO faced danger closer to home. Despite the truce with Austin, the Karankawas continued sporadic raiding. In 1831 about seventy warriors attacked the home of Charles Cavina, one of the earliest of Austin’s Old Three Hundred. 20 Cavina himself was absent, and the house was undefended. The Karankawas killed Cavina’s wife and three of his four daughters. A visiting neighbor named Mrs. Flowers was killed as she tried to escape. The fourth Cavina daughter, a girl of about five or six, was shot through with one of the Indians’three-foot arrows and left for dead. Mrs. Flowers’s daughter was also wounded.
Shaken from its lethargy, Mexico reacted by dispatching troops to east Texas to put down the rebellion. Seeing his own situation threatened, Austin issued a proclamation condemning the “Nacogdoches madmen,” and the majority of the American colonists joined him in supporting the government. 15 In fact, so many men went with militia units aiding federal forces against Edwards that Austin feared the settlements would be unprotected from depredations by the prairie Indians. To counter that threat, he ordered Abner Kuykendall to take eight rangers and patrol the country “between the Colorado and Brazos along the San Antonio road to detect any inroad of the Wacoes or other northern tribes[.]” 16
The rebellion was suppressed, and Edwards was expelled. Nevertheless, the Mexicans began to see an American plot at every turn. 17
MEXICO NOW TOOK steps to strengthen its hold on Texas. Although the rights of the states and people were being suppressed throughout the country, specific actions were taken dealing with the American colonists. Tariffs were imposed on the imports on which the Texans depended for even the most basic goods. Further emigration from the United States was banned, and the settlements were garrisoned by federal soldiers, often convict troops who opted for the army instead of prison. These acts are considered among the first links in the chain of events that led to the rupture with Mexico. 18
Even as relations deteriorated between the colonists and the government in Mexico City, Indian depredations continued on the frontier. In 1828 and 1829 there were numerous murders and thefts by prairie tribes. Indian war parties prowled the countryside, disrupting trade between the colonists and the Mexican interior. The settlers believed the time had come for some sort of decisive action.
The first organized war against these Indians broke out in July 1829, after a group of whites killed four Indians during a fight on the Colorado about twenty-five miles east of the present city of Austin. Retaliation was certain, and Austin called up two companies of fifty volunteers each. A third company was organized in Gonzales, seventy miles east of San Antonio, in response to murders and depredations in that area, and together the three companies moved up the Colorado looking for hostile bands. Near the confluence of the Colorado and the San Saba rivers, scouts reported a camp of Wacos and Tawakonis. The Indians, however, had spotted the colonists and fled, leaving much of their equipment behind. Capt. Bartlett Simms took fifteen men and chased the fleeing Indians several miles before overtaking their pony herd and capturing many of the animals. The volunteers returned home, hoping the loss of camp, equipment, and animals would discourage the Indians from raiding in the future.
This expedition seems to have ranged farther than any previously, and it was a learning experience. They spent thirty-two days on the march, reaching a point about 150 miles northwest of San Antonio, well beyond the pale of any settlement, Mexican or American. Poorly prepared, they ran out of provisions, and at one point lived for three days on acorns and wild persimmons. 19
THE COLONISTS ALSO faced danger closer to home. Despite the truce with Austin, the Karankawas continued sporadic raiding. In 1831 about seventy warriors attacked the home of Charles Cavina, one of the earliest of Austin’s Old Three Hundred. 20 Cavina himself was absent, and the house was undefended. The Karankawas killed Cavina’s wife and three of his four daughters. A visiting neighbor named Mrs. Flowers was killed as she tried to escape. The fourth Cavina daughter, a girl of about five or six, was shot through with one of the Indians’three-foot arrows and left for dead. Mrs. Flowers’s daughter was also wounded.
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