One of the laws of the constitution provided that no one should be
allowed to hold the office of President for two successive terms.
Houston’s term of office expired in 1838, and Mirabeau B. Lamar was
elected President and David G. Burnet Vice-President.
The Secretary of War under Lamar was Albert Sidney Johnston. This
brilliant young soldier came to Texas just after the battle of San
Jacinto. He was a graduate of West Point, and had served in the
Blackhawk war.
Johnston at once organized a force to act against the Indians. Lamar did
not have Houston’s kindly feeling for the Red Men. He looked upon them
as dangerous enemies, and he wished to rid the country of them entirely.
The Indians, on their side, had been breaking the treaties made with
Houston.
Mexico was too full of troubles at home to invade Texas again. But
Mexican agents were sent among the Cherokees and Comanches to stir them
up against the white settlers, and incite them to reclaim their lands.
Many homes on the frontier were burned, and their peaceable inmates
killed or taken prisoners. The Texas rangers, under General Rusk and
Colonel Burleson, finally defeated and subdued the most troublesome of
the warlike tribes, and the frontier became quiet once more.
[Illustration: First Executive Mansion. At Houston (1837).]
But in 1840 trouble broke out again with the Comanches. Twelve chiefs of
this tribe came to San Antonio to sign a new treaty. As usual, they were
accompanied by their women and children. They had promised to bring with
them thirteen white prisoners, but they appeared with but one, a little
girl named Matilda Lockhart, who had been carried away in a raid on her
father’s house two years before. The chiefs declared they had no more
prisoners. But the child said there were others at the camp, who were to
be brought in one by one for large ransom. A company of soldiers was
ordered into the council-room, and the Indians were told that they were
prisoners until the other white captives were given up. One of the
chiefs immediately attempted to escape, stabbing the sentinel at the
door. A furious combat followed, in which the twelve chiefs were all
killed. In the plaza outside there was also a desperate fight. The
Indian women took part in this, and three of them were killed. Captain
Matthew Caldwell, who was unarmed, defended himself with stones until
his assailant was killed. Judge Thompson, who had been playing with the
Indian children, setting up pieces of money for them to shoot at, was
slain by an arrow from one of their bows. Colonel Wells came riding into
the plaza in the midst of the skirmish. A powerful Indian leaped on his
horse behind him and tried to shake him off. Unable to do this he seized
the bridle and tried to guide the horse out of the plaza. Colonel
Wells’s arms were pinioned so that he could not draw his pistol, and it
was only after careering thus several times around the plaza that the
Indian was shot by a soldier and the Colonel released. The band was
finally overpowered. Thirty-two warriors, three squaws, and two children
were killed; the others were all made prisoners. This encounter is known
as the “Council-house Fight.”
Congress held its meetings in Houston until 1839. But the site for a new
capital had been chosen. It was on the banks of the Colorado River, on
the then extreme frontier. Two or three pioneer cabins already stood
there, and the little settlement bore the proud name of Waterloo. But
bands of savage Indians still roamed the hills and prairies adjacent. It
was necessary to place guards about the grounds to protect the masons
and carpenters while they were at work on the capitol building. Among
the buildings erected was a blockhouse, as a refuge for the women and
children in case of an Indian raid. The new capital was named Austin, in
grateful memory of the Father of Texas.
Congress met at Austin for the first time in October, 1839. Among the
important acts of this session was the appropriation of fifty leagues of
land for a state university, and three leagues to each county for
schools.
This Congress also adopted a national flag, the same now used as the
Texas state flag.
The first Lone Star flag was made at Harrisburg, and presented to a
military company in 1835. The star was five-pointed, white, set on a
ground of red. The flag raised by Fannin on the walls of Goliad when he
heard of the declaration of independence was an azure star in a white
field. Travis and his men, ignorant of the declaration, died fighting
under the banner of the Republic of Mexico.[29]
England, France, Holland, and Belgium in turn recognized the
independence of the Republic. Texas, in spite of many drawbacks, was
growing in strength.
The last year of Lamar’s term of office, however, was clouded by an
unfortunate affair known as the “Sante Fé Expedition.”
A scheme was set on foot for the occupation of New Mexico, whose people
were said to be anxious to join the Texas Republic. Its real object was
to divert into Texas the rich trade of Sante Fé with Old Mexico. An
expedition was organized and started from Brushy Creek, near Austin,
June, 1841. It was composed of about two hundred and seventy soldiers,
together with a number of traders and adventurers. The soldiers were
under the command of General Hugh McLeod.
Congress opposed this expedition, but President Lamar favored it, and
sent with it three commissioners as agents of the government to treat
with the people of New Mexico. General McLeod’s brass six-pound cannon
was stamped with the name of the President, Mirabeau B. Lamar.
The journey was a long and painful one. The men suffered from thirst in
crossing those barren western plains, where water is scarce. They had
nothing to eat. “Every tortoise and snake, every living and creeping
thing was seized upon and swallowed by the famishing men.”[30] They were
without guides, and the Indians hung about their camps killing their
pickets and stealing their horses.
When they reached New Mexico they were worn out and half starved.
Instead of being welcomed as liberators they were looked upon as spies
and enemies.
Under promise of good treatment they finally surrendered to the force
sent against them. They were at once thrown into prison. Later they were
sent, chained like criminals, to the city of Mexico. Several of them
died on the march, unable to endure the brutality of their guards.
The survivors were held as prisoners in Mexican dungeons until the next
year, when by the intervention of the American minister they were
released and sent home.