STORIES FOR YOUNG READERS
OUR MEXICANANCESTORS
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STORIES FOR YOUNG READERS
OUR MEXICANANCESTORS
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Writer and Educational Consultant
Dr. D. Jeanne Callihan
Trinity University
Principal Researcher
Samuel P. Nesmith
The University of Texas
Institute of Texan Cultures at San Antonio
~-------------------------------------------------------
Copyright 1981
The University of Texas
INSTITUTE OF TEXAN CULTURES
At San Antonio
801 South Bowie Street
P.O. Box 1226
San Antonio, Texas 78294
Jack R. Maguire, Executive Director
Pat Maguire, Director of Publications and
Coordinator of Programs
Barbara Shimkus, Designer
Thorn Ricks, Illustrator
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 78-057798
International Standard Book Number 0-933164-38-6
This publication was made possible by grants from
The Brown Foundation, The Levi Strauss Foundation ,
The Houston Endowment, Incorporated,
The Institute of Texan Cultures Associates and
the Mexican Market of the Texas Folklife Festival.
4
CONTENTS
Preface to Readers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 7
Part I
1. Meet the Mexican Texans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2. The Aztecs and the Eagle . . .... .. ... . .. ... . ..... .. ... . 15
3. Cortes - The Conqueror from Spain. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 18
Part II
4 . The Early Settlers of Texas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 37
5. Espinosa and San Antonio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 39
6. The First Schools in Texas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 40
7. Two Texas Towns ........ .... .. .. ... . ... . ......... . . 43
8. Ybarbo and Nacogdoches ... . . . .... . . . . . . .. .... . . .... . 45
9. Leal and the Mustangs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 47
10. Dona Marfa - The Black-Haired
Beauty on the White Stallion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 49
Part III
11. Fighters for Independence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 55
12. Independence - For a Short Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 62
13. Independence at Last - Mexico is Free .. . .. . .. ... .. ..... 66
14. Coahuila y Tejas - A State in Mexico .... : .. . . ... ...... .. 69
15. The "EJ" Brand and Victoria . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 74
16. Gaspar Flores. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 76
17. Veramendi and Bowie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 78
18. A Fighter Who Lost His Home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
19. The Texas Declaration of Independence ..... .. .. Y .... . ... 84
20 . Navarro and the Leg Irons ... .. ..... .... . . ... . '.' . . . .... 88
21. Ruiz and the Indians .. .. ....... . . .. . .. .. .. .. . ! .... . ... 91
22. De Zavala and the Texas Flag. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
23. Brother Against Brother . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 97
24. Enrique - A Boy at the Alamo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
25. A Woman from the Alamo .. ...... . ....... . . .... ...... 107
26 . Panchita, 'The Angel of Goliad" . .. ........ . .... . . . ... . . 111
27 . Father and Son for Texas - The Segufns .. .... . .... .... .. 115
Postscript for Volume I ...................... . . .. ... ... .... ... 122
Photo Credits . ......... .. .. . .... . .. . .. .. . . .. ... .. .... . ...... 123
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PREFACE
The names, places and dates in the following
stories are true. Only the conversation in some stories
is make-believe because the words actually spoken
were not usually written down . When they were, the
writings were often lost or destroyed later. In these
stories, the conversations are only what might have
been said at the time.
The stories in this book are written for children.
If you are in kindergarten, first or second grade, you
will enjoy them as they are read to you. If you are in
the third grade or above, you can read them for
yourself. Pronunciation aids for proper names are
given within parentheses in the fewest possible
sounds, so you can use them by yourself. They give
the way that names are pronounced in Texas today.
You will find some stories more interesting than
others. Not all have a happy ending. In real life, not
everyone lives "happily ever after." These are real
people. Sometimes people are misunderstood and
are taken advantage of by others. Sometimes this
happens when two people or two groups 9f people
are different, when they look different or when they
think, feel or do things in a different way. The more
we try to understand someone else, the better we
understand ourselves. That is the challenge of these
stories - and of life itself.
7
MEET THE MEXICAN TEXANS
When we think of Texas today, we think of a
big and beautiful state. We think of farms and
ranches and busy cities . We think of oil wells ,
waterways and many kinds of factories . And
most of all, we think of many people, all kinds
of people, who make their homes in Texas.
Where did all the people come from?
How did they help Texas to become a great
state? These questions can best be answered
by taking a close look at some interesting facts
and a few stories about some of the people
who came to live in Texas many years ago . In
this book, we will talk about people who came
to Texas from Mexico and who are known as
Mexican Texans .
What is a Mexican Texan?
A Mexican Texan is a person who lives in
Texas and who was born in a family of Mexi­can
heritage. This can mean that someone in
his or her family, like a parent or grandparent
or even a great-great-great grandparent ,
belonged to one of the native Indian tribes
which once lived in Mexico . This would be
called Mexican Indian heritage.
Another way to be a Mexican Texan is to
have a Spanish heritage. This would be a
person who has a parent or grandparent or
great-great-great grandparent who once came
from Spain to live in Mexico . And, of course , a
person might have a heritage from both of
these sources. ..
When a person is born and gro,Ws up in a
certain country, he learns to like and to do the
things that the adults do there . He has special
holidays to celebrate. He may have a special
costume to wear or special foods to eat. There
may even be a special language to learn and
special ways of saying things or thinking about
things. All of these special ways of doing and
saying and thinking are called customs and tra­ditions.
Many of these are still seen today and
enjoyed by all Texans, not just by those with
Mexican heritage .
10
Many Mexicans have last names, or sur­names,
which are Spanish, such as Gonzalez
or Padilla or Rodriguez. But some do not. A
Mexican woman may not have a Spanish
surname if she marries a man from a non­Mexican
family. Her children, having the same
last name as their father, may not have a
11
Spanish surname either. Many Mexicans
speak Spanish , but some do not, Many
Mexicans have dark hair and eyes, but some
do not. A person can tell about his or her heri­tage
only after knowing about his or her
parents , their parents and their parents from
long ago,
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How long have Mexicans been in Texas?
Mexicans have been in this part of the country
for so long that it is hard to think of a time
when they were not here. In fact, Texas was
really a part of Mexico for over 300 years.
During this time (1519-1836), when a Mexi­can
came to Texas, he really was going to just
another part of Mexico.
Are there many Mexicans in Texas?
Yes, there are many Mexicans in Texqls. There
have been Mexicans in Texas for a long time.
Today, more than one person out of every five
could be called a Mexican Texan. If the nearly
three million people who are of Mexican heri­tage
stood in one long line, the line would
reach all across Texas from the tip to the top!
The Mexicans have helped make Texas
what it is today. Since some of the Mexidans
came from Indian peoples and some came
from Spanish peoples, let us look at some
stories about each of these .
13
THE AZTECS AND THE EAGLE
Once upon a time, many years ago, a group of
people called the Aztec Indians lived in the
country we now call Mexico. They were a
powerful tribe which liked to fight other
people. They traveled from place to place'
making war on weaker tribes and taking what
they wanted .
The Aztecs believed that there were many
gods and that these gods could speak to them
by sending messages to their leaders. One day
their leaders received a special message from
their gods. The gods told the leaders that it
was time to find a new home. They were told
to search until they found an eagle sitting on a
cactus eating a snake. That would be the place
where they should build their capital city.
The Aztecs spent many, many years
searching. One day , when they were traveling
in the Valley of Mexico, they came upon an
eagle sitting on a cactus with a snak~ in his
beak, just as they had been told they would
many, many years before. Here , at last , they
had found the sign for which they had been
looking. But there was one problem. The cac­tus
on which the eagle was sitting was growing
on a small island right in the middle of a lake!
How could they build a city in the middlg of a
lake? What should they do now?
The leaders and the people talked it over ..
They all prayed to their gods and asked what
they should do. But their gods did not answer.
15
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The people received no new information, and
the leaders received no new message. So they
decided to go ahead and build their capital city
on the island, right in the middle of the lake.
They named their capital T eno,chtitlan (Te
noch~ tIt Ian'). The city (started in 1324)
became one of the most beautiful and richest
cities in that part of the world. It grew- so lcrrge
that it covered the island and the land around
the lake in the Valley of Mexico . Today we
know this capital by the name of MexicQ.. City.
The eagle sitting on a cactus with a snake in his
beak became a very special symbol. And that
symbol, pictured above on the 1823-1910 flag
of Mexico, is still used, although the eagle on
today's flag looks a little different.
16
I tI ' , 1t0'
CORTES-THE CONQUEROR
FROM SPAIN
We learned earlier that many Mexicans are of
Indian descent. Many others have some
Spanish heritage, too. The story of how the
Spaniards came to Mexico and what they did
there is a very interesting story. It is best told in
three short stories: The Road to the Aztec
Capital, Tenochtitlan : The Golden City and
Cortes Returns to Conquer. It will be more fun
to read them in order.
The Road to the Aztec Capital
The first Spaniards came to Mexico over 400
years ago. Their leader was an explorer named
Hernando Cortes (Cor tE~z/), who came to look
for riches. Cortes and a few hundre~ther
soldiers from Spain got 11 ships together to
18
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form a small fleet. They sailed for many days
and finally landed in Mexico (in 1519).
Mexican Indians were living at the place
where Cortes landed. They had never seen
Spanish soldiers dressed in iron armor and
carrying guns and cannons. Also, they had
never before seen horses. They thought the
horse with his rider was all one big monster!
They were afraid and did not want them to
land. When the Spaniards did land, a battle
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began. The Indians wore jackets of padded
cloth and carried wooden shields. They fought
with stone-tipped arrows and stone-edged
axes. They were no match for well-armed
Spaniards and soon gave up the fight. In this
battle, Cortes was the winner, the conqueror.
After the battle, the Indians brought pres­ents
for Cortes and his men: fish, birds, fruits,
dogs, ducks and golden ornaments. They also
gave them women slaves to do their work.
One of the women was an intelligent young
Indian princess who had been sold into slavery
by her parents. She spoke several Indian lan­guages,
including that of the Aztecs. She was
used as an interpreter to help Cortes under-i
stand the Indian languages. The Spanish
named her Dona Marina. Many Indians,
however, called her Malinche and considered
her a traitor because she helped the Spaniards.
After a time, Cortes, his servants and the
soldiers boarded their ships again. They sailed
along the coast of Mexico looking for a rich city
to conquer. They landed near what is now
called Veracruz. Here they met the loca-.1_
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Indians, members of the powerful Aztec
nation . These Indians liked Cortes, and gifts
were exchanged.
With the help of Dona Marina, Cortes
sent a message to the great Aztec leader,
Montezuma (Mon te so' mah), and asked to
meet with him. After several days, Montezuma
sent back gifts of gold and precious stones, but
he said "no" to a meeting. Cortes was sure
there must be much more gold and treasur? in
Montezuma's capital city of Tenochtitlan. He
wanted to capture the city and take pll the
riches for himself. :
Some of Cortes's men did not want to
fight any more and wished to go home. They
secretly planned to steal a ship and sail for
Spain without permission. But Cortes discov­ered
their plan and sank their ships. Now no
one could go home. There was no choice but
to go on to the Aztec capital. ,
It took a long time to travel the distance to
the capital city. The Spanish soldiers fought
many battles along the way and conquered
23
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! brought gifts of gold and silver, colorful feath­ers
and precious jewels. They also had to bring
large numbers of men and women to be killed
as sacrifices to the Aztec gods.
As Cortes and his army drew closer to the
city, Montezuma remembered an old, old
story. It told of a fair-skinned, light -hafred god
named Quetzalcoatl (Ketz'i:ll co watn J This god
had a beard like the Spaniards and had lived
with the Aztecs a long time ago. He had taught
them many things, such as how to grow crops,
build better buildings and make things of metal.
When he had gone away, he promised the
Aztecs he would return someday to visit his
people. Montezuma thought Cortes was this
god returning to them. He welcomed Cortes
and his men into the city of T enochtitlan. They
were given food and gifts and treated as gods.
25
T enochtitlan: The Golden City
The Spaniards discovered that the stories they
had heard about the Aztecs were true.
Montezuma had gold and riches of many
kinds. They also learned that the Aztecs wor-
shiped many gods and made human sacrifices
to them. These human sacrifices were men
and women who were killed to make the gods
happy. The Spaniards thought this was wrong
and tried to make them stop. But the Aztecs
continued to worship in this way.
Gradually, the Spaniards and the Aztecs
became less afraid of each other. Montezuma
even agreed to let Cortes visit him at his palace
to show that they were friends. At the end of
the visit, Cortes asked Montezuma to return
with him to the house where he and his
soldiers were staying. When Montezuma
arrived, he was taken prisoner. Although he
was treated kindly , he was never allowed to
return to his own palace again. Cortes did not
want the Aztecs to know that Montezuma was
being held prisoner. He thought they might
stop bringing food and gifts to their emperor.
For that reason , Montezuma's family and
friends were allowed to visit him whenever
they wished.
A strange friendship grew between
Montezuma and Cortes. They exchanged
many gifts and even went hunting together.
Cortes allowed Montezuma to contin ue to visit
the temple to worship his gods. Montezuma
then allowed the Spaniards to put up a cross
and a statue of the Virgin Mary in a corner of
the great Aztec temple. This act made
Montezuma's people very angry. They decided
to drive the Spaniards from their city.
During this time, Cortes heard that other
Spanish ships had landed on the coast. He
took some of his men and went to investigate.
The Spaniards who had just arrived came to
make Cortes their prisoner and take the Aztec
gold for themselves. Cortes conquered the
new arrivals, and they agreed to join his army.
Then messengers arrived from Tenochtitlan.
The soldiers who had stayed in the city to
guard Montezuma were in trouble. The Aztecs
had continued with their plan to drive the
Spaniards out of the city . They had burned
part of the building where the emperor was
being held. Many of the Spaniards had been
killed or wounded. They needed help . Cortes
took his soldiers and some Indians who wanted
to help and returned to Tenochtitlan.
It was quiet when Cortes and his army
arrived in the city to join his other men. The
next day , the Aztecs attacked more fiercely
than before with stones, arrows and loud cries.
The battle lasted all day, most of the night and
for many days to follow. There we-re so many
Aztecs that when one was killed, several others
took his place in battle. Soon every Spanish
soldier was wounded.
Cortes now knew that he could not win
and wanted to leave the city with his men. He
asked Montezuma to speak to his people and
ask them to let the Spaniards go without more
fighting. The Aztecs listened while Montezuma
29
stand the Indian languages. The Spanish
named her Dona Marina. Many Indians,
however, called her Malinche and considered
her a traitor because she helped the Spaniards.
After a time, Cortes, his servants and the
soldiers boarded their ships again. They sailed
along the coast of Mexico looking for a rich city
to conquer. They landed near what is now
called Veracruz. Here they met the loca-.1_
'-
\
( \
Indians, members of the powerful Aztec
nation . These Indians liked Cortes, and gifts
were exchanged.
With the help of Dona Marina, Cortes
sent a message to the great Aztec leader,
Montezuma (Mon te so' mah), and asked to
meet with him. After several days, Montezuma
sent back gifts of gold and precious stones, but
he said "no" to a meeting. Cortes was sure
there must be much more gold and treasur? in
Montezuma's capital city of Tenochtitlan. He
wanted to capture the city and take pll the
riches for himself. :
Some of Cortes's men did not want to
fight any more and wished to go home. They
secretly planned to steal a ship and sail for
Spain without permission. But Cortes discov­ered
their plan and sank their ships. Now no
one could go home. There was no choice but
to go on to the Aztec capital. ,
It took a long time to travel the distance to
the capital city. The Spanish soldiers fought
many battles along the way and conquered
23
,: I: I: I;
II ! ,[ I i[
il
I'
! brought gifts of gold and silver, colorful feath­ers
and precious jewels. They also had to bring
large numbers of men and women to be killed
as sacrifices to the Aztec gods.
As Cortes and his army drew closer to the
city, Montezuma remembered an old, old
story. It told of a fair-skinned, light -hafred god
named Quetzalcoatl (Ketz'i:ll co watn J This god
had a beard like the Spaniards and had lived
with the Aztecs a long time ago. He had taught
them many things, such as how to grow crops,
build better buildings and make things of metal.
When he had gone away, he promised the
Aztecs he would return someday to visit his
people. Montezuma thought Cortes was this
god returning to them. He welcomed Cortes
and his men into the city of T enochtitlan. They
were given food and gifts and treated as gods.
25
T enochtitlan: The Golden City
The Spaniards discovered that the stories they
had heard about the Aztecs were true.
Montezuma had gold and riches of many
kinds. They also learned that the Aztecs wor-
shiped many gods and made human sacrifices
to them. These human sacrifices were men
and women who were killed to make the gods
happy. The Spaniards thought this was wrong
and tried to make them stop. But the Aztecs
continued to worship in this way.
Gradually, the Spaniards and the Aztecs
became less afraid of each other. Montezuma
even agreed to let Cortes visit him at his palace
to show that they were friends. At the end of
the visit, Cortes asked Montezuma to return
with him to the house where he and his
soldiers were staying. When Montezuma
arrived, he was taken prisoner. Although he
was treated kindly , he was never allowed to
return to his own palace again. Cortes did not
want the Aztecs to know that Montezuma was
being held prisoner. He thought they might
stop bringing food and gifts to their emperor.
For that reason , Montezuma's family and
friends were allowed to visit him whenever
they wished.
A strange friendship grew between
Montezuma and Cortes. They exchanged
many gifts and even went hunting together.
Cortes allowed Montezuma to contin ue to visit
the temple to worship his gods. Montezuma
then allowed the Spaniards to put up a cross
and a statue of the Virgin Mary in a corner of
the great Aztec temple. This act made
Montezuma's people very angry. They decided
(
(
I
to drive the Spaniards from their city.
During this time, Cortes heard that other
Spanish ships had landed on the coast. He
took some of his men and went to investigate.
The Spaniards who had just arrived came to
make Cortes their prisoner and take the Aztec
gold for themselves. Cortes conquered the
new arrivals, and they agreed to join his army.
Then messengers arrived from Tenochtitlan.
The soldiers who had stayed in the city to
guard Montezuma were in trouble. The Aztecs
had continued with their plan to drive the
Spaniards out of the city . They had burned
part of the building where the emperor was
being held. Many of the Spaniards had been
killed or wounded. They needed help . Cortes
took his soldiers and some Indians who wanted
to help and returned to Tenochtitlan.
It was quiet when Cortes and his army
arrived in the city to join his other men. The
next day , the Aztecs attacked more fiercely
than before with stones, arrows and loud cries.
The battle lasted all day, most of the night and
for many days to follow. There we-re so many
Aztecs that when one was killed, several others
took his place in battle. Soon every Spanish
soldier was wounded.
Cortes now knew that he could not win
and wanted to leave the city with his men. He
asked Montezuma to speak to his people and
ask them to let the Spaniards go without more
fighting. The Aztecs listened while Montezuma
29
spoke to them from the roof of a tall building.
After he finished, they told him they had
chosen another emperor. They said they
would fight until every Spaniard was dead.
Then they showered the roof top where he
stood with arrows and stones. One of the
stones hit Montezuma on the head. He was led
downstairs, and three days later he died. With
Montezuma dead, the Spaniards were really in
trouble. There were angry Aztecs all around ,
and no one to help them.
The Spaniards decided to escape from the
city at night. Since the city was built on an
island with water all around it, their escape was
very difficult. The Aztecs had destroyed all the
bridges on the roads connecting the island with
the shores. There were no boats for the sol­diers
to use , and it was too far to swim to the
other side. The Spaniards worked quickly and
built a small, portable wooden bridge which
they could carry along with them and use in
place of the ruined ones.
When it was dark, they slipped qUietly out
to the first crossing and set their bridge in place.
As they crossed , they were suddenly attacked
from all sides by the Aztecs. The Spaniards
tried to pick up the bridge , but it would not
move - it was stuck! They fought their way
down the roadway to the next crossing. But
they had no bridge to fill the gap and could not
go forward. The Aztecs were on both sides of
them and behind them, and they could not go
30
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backward. The battle was long and bloody .
Hundreds and hundreds of people , both
Aztecs and Spaniards , were killed . Soon the
bodies of dead men and horses which fell into
the water made another kind of bridge . Some
used this bridge, and others tried to swim. One
man used his spear as a pole and tried to vault
across the water. The battle lasted all night.
By morning, most of the Spanish soldiers
had been killed or captured. All of those left
were badly wounded. All of their guns and
cannons were gone. They had lost the gold
and treasures which they had taken from the
Aztecs. It had been a terrible night, a night of
sorrow and pain and death. So it was called
the noche triste, which means the sad night. It
was the night they had been driven out of
Tenochtitlan, the golden city of the Aztecs.
/
Cortes Returns to Conquer
Cortes and a few of his men had escaped from
the city, but there were still many Aztecs all
around them. They had to fight for many
weeks before they finally reached the coast.
There Cortes found other ships from
Spain with men and supplies. Some of them
had not come as friends, but Cortes soon had
them on his side. It was not long before he had
built up another army. Then he made two
important decisions. He decided to allow his
old soldiers who wanted to go home to do so.
And, he decided to go back to Tenochtitlan
and conquer the city.
For months he trained the new soldiers
and sailors into a fighting team. Some of the
men were ship builders and built ships Cortes
could use in battle. The ships were a special
Fi?tr:51 kind that he could take apart like blocks, move
across the land and then put back together
again very quickly. These were needed to help
the men cross the lake to the city.
Cortes and his men and boats were finally
; ready. They began the trip to the Aztec city of
II Tenochtitlan. Many Indian cities were con­'
I
II
I
quered along the way. At last they reached the
edge of the lake which surrounded the city.
They took the parts of the boats to a field near­by
and put them together. Then they dug a
deep ditch from the boats to the lake. Now
Cortes was ready to return to the city and battle
the Aztecs again.
The Spaniards launched their ships and
began their attack on the city. This time there
was no welcome for the Spaniards. The Aztecs
did not want them back. Day after day they
fought each other in and around the city. It
took 75 days and thousands of lives for the
Spaniards to conquer the city. By the time they
took the city, most of the buildings were torn
down or burned. The new emperor finally
surrendered, and all of the Aztecs who were
still alive became slaves. Cortes and his soldiers
branded the slaves with hot irons in the same
way people brand cattle.
The Aztecs who had once been proud
and strong were now hungry and sick. The city
smelled terrible from the odor of dead bodies
that had not been buried. The gold and
treasures that were once in the city were no­where
to be found. The great Aztec nation had
been destroyed. The Spanish soldiers began to
rule the conquered nation. They would rule
there for about 300 years . During this time,
many Spaniards married Indians. From these
families came many of the Mexicans who are in
Texas today.
36
THE EARLY SETTLERS
OF TEXAS
For over a hundred years after Cortes had
conquered the Aztecs , the Spaniards were too
busy with their new land to think about Texas.
Their ships did some exploring along the Texas
coast but did not stay long.
The Spaniards were not interested in
settling Texas until they heard the French were
living there. The Spanish and French did not
like each other. The Spaniards were afraid the
French might take over Texas, and so they
sent out men to look for them. After looking
for several years , they found the French fort
(1689). It had been burned , and the French
had been killed by the Indians.
37
After this, the Spaniards decided they
would have to build towns, missions and forts
in Texas. These would keep other Frenchmen
from coming to Texas and building homes.
The Spanish first sent priests and soldiers
to settle in the unknown land. Later, farmers
and ranchers and other settlers followed. On
these early journeys to Texas, the people in
charge were usually Spaniards, and most of
the others were Mexicans. The following
stories are about some of the Mexicans who
came to Texas as early settlers.
...._"'\. ........ ....---...... -(~ 'y-"- .--...-'''.. ......... \
'---~../',,-./\--'-,.~
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ESPINOSA AND SAN ANTONIO
In the Mexican state of Coahuila (Co ah we'H:i)
in a small town now called Guerrero (Guh'rer/
row), a mission had been built. In the early
1700's, this mission of San Juan Bautista del
RIO Grande received a new priest.uHis name
was Fray Isidro Felix de Espinosa (Es"pen no"
sa) . He worked hard at the mission carrying
out his duties.
One of the most important things
Espinosa did happened in 1709. He and some
soldiers came to a beautiful part of Texas. They
camped near some springs of water where
there were friendly Indians. The springs were
later called San Pedro Springs. A mission and
a fort were built in the area nine years later,
and a town called San Antonio grew up
around it. This was the first Spanish town in
what was then Texas.
39
THE FIRST SCHOOLS
IN TEXAS
The first schools in Texas were those started for
Indians by the missions or churches. In 1746, a
school was started that was not a part of a mis­sion
. A man named Don Cristobal de los
Santos Coy helped to set it up at San Antonio.
The government gave the land on which to
build it, the church built the building , and the
people who lived there took care of it .
Another school was started in San
Antonio (in 1789). A man from Saltillo named
Don Jose Francisco de la Mata began it.
40
Later another school was opened in San
Antonio (in 1811), and for ten years children
studied there. Juan Zambrano started the
school for 70 pupils. Each pupil had to pay
whatever his father could send. If the parents
had no money, they paid with food, clothing
or other goods. The teacher was paid $30 a
month. There was a special man called a
41
regidor who punished the pupils when they did
not do what the teacher asked.
Five years after Zambrano's school closed,
another school opened in San Antonio (1826).
Two years later , the governor bought charts,
maps, Catholic books and other supplies with
tax money. He gave them to the school. This
was the first time school children in Texas had
free textbooks to use. That same year (1828) a
law was passed which allowed the children in
Texas to have "free public primary school."
Schools were very expensive. It took
money to pay the teachers, buy books and
care for the buildings. Texans did not have a
lot of money. When the money ran out, many
schools had to close. Some schools closed
because pupils did not want to go any longer.
Some children had to help their families work.
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Two towns in Texas were started , or estab­lished,
by two wealthy cattle ranchers from
Mexico. One of these cattlemen, Jose Vasquez
Borrego (Bo ray' go), owned ranches on both
sides of the RIO Grande. The Mexican
governor of the area gave Borrego some more
land east of the river on which to establish a
town. He built the town of Dolores (in 1750),
south of where Laredo is now located. When
there was fighting between the Spanish and the
Mexicans, the Borrego families were driven off
the land but later returned. The little town of
Dolores had a fort, church, school and several
houses. A century later , unfriendly Indians
destroyed the town. Now there are only a few
stone walls left.
43
Another rancher, Tomas Sanchez (San'
chez), received a grant of land (in 1755). The
Villa de Laredo was built on the east bank of
the RIO Grande, 30 miles from Dolores. Since
it was on a busy road, it grew and grew.
Sanchez became the mayor and served until
his death. Laredo is still a very important city.
44
YBARBO AND NACOGDOCHES
The capital of Texas was once at Los Adaes,
which is now a part of Louisiana. This was the
town where Antonio Gil Ybarbo (E ba{bo) was
born and grew up. His parents had come from
Spain to Los Adaes to make their home.
When Ybarbo grew up, the government
moved the capital to San Antonio . They also
closed the fort at Los Adaes and made all the
people move . The people had to leave their
homes and move to farmlands near San
Antonio. The journey was very long and very
hard. Many people died on the trip. They were
not happy with the new land. Ybarbo asked
the Spanish government to let them go back to
their old homes. The answer was "no," but
they were allowed to move to land near the
Trinity River which grew better crops than their
land in San Antonio. There they built a town
called Bucareli (Boo/ cah ray/lee). It is said that
Ybarbo took with him cottonseed and sheep.
He took a Negro weaver to teach the people
how to make cloth.
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45
The settlers had problems in growing food
and getting supplies. Also, the Comanche
Indians began to bother them. They began to
destroy property and take things that did not
belong to them. Ybarbo and the other settlers
wanted more guns and bullets to fight the
Indians. They could not get any. Then a very
bad flood came and destroyed almost every­thing.
The families had to leave.
Ybarbo led the families to a deserted
mission called Nacogdoches in 1779. Ybarbo
and the men built a town around the mission
and named the town Nacogdoches. He died at
his ranch near there in 1809.
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LEAL AND THE MUSTANGS
Antonio Leal (Lay ahr) was born in San
Antonio. He lived a quiet life until he met an
Irish trader named Philip Nolan (in 1790).
The two men captured wild horses called
mustangs. They kept them on Leal's large
ranch where the town of San Augustine now
stands. Then they would take the horses to
Louisiana and sell them.
The Spanish government did not like this.
They thought the two men were selling horses
to the Anglo Americans. The Anglo Americans
were the citizens of the United States. The
Spaniards were afraid the Anglo Americans
47
.....+J -'.:C. ' ..... _ ';~ .P
r:"' ;y
might want to take Texas away from them.
They also thought Leal and Nolan were
drawing maps of the Spanish lands to give to
the enemy, the Anglo Americans. So the
government decided to stop them.
The government sent soldiers to capture
Nolan the next time he came to catch mus­tangs.
But Nolan would not give up , and a
fight began . During the battle, Nolan was
killed, and all of his men were captured.
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The soldiers then went on to the ranch
and arrested Leal and his wife . They were put
into prison in San Antonio. There was a long,
famous trial. When it was over, the Leals were
freed from jail, but the government would not
let them stay near the Louisiana border. They
had to leave their ranch and move to San
Antonio where the government could keep an
eye on them. They were no longer allowed to
capture mustangs.
48
...,.. ---
......... .. --
" ~
DONA MARtA - THE BLACK­HAIRED
BEAUTY ON THE
WHITE STALLION
Of all the ranchers in early Texas, one of the
most interesting was a woman named Dona
Marla del Carmen Calvillo (Ca ve'yo).
..... ~
Dona Marla was born in 1765, and she
lived to be nearly 100 years old. Her father had
come from the Canary Islands and settled on a
large tract of land in Texas near Paso de las
Mujeres (Crossing of the Women). This was an
important ford, a place on the San Antonio
River near Floresville where people could
wade across the river .
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Dona Marfa grew up there , and when she
was older, she married Gavino Delgado.
When her father died, he left her all his land. It
was called El Rancho de las Cabras - The
Ranch of the Goats. It had once been owned
by the Mission Espada in San Antonio. Dona
Marfa was very proud of her ranch.
For awhile , Dona Marfa was very happy.
She had a husband and two lovely children, a
big house with stone walls 12 feet high , and
many goats and cattle on her land. Then she
and her husband became unhappy living
together, and she asked him to leave the
ranch. He left, thinking that she would find it
impossible to get along without him. "She will
soon ask me to come back," he thought. "Only
a man can look after a ranch this big and busy."
But Dona Marfa was a very unusual
woman for her time, and she had a mind of
her own. She decided to manage the ranch all
by herself. There were men and their families
on the ranch to help her, and she could tell
them what to do.
Dona Marfa spent many hours going all
over the ranch to see that her orders were car­ried
out exactly as she had given them. She
rode a large white horse called a stallion. Often
she could be seen galloping across the country­side
on her white stallion with her long black
hair flying in the wind. She rode like a man,
she dressed like a man, and she could shoot
and rope like a man.
50
Under her care, the ranch got bigger and
better. There were 1,500 head of cattle, 500
goats and sheep, and many horses, donkeys
and other farm animals. They had a large irri­gation
system with special ditches in order to
carry water to the crops. There was a sugar mill
on the ranch and a granary for storing food for
the winter. Dona Marfa had 20 families living
on the ranch who could do many things. Some
worked as carpenters, while others worked as
blacksmiths, tailors or brick makers.
Many neighboring ranches had trouble
with the Indians who would steal or kill the ani-
~~:::-... ---"" ~ -----~/0 ---- --0: -- ~ _ _ _, ~,_: _-- __ _ __ ------~-
~
mals, burn the barns and houses, and,
sometimes, injure the people. One day a large
band of Indians came onto Dona Marfa's
ranch. She sent all her families into her big
house for safety, and she rode out on her white
stallion all alone to meet them.
She tied a white handkerchief to her gun,
showing she came in peace. The Indian chief
tied a white cloth to his spear and met her in
the middle of the field. They shook hands to
show they wanted to be friends. Dona Marla
waved to her cowboys, and six of them rode
qUickly to her side. She told them to go back
and bring 20 cows as a gift for the Indians. The
Indians killed six cows immediately and from
--)
L
'-
each one , cut out a big chunk of meat about 12
inches square. They built a fire . They roasted
the meat with the hide still on it and ate it.
Dona Marfa and the cowboys returned to the
big house. The Indians spent the night in the
field , and the next morning they rode
peacefully away, taking the remaining cows
with them . They never destroyed the ranch
property or harmed the families. In later years,
whenever the Indians wanted cattle or grain,
they would come to the ranch, and Dona
Marfa would give them what they wanted .
Dona Marfa had two more children , but
'- "- ( - . ...... - . -----.\J \ ' ..... , -'"
"\
she did not marry again. She must have loved
these children very much for when she died,
she left all her land to her last two children.
And they remembered her as the "black -haired
beauty who rode the white stallion" on El
Rancho de las Cabras.
54
FIGHTERS FOR INDEPENDENCE
In the early 1800's , after Texas had gained
more settlers, the people began to want
freedom. They were tired of the Spanish
government telling them what to do. They
<\\\m,i;\\';.TI)~"::\\",~~]f:j ju
wanted to do things their way. They wanted to
be "independent." The next stories are about
people who lived and did important things
during this time.
55
At this time, remember, Texas was still a
part of Mexico. Mexico was ruled by Spain,
and the Mexican people did not like that.
Spain sent Spaniards all the way across the
Atlantic Ocean in order to be heads of the
government, commanders over the soldiers
and leaders of the churches.
The Spaniards born in Mexico were called
criollos (kree ({yos). They were not allowed to
be heads or commanders or rulers of anything.
The Spaniards from Spain, called peninsu[ares
(pe n'ln s06 Ulr/rays), thought the criollos were
not very intelligent and not as good as they
were. They thought the same thing about the
;·"'1 I'
. 1 .1"'
56
~ . .
.~
..... "I '.
'Ivy
Indians in Mexico. Both groups were allowed
only to do the hard work and jobs that the
peninsu[ares did not want to do. This was also
true for mestizos (mess tee/zos) , the children of
Spaniards who had married Indians .
By 1810, the eriollos and Indians and
mestizos were tired of being told what to do.
They were tired of never getting to help plan
anything or make decisions. They wanted their
freedom and their independence from Spain
and the peninsuiares.
Father Miguel Hidalgo (E dahl" go) was a
priest who decided to help. He began to hold
secret meetings with the eriol/os and mestizos
.::.-", ~-:.'
~, ... ~.'
58
.,.
,.,..,......
who wanted independence. Meetings were
held in many cities in Mexico. At the meetings,
the men made plans to fight against the
peninsulares until the peninsulares left all parts
59
of Mexico, including Texas. When a group of
people fight for their independence from
another country, it is called a "revolution."
Father Hidalgo started the Mexican Revolution
against Spain.
After making a speech for independence ,
Father Hidalgo led an army of eriol/os ,
60
mestizos and Indians against the Spanish.
Although they won several battles , Hidalgo's
army was defeated. Hidalgo tried to escape
through Texas to the United States but was
captured and shot. His death did not stop his
followers from wanting their freedom.
A man named Juan Bautista de las Casas
(Cah' sas) was commander of the Spanish
troops in San Antonio. But he liked Hidalgo's
ideas about freedom. He had his troops arrest
the governor, Manuel Salcedo, and his assis­tant,
the lieutenant governor. Las Casas made
himself the new governor, but the people in
San Antonio did not like the way he governed.
One of the men who did not like las Casas
was Juan Manuel Zambrano (Zam bdin" no).
He organized a group of men, and in the
middle of the night, they took las Casas
prisoner. After a short trial, las Casas was
executed. Zambrano let Governor Salcedo
and his men go free and made Salcedo
governor again . As before, the Spanish
controlled Texas.
61
INDEPENDENCE -
FOR A SHORT TIME
One of the Mexicans who wanted Mexico to be
free from Spain was Jose Bernardo
Maximiliano Gutierrez de Lara (Goo tee er/
res). He was one of Hidalgo's followers who ·
had managed to escape across the Mexican
border. He had gone to Louisiana in the
United States. He wanted very much to go
back to Texas in Mexico and help the people
get their freedom from the Spanish rulers.
Gutierrez put together an army. Some of
the men were Mexicans who had been forced
to leave Mexico because they had fought the
Spanish. Some were Indians. Other men were
Anglo Americans from the United States who
wanted to help . Still others just thought it
would be exciting to fight in a war.
~
When the army was ready (late 1812),
Gutierrez and his men crossed the Sabine
River into Texas . They had no problems in
taking over the town of Nacogdoches. Next,
they captured Goliad. Then (April 1813), they
captured San Antonio, which was the capital
of Texas.
The Spanish governor and his staff were
put into prison. On April 6, 1813, Gutierrez
proclaimed, "Now Mexico is free from Spain .
Mexico is now a new, independent country - a
republic. And Texas will be a state in the new
Republic of Mexico." This was the first
"Declaration of Independence" for Texas. This
meant there was no more Spanish control in
the Mexican state of Texas.
But this did not mean there was peace.
Some of the Mexicans from San Antonio who
were with Gutierrez did not like the Spanish
governor. The governor had been the cause of
injury or death to many of their friends and rel­atives.
One day, without telling Gutierrez, they
63
took the governor and his staff from prison.
They told him they were going to set him and
his men free. Instead, they took them outside
of town and killed them in a brutal way.
When news of these murders reached the
other soldiers in Gutierrez' army , many did not
think this should have happened. Some of the
Anglo Americans who did not like it returned
to the United States. Many of the soldiers who
stayed blamed Gutierrez for the brutal
murders . They no longer trusted him or
wanted to follow him. After four months of
facing these problems, Gutierrez decided to
give up his command. He, too, left Texas and
went back to Louisiana.
When Gutierrez left, Alvarez de Toledo
(To lay/ do) took over as commander of the
army. He had very little experience leading
men in battle. He had much to learn.
Spain had not forgotten Texas and sent a
large Spanish army to recapture San Antonio.
They decided to set a trap for Toledo's army.
The soldiers hid in the trees near the Medina
River. Toledo did not see the hidden soldiers
and led his men into the Spanish trap. Toledo's
army was badly defeated. Almost all of his men
were either killed or taken prisoner. The
Spanish, who had won the battle, took over
and again ruled Mexico. Texas was no longer
an independent state in the Republic of
Mexico. All the land was under Spanish rule
once more.
64
INDEPENDENCE AT LAST­MEXICO
IS FREE
Mexicans continued to fight the Spanish. But
the fighting was scattered and not all in one
place. These small battles helped to make
Mexico stronger and Spanish rule weaker.
Several men gave important help during
this time. Jose Felix Trespalacios (Trace pa lal
see os/) had been put in prison twice because
he had led some of the fighting against Spain .
~
Then he joined Dr. James Long, who was also
fighting for Mexican independence. They cap­tured
Goliad (also called La Bahia) from the
Spaniards. Long sent him and another man,
Ben Milam , to Mexico to ask for help . They
were told to visit the head of the Spanish army,
Colonel Agustin de Iturbide (E toor be/day), to
see if he would join them.
Before they got there , T respalacios and
Milam were captured and put into prison. But
Colonel Iturbide liked the idea after he heard
about it. He thought he might have more
power if he helped the Mexicans gain their
independence . So the people's army of Mexico
and the royal Spanish army under Iturbide
67
joined forces. They signed a paper called the
"Plan of Iguala" which joined the two armies
together as equals. This is important because
whoever controlled the army controlled the
whole country.
The last Spanish governor of Texas,
Antonio Martinez, was in power when the Plan
of Iguala was signed. He had been one of the
best Texas governors because he was honest
and helpful. But when he saw the plan joining
the two armies, he quit being governor. He
"resigned." The Spanish accepted the Plan. of
Iguala, and Mexico finally gained her indepen­dence
from Spain in 1821.
Iturbide went to Mexico City and made
himself the first emperor of Mexico. Iturbide
freed Trespalacios and Milam, who were still in
prison. The new emperor was grateful for their
help and made Trespalacios a colonel in the
army and then governor of Texas.
68
COAHUILA Y TEJAS­A
STATE IN MEXICO
£s.;
Remember, Mexico had gained her inde­pendence
from Spain (in 1821) . Then lturbide
had made himself emperor. He ruled very
much like the Spanish had done before him,
and the people did not like him either. After
only two years (1823) , a young general named
u v u Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna (San'tah Ah'
nah) forced lturbide out of Mexico and took
over the government.
69
The following year (1824) , Mexico set up
a government something like that of the United
States. Mexico was a republic, one nation with
many states, which could elect a president. But
Texas was not ready to be a state.
One reason that Texas was not ready to
be a state was that it had very little money. The
governor, Trespalacios, had tried to help by
establishing a bank called "Banco Nacional de
T ejas." The paper money this bank issued
became no good when the new Mexican
republic issued paper money too.
,11
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NUEVO
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70
Texas had other problems. There was a
problem in getting special papers for the
settlers to show ownership of the land they
were living on. There were problems with
some Americans from the United States
coming into east Texas to live without
permission. Texas was still a very small frontier
state at this time with only a few towns and not
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many settlers. And there were no people who
knew how to run the state government. The
Spaniards who knew how to rule had left the
state when it no longer belonged to Spain.
There were other frontier states with the
same kind of problems. So in 1824, the states
of Coahuila and Texas and Nuevo Leon
decided to join together to form one big state.
Before they could write the paper to do this,
Nuevo Leon decided to take a chance and be a
state all by itself. This left Coahuila and Texas
to write up an agreement to become a state.
This agreement was allowed by the Mexican
Constitution of 1824.
The first governor of the new state of
Coahuila y Tejas was Rafael Gonzales (Gon/zal
les) from San Antonio. He was elected by the
people and served for four years. The Texas
town of Gonzales was named for him in 1825.
The Constitution of 1824 was a very im­portant
document. It stated that when Texas
had enough people and it was able to take care
72
't-~
I
' .
of its own problems , it could become a
separate state again. This is important because,
later , Texas did ask to become a separate state.
When this request was ignored , it led to war.
P e
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Inner town of Gonzales
73
THE ~~EJ~~ BRAND
AND VICTORIA
One of the most famous Mexican men in early
Texas was Martfn de Leon (day"lay on"). He
was from a wealthy criollo family, that is, a
Spanish family that lived in Mexico. His family
had planned to educate him in Europe, but de
Leon chose a life of ranching and adventure.
He made a trip to Texas in 1805 and saw
the beautiful grasslands, the flowing rivers and
springs . He thought Texas was the best place
for a ranch that he had ever seen and decided
to move there.
He developed a large cattle ranch on the
Aransas River. He chose the "EJ" brand for his
cattle, the oldest brand to be used in Texas.
The "EJ" stood for "Espfritu Jesus," Spirit of
Jesus. It had been used by a group of Catholic
priests hundreds of years before.
74
; "',.
<,' #~' f ".' ';r "- , .'./ :;71 • I "
:' ~ i t~ '.' ~ t: I
~ . J ~ •• i .
Besides being a rancher, de Le6n made
an agreement with the new Mexican govern­ment
(1824) to bring more Mexican families
into Texas, Families who came to work and to
build their homes in a new land were called
colonists. De Le6n helped the families to settle
as a colony in the Guadalupe River valley. A
town grew up there called Victoria. Victoria
was named in honor of Mexico's first president,
Guadalupe Victoria (pictured above).
\ \
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GASPAR FLORES
When settlers from many parts of Mexico and
the United States started coming to Texas to
set up colonies , a man was needed to be in
charge. He was called the commissioner of
colonization. One commissioner (1826) was
Gaspar Flores (Floor" res). His job was to
decide where families could settle and how
much land they could have. He could give out
titles of land ownership or just let families live
there for awhile.
There were many Indian tribes in Texas
different from the Indians in Mexico that we
read about earlier. One of the tribes in Texas
was the Comanche Indians. They were well
known for their love of fighting and were
feared by settlers and other tribes. Flores was
one of the few men in Texas who was able to
talk with the Comanches. He was able to make
peace agreements with them called treaties.
Flores was liked and respected · by the
Texans. He offered all his goods and cattle to
the Texans who fought at the Alamo. Later,
Flores was asked by the people to be one of the
men to sign the Texas Declaration of Indepen­dence.
He was on his way to sign this
important paper when he died. His family had
farms and ranches south of San Antonio. The
town of Floresville is named in honor of this
important family.
76
',' ,t
VERAMENDI AND BOWIE
Juan Martin de Veramendi (Va/r~h men/de) of
San Antonio was elected mayor of his city in
1824. He served well for six years . Then he
was elected vice-governor of the state of
Coahuila y Tejas (1830). The vice-governor is
next in line to be governor if something hap­pens
to the governor . Veramendi had to go to
Mexico City to accept this office in person. On
the way to Mexico City , he met an Anglo
American named James Bowie. Bowie was a
famous knife-fighter who came to Texas look-
78
ing for adventure. They became good friends
and traveled back to San Antonio together.
Veramendi invited Bowie to visit his home and
meet his family. Bowie fell in love with Ursula
Veramendi, his oldest daughter. She was
described as "a very beautiful woman." Soon
Bowie and Ursula were married.
Both families moved to Saltillo, the capital
of Coahuila y Tejas. Here Veramendi worked
with the state government. Bowie purchased
79
machinery in the United States for making
cotton into cloth and brought it to Saltillo.
There, Veramendi and Bowie went into the
cotton mill business together (1831).
After a short time, the governor, Jose
Marfa Letona, died, and Veramendi became
governor. In the summer of 1833, the dreaded
disease of cholera began to take many lives.
Veramendi decided to take the two families to
his summer home in Monclova, hoping to
escape the disease . But Veramendi and most
80
of his family, including Bowie's wife and two
children, died from cholera that summer.
Bowie did not get cholera because he was on a
business trip to the United States. He was very
sad about the deaths of his family. Bowie gave
up the cotton mill and left Saltillo. After this, he
spent most of his time fighting Indians and
exploring new land in Texas.
A FIGHTER WHO LOST
HIS HOME
Many of the families that de Leon brought to
Texas became ranchers. Some of them
worked at other jobs. Placido Benavides (Ben"
ah vee/des) was one of these.
Benavides came to Texas as a bookkeep­er
for the colony started by de Leon. He
married one of de Leon's daughters, Augustina
de Leon. They were given a ranch on Placido
Creek and some land in Victoria. In the center
of town, they built a large home of logs which
they named Round Top House. It was built like
a fort and had small openings in the walls to
shoot through. During the Indian raids, the
colonists came to Round Top House for safety.
Benavides was liked by the people and
was elected mayor of Victoria in 1832.
Benavides also did a great deal to help Texas
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gain her independence from Mexico. He was
the leader of a group of Mexican Texan
ranchers from around Victoria. The ranchers
left their homes to help other Texans fight for
their freedom (1835-36). When they returned,
they found many of their homes and ranches
had been taken over by settlers from the
United States. This happened to Benavides.
The new settlers had found the homes empty
and had moved in to stay. They would not
leave. Benavides was angry because the gov­ernment
would not make them leave the
property. He had no home in Texas any more,
so he moved his family to Louisiana. He lived
there until his death in 1837.
83
THE TEXAS DECLARATION
OF INDEPENDENCE
Earlier in this book, you read about Mexico
gaining her independence from Spain (1821).
As a new free country, Mexico first had an
emperor for two years (1821-1823), then
General Santa Anna controlled the govern­ment
for one year. Finally, they set up a
<i
government like that of the United States
(1824) and elected a president. There were
states in this new republic, and Texas became a
state with Coahuila, named Coahuila y Tejas.
In Coahuila y Tejas, as in other states,
people argued about the best way to make
decisions and run the new country. Some
people liked the Constitution of 1824, which
84
promised that everyone would have the same
rights and could tell the government what to
do. People who thought this way were called
Federalists. Others thought the nation should
have one man who had all the power and
would tell the people what he wanted them to
do. People who thought this way were called
Centralists. The man who thought he should
rule was Santa Anna.
Most of the people who lived in Texas
were Federalists. They did not want Santa
Anna or anyone powerful man to be a ruler.
The Texans decided to hold a meeting at a
place called Washington-on-the-Brazos and
talk about who should rule them. Among
others , seven Mexican Texans were elected by
the people to go to the meeting and talk for
them. Only three of these men actually were
85
able to attend.
The people at the meeting spent many
hours talking and thinking. They had to decide
if Texas should fight to become a separate state
from Coahuila again, or if they should fight to
become a nation, completely free from
Mexican rule.
They remembered the letters they had
sent to Mexico City. The letters asked the
president of Mexico to let Coahuila y Tejas
divide and become separate states again. The
letters had not even been answered! If they
wanted to be a separate state, they would
surely have to fight the government in order to
do so.
They thought about what it would be like
to remain as a state in Mexico. They would
surely be ruled by one powerful man from
Mexico City. They did not like that idea. That
was almost as bad as being ruled by Spain!
The men decided Texas should fight for
independence from Mexico. They wanted
Texas to be a free nation where Texans could
make all the decisions for themselves.
On March 2, 1836, the three Mexican
Texans and 56 others signed Texas's
Declaration of Independence. The Mexican
signers were Jose Antonio Navarro, Jose
Francisco Ruiz and Lorenzo de Zavala. By
signing this paper, the men let all people know
that Texas was now fighting Mexico to become
a free nation.
86
NAVARRO AND THE
LEG IRONS
Jose Antonio Navarro (Na var/row) was one of
the signers of the Texas Declaration of
Independence in 1836. But he was known for
many other things as well. He had taken part in
everything important that had happened in
Texas for many years.
Navarro was born in San Antonio in
1795. He took part in the events which freed
Mexico from Spain. When Gutierrez captured
the cities of Nacogdoches, La Bahfa and San
88
,
1,
I'.!
Antonio, Navarro was actively helping. When
Gutierrez lost his command to Toledo, and
Toledo lost the war to Spain, Navarro had to
hide in Louisiana for three years. Later he was
forgiven, and he returned to Texas.
He served in the state government for a
number of years and became friends with
Stephen F. Austin. It was while serving in
office that Navarro wrote a law which gave
land to Texas families. The law gave a special
amount of land to any family who would build
a home on it and plant crops. In later years this
kind of law would be called "the homestead
law." In 1836, Navarro was elected to
represent San Antonio in the meeting at
Washington-on-the-Brazos. There he signed
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89
the Declaration of Independence and helped
to write the Texas Constitution giving new laws
for the Texas Republic.
Five years later , Navarro went on a trip to
Santa Fe with a group of men who were trying
to make New Mexico a part of Texas. He was
captured , spent four years in a Mexican jail and
escaped while still wearing leg irons. When he
got back to Texas , he added a line and a circle
to the brand of his ranch. This showed the leg
irons he wore while a prisoner in Mexico
suffering for his country.
He spent the rest of his life in government
service to Texas. Navarro County in Texas is
named in his honor. Its county seat ,
Corsicana, is named for his father's birthplace ,
the island of Corsica.
90
RUIZ AND THE INDIANS
r.( ,
, I.
Another signer of Texas's Declaration of Inde­pendence
was Jose Francisco Ruiz (Roo ees/) ,
an uncle of Navarro. He, too , was a San
Antonian (born in 1780). His parents wanted
him to have a good education , so they sent
him to Spain while he was still a boy . He liked
school and learned to be a teacher .
When he returned to Texas in 1803, he
was full of ideas. He thought people should
make their own rules and laws. He believed
decisions about money, schools, taxes , roads
and everything else should come from the
people. He had many friends who listened to
his ideas and agreed with him .
91
When the war between Mexico and Spain
started, he and Navarro joined the army of
Gutierrez (1813). When the army lost the
battle at the Medina River, a few men escaped
to the United States. But not Ruiz! Ruiz
escaped but went to live among the Indians.
He remained with them about eight years until
Mexico gained its independence.
After he returned to San Antonio, Ruiz
became a colonel in the Mexican army. He had
learned a great deal about the Indians during
his stay with them. He used this knowledge to
help him serve the army and his country.
After signing the Texas Declaration of
Independence, Ruiz was the first senator from
San Antonio in the new Texas government.
92
" I
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DE ZAVALA AND THE
TEXAS FLAG
An Indian from Yucatan, a state in Mexico,
was another signer of the Texas Declaration of
Independence in 1836. His name was Lorenzo
de Zavala (day/Sa valla). He did many impor­tant
things before coming to Texas in 1835.
For one thing, he was sent by the people
of Yucatan to speak for them, to be their
representative , in Spain. He then served in the
94
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Mexican government (1822) and made many
suggestions about changes that should be
made. He was elected as governor of a state in
Mexico in 1827. Later, de Zavala became
head of the Mexican Treasury and was trusted
with the nation's money. Also, he was given a
grant of land on which to settle families in
Texas. Some land would be given to each
family who settled in Texas, and some to de
Zavala for bringing the families there.
When Santa Anna was in power, de
Zavala was chosen to go to France to represent
his country (1833). When he returned from
France, he left the Mexican government and
moved his family to Texas (1835). He built
their home outside of Harrisburg near the
present city of Houston.
After signing the Texas Declaration of
Independence, he was named vice-president
95
of the new Republic of Texas, serving only
until someone could be elected by the people.
Shortly thereafter, he designed the first official
flag for the Republic of Texas. It looked
different from the Texas flag of today. It was
blue with a single gold star and T - E - X - A - S
written around it.
While serving as Vice-president, he
became too ill to work. He left his office to be at
home. One day, he and his son went for a ride
in their boat on Buffalo Bayou. The boat
turned over, and de Zavala saved his son from
drowning. But de Zavala was already sick and
weak before this happened . He took a fever,
and in three days he died. He had spent his
entire life helping others, and in the end, he
lost his life because he had saved his son.
96
BROTHER AGAINST BROTHER
There were many Mexican Texans who fought
and died for Texas independence. Gregorio
Esparza (Ays par/sa) was one of them. Esparza
was one of the first to volunteer to fight. He
had joined the Texans who believed that
people should vote and decide things for them­selves.
People who believed this way were
called Federalists.
The Federalists decided to fight the
Mexican army in San Antonio because the
soldiers believed another way and were
Centralists. The Centralists believed that one
powerful man should rule the country and tell
ever,yone else what to do. Santa Anna was the
head of the Centralist group. He had sent his
brother-in-law, General C6s, to San Antonio
as commander of the Mexican army.
After bitter fighting in town, General C6s
lost many men and agreed to surrender
(1835). C6s and his men who were not
Texans were told to leave and never return.
One of the soldiers with C6s was Gregorio
Esparza's brother, Francisco. Since Francisco
was a Texan, he was allowed to stay only after
he agreed not to fight any more.
Here were two brothers who loved each
other very much but did not think alike. When
war came, they found they were not on the
same side. This happens sometimes when
people believe in different things, and it can
cause a man to fight his brother.
97
ENRIQUE - A BOY
AT THE ALAMO
In San Antonio , there was excitement in the
air. Enrique , the eight-year-old son of
Gregorio Esparza, felt the excitement, too , but
he was also a little frightened. He had heard
that Santa Anna with his huge army was
coming to town.
It had been an insult to Santa Anna's
power to have his brother-in-law driven out of
Texas. This had made him very angry, and he
wanted to return to Texas with his army and
personally crush the rebelling Texans.
Enrique remembered how his father had
fought General Cos three months before. He
also remembered that his uncle Francisco had
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been one of the soldiers with General Cos.
Uncle Francisco had been told to be ready if
Santa Anna needed him later.
Suddenly, a messenger rode into town
shouting, "Santa Anna is coming! His army has
just been seen outside of town." A crowd
gathered around him, and he continued,
"Santa Anna will fight until every Federalist
soldier in Texas is dead or captured!" Enrique
wondered what would happen next.
His mother, Mrs. Esparza, was worried.
"Why doesn't the wagon get here to take us
away from here? I have everything packed and
ready to go ."
"We must move quickly," his father,
Gregorio, thought. "It is getting dark, and the
wagon may not come in time. I must join the
other Texans in the Alamo to man a cannon."
Gregorio said to his wife, "Quickly, bring
the food and a few clothes. We will take the
children and go to the Alamo together."
As it grew darker, the Esparzas and their
four young children slipped qUietly out of their
home and made their way to the Alamo.
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When they arrived, however, they found the
huge, heavy doors closed and barred.
"What shall we do?" asked Mrs. Esparza.
"We cannot take the children back home
tonight. It would not be safe there now."
"I will help, mama," said Enrique. He
pounded on the doors with his small fist.
Gregorio called to the guard standing on the
wall. The guard recognized Gregorio and his
family. Soon all the Esparzas were lifted over
the wall and raised through a window into the
Alamo. Enrique bumped into a cannon in the
dark and wondered if it would be one his father
might fire. They were now safe inside the
Alamo, at least for this night!
In the morning, Enrique could hardly wait
to explore his new home. The Texans were
using the old mission as a fort. The old build­ings
and stone walls had been repaired, and
there were cannons mounted on top of some
of them. The Alamo looked like an interesting
place in which to play. "It will be a real adven­ture
to be here ," Enrique thought to himself.
It was not long before Santa Anna's
soldiers reached the Alamo and began the fight
that would be remembered by all Texans.
Gregorio joined the other men in the Alamo
who were fighting. Some were Mexican
Texans, some were Anglo Americans, but they
were on the same side because they believed
the same way about government.
Santa Anna's cannons were fired at them
day and night. There was little time for sleeping
or eating. They took turns for a little rest or a
qUick bite of food and then went right back to
their posts.
Enrique soon realized there would be little
time for play. He had to do what he could to
help his father and the others. Early one
morning, he took his father some food and saw
102
that he was very tired. "Papa, why don't you
stop and rest? 1 am afraid for you," he said.
"Y ou are very brave, but 1 am afraid you will
get hurt or be killed."
Esparza looked at his son with love in his
eyes. "I am not afraid to die, Enrique, if it
means that you and the others will be free. 1
will try to be careful, but if 1 am killed, I want
you to be brave. Take care of your mother for
me. Help her with the little ones. You must be
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the man in the family if anything happens to
me." He held his son close and kissed him .
Enrique hugged his father. "I will, papa,"
he promised. "I am proud of you." Enrique ran
back to be with the women and other children.
Gregorio turned to the small cannon and
began to fire it. The battle grew worse. They
had been surrounded by the enemy for 13
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days, and the enemy far outnumbered them.
The defenders of the Alamo fought
bravely, but on March 6, 1836, the Mexican
troops broke into the fort. Santa Anna had
given orders that none of the defenders would
be spared. All were to be killed.
When the battle was over, Santa Anna
had won, and the men who had fought in the
Alamo were dead. Esparza's body was found
104
slumped over his cannon, with a bullet in his
chest and a sword slash in his side. It was the
day before his thirty-fourth birthday. Enrique
remembered his father's request and helped his
mother. The five Esparzas and about eight
others were the only ones who had survived
the Battle of the Alamo. It was a very sad time
in Texas.
Santa Anna ordered his soldiers to gather
up all the bodies of the Alamo defenders and
burn them. This was one way to show the
Texans who ruled the country. He could keep
the dead men from getting a proper funeral
and Christian burial.
Francisco, who was on Santa Anna's side,
very sad about his brother Gregorio's
. He did not want Gregorio's body to be
burned . So he went to Santa Anna and asked
a special favor . He asked for the body of his
brother so he could give it a proper burial.
Santa Anna allowed him to take Gregorio's
body so the family could have a funeral. It was
the only one of the bodies from the Alamo that
was not burned after the battle.
Enrique Esparza lived to be 89 years old.
He was always proud of his father who had
fought and died at the Alamo. He taught his
own family to feel that way, too. When
Enrique died, his family said on his death
announcement, "The deceased was a son of
one of the soldiers on the side of the
Americans in the Battle of the Alamo ."
106
A WOMAN FROM THE ALAMO
One of the most famous women in Texas
history is Senora Andrea Caston on Ramirez
Candalaria (Can/da l~'re ah). It is said that she
was one of the women who survived the Battle
of the Alamo. She lived to be 113 years old!
The story of her life is fascinating .
. - .-' ~ -.-...... .-f"I" ~~---.
Madame Candalaria was born in Nuevo
Laredo, Mexico , in 1785; but when she was
three years old, she moved to Laredo, Texas,
with her parents. Her father was Spanish, and
her mother was Mexican.
Madame Candalaria was 25 years old
when she moved to San Antonio. San
Antonio was a very small town then. Many
families lived in adobe houses. She watched
San Antonio grow into a very large town with
many people. Much of her life was spent in
helping people in trouble and nursing those
who were sick. Madame Candalaria's help was
welcome during the smallpox epidemics, when
this deadly disease spread qUickly from one
person to another.
During her life in San Antonio, many
interesting events took place. One of the
107
stories she told was about Santa Anna. She
said that a short time before the Battle of the
Alamo she saw Santa Anna, the Mexican
general, ride into the city disguised as a farmer.
He drove a mule and pretended to sell hay
from his wagon. But what he was really doing
was mapping out the city and making plans for
the battle. It was her idea that General Santa
Anna did not want to trust this important job to
one of his men. He did it himself.
Madame Candalaria said she was also
present at the Alamo during the battle . She did
not say when she went to the Alamo or how
she got there. She did say, however, that she
helped take care of the wounded men. She
said that she had nursed James Bowie, when
he became ill during the battle. According to
her story, Bowie died of pneumonia the day
before the Alamo was captured.
When the Mexican soldiers stormed inside
and were killing all the Texans who were not
already dead, she threw herself upon Bowie's
body . She told them he had died of a disease
and not from one of their bullets. Because of
this , she did not think his body should be
burned with the others. She pleaded for his
body to be given to her so she might give it a
regular burial.
Some of Santa Anna's soldiers thought
Bowie might really be alive and was just "play­ing
dead" to trick them into letting him escape.
While she was pleading, Madame Candalaria
108
said , one of the Mexican soldiers drew his
sword and thrust it through Bowie's side,
wounding her on the chin and right wrist at the
same time . She carried scars of two such
wounds to her grave. After she had been si­lenced,
Bowie's body was taken out by the
soldiers. It was placed on the pile of bodies and
burned along with more than 180 others who
had died defending the Alamo. Madame
Candalaria was one of the 13 women and
children who were not massacred by the
Mexican soldiers.
Many of the women who had helped the
Texans were forced to work hard by the
Mexican soldiers as punishment. Madame
Candalaria was one of them. She was soon set
free , but she did not say how this happened.
During her lifetime, Madame Candalaria
had four children of her own . She adopted 22
orphan children to rear as well. She was
known as one of the best cooks of Mexican
food in Texas. She made much money
cooking suppers for famous and rich people.
Most of her money was used to help the poor
and care for the needy.
In her old age, she lived in a small home
in San Antonio with one of her daughters. She
had a good memory, and many people came
to ask about things that had happened when
she was young. She was the oldest living
person in Texas at that time who had lived
through the Battle of the Alamo. When she
was 106 years old (1891), the Texas
government voted to give her a check for $12
each month. It was for her services at the
Alamo and for her nursing the smallpox
patients in San Antonio .
110
PANCHITAr
~~THE ANGEL OF GOLIADrr
During the time that Texas was fighting Mexico
to become a free land, many people were
killed. In the midst of all this conflict and
violence, however, there were people who
were interested in saving lives. One of these
was Francisca Alavez. Some called her
Francita Alvarez. But soon she was best known
to everyone by her nickname "Panchita - the
Angel of Goliad."
Panchita was the wife of Captain
Telesforo Alavez, an officer in the Mexican
army. He served as paymaster most of the
time, but sometimes he had to fight in the
bloody battles against the Texans. He was a
soldier and had to do what he was ordered to
do. This did not mean that he always liked
what his orders told him to do. He agreed with
his wife, Panchita, when she said "I do not like
killing people."
Panchita decided to help the Texans who
became prisoners whenever she could. In San
Patricio, a small town in Texas, a Texan
named Reuben Brown was taken prisoner
during a battle . He was scheduled to be shot by
the Mexican troops commanded by General
Urrea. Panchita found out about the execution
that was planned. She and a priest went to the
general to plead for the prisoner's life. General
Urrea agreed to their request. Later the
prisoner was able to escape.
111
Another time, at the Texas port of
Copano, William Miller and 75 of his men
were captured by soldiers under the command
of Panchita's husband. The hands and feet of
the prisoners were tied so tightly that the blood
almost stopped circulating. Panchita begged
her husband to loosen the ropes, and he
yielded to her plea. Her concern saved their
lives. Later, with her help, they were able to
escape. Many years later, Panchita received a
letter from Colonel Miller thanking her for her
life-saving kindness to him and his men.
A very important event in her life hap­pened
at Goliad. A group of Texas soldiers
commanded by Colonel Fannin were captured
and brought to Goliad. Many were sick and
wounded. They were told they would be put
on a ship and returned to the United States.
One night Captain Alavez looked worried and
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paced the floor.
"What is wrong?" said Panchita. "What is
bothering you ? Tell me so I can help."
"M y dear," he said, "how I wish you could.
The men who are singing in the prison expect
to go home tomorrow. But General Urrea has
just received a command that they must be
shot instead!"
"But, husband!" she exclaimed. "Tomor­row
is Palm Sunday! Who would do such a
thing on a Holy Day?"
"My general has received the command
from Santa Anna, and he has just ordered me
to shoot the men. How I hate the job of being a
soldier. But I know what I must do," he said to
her sadly.
Panchita thought for a moment, then
whispered to herself, "He knows what he must
do , and I know what I must do." She was
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thinking that many of those captured were
young men. They had their entire lives ahead
of them, and she wanted to save as many as
she could.
It was a long restless night for both of
them. Early in the morning, before the sun
came up, Panchita went to her friend, the wife
of General Urrea. She asked for help in saving
some of the prisoners. Lady Urrea agreed to
do what she could.
As General Urrea's officers were marching
some of the prisoners out to the field to be
shot, Panchita and Lady Urrea saw a young
boy among them. They went qUickly to the
officers and begged to have the boy released in
their care. They succeeded in saving his life.
Later, the 15-year-old boy was helped to
escape. He was Benjamin Hughes from
Kentucky and lived to be 60 years old. When
he died, he left papers telling the story and
praising the mercy of "the Angel, Panchita."
Shortly after saving the boy, Panchita
heard the soldiers marching more prisoners out
to be shot. As they marched by, she was able
to slip several of the young men from the
group when the guards were not looking. She
hid them in her tent until after the slaughter
had taken place. She gave them food and
bandaged their wounds. Later she helped
them to escape.
"Y ou are the 'Angel of Goliad,' " they said.
And that became her name.
114
FATHER AND SON FOR
TEXAS - THE SEGUINS
Some Mexican Texans did more than others to
help Texas become a better place in which to
live. Erasmo SeguIn (Say geen') was one of
them. He set Up one of the first schools owned
by the town of San Antonio, the city where he
was born. He tried new ways of growing cotton
on his land. At one time, he served as mayor
of San Antonio; and at another time, he was
the postmaster.
When General Cos and his Mexican
soldiers came to Texas, SeguIn wanted to be
their friend. But the soldiers were unfriendly to
him, and SeguIn changed his mind. He de­cided
to be friends only with Texans. He sent
115
many wagons full of food to the Texans who
were fighting for independence . He also gave
them horses and mules from his ranch .
The Texans liked SeguIn and the things
he did to help them. They elected him to go to
the special meeting to talk about Texas inde­pendence
- the Convention of 1836. He
wanted to go but was unable to attend. Seguin
spent his whole life helping his fellow man and
his state.
Erasmo SeguIn had a son named Juan
who followed in his father's footsteps in helping
Texas. He was one of the first to warn Texans
that Santa Anna was no longer their friend.
Juan spent long hours getting Mexican Texans
to join a group to fight the Centralist army. His
company was made up entirely of Mexican
Texans. Under Juan's command, they served
Texas well and bravely.
Juan was one of the few Texans who
fought at both the Alamo and at San Jacinto .
He and his company went to help Colonel
William B. Travis at the Alamo. Colonel Travis
decided to send a message to Colonel Fannin
at Goliad asking for help. Juan was asked to
carry the message because he spoke Spanish
and knew the countryside. He left his troops at
the Alamo and rode through enemy lines to
deliver the message. On the way back, he
learned the Alamo had already been captured
and all the soldiers killed. Seven of the nine
Mexican Texans who died in the Alamo were
116
t
i
S egu"m,s men.
Juan joined General Sam Houston's army
at Gonzales and soon formed another
volunteer group of ranchers made up entirely
of Mexican Texans. It was a cavalry unit; that
is, a unit in which the soldiers rode horses. This
company served as scouts in Houston's army
and as a fighting unit at San Jacinto. Most of
the men spoke only Spanish. One of the men,
who could speak both English and Spanish,
was Jose Antonio Menchaca (Men cha/ ka) .
Menchaca acted as an interpreter for those
who did not understand English.
As the Battle of San Jacinto drew near,
117
General Houston asked SeguIn's company of
Mexican Texans to stay behind and guard the
horses and equipment. Perhaps Houston was
afraid the Mexican Texans might be mistaken
for the enemy and shot by mistake. Neverthe­less,
SeguIn and his men were insulted by
Houston's suggestion. Menchaca spoke for
SeguIn and the company. "We joined the army
to fight for freedom. We are prepared to face
the enemy, and we will die if we must. We did
not join the army to herd horses or watch
equipment. If you do not want our help in
fighting, we will return to our families. They
need our help in going to Louisiana for safety.
That would be better than tending horses!"
General Houston was convinced that they
118
wanted to fight. He changed his mind and let
them join the other soldiers. They fought
bravely at San Jacinto and helped drive the
Mexican army out of Texas.
SeguIn stayed in the army and later was
sent back to San Antonio as a military
commander. One of the things he did was to
gather the ashes of the Alamo defenders who
had been burned. He buried them with full
military honors at San Fernando Cathedral in
San Antonio. The funeral address was
delivered by Juan SeguIn in Spanish.
SeguIn was well liked by the people. He
was elected to the Texas government and also
became mayor of San Antonio in 1841. The
town of Walnut Springs changed its name to
Seguin to honor him and his father.
SeguIn, however, was not always
honored by Texans. On a trip to Mexico, he
119
discovered that the Mexican government was
planning to send their army back to take San
Antonio from the Texans. SeguIn warned the
people and the Texas government. The people
thought this would not happen and did not get
ready to fight. When the Mexican army arrived
in March 1842, they captured San Antonio
easily. The Mexican commander spread the lie
that Juan SeguIn had helped him . This story
made some people wonder if SeguIn was still a
friend to Texas.
The Mexican army left San Antonio after
only two days when they heard the Texan
army was coming. But even after they left,
many people still believed the lie about Juan
SeguIn . They blamed SeguIn for many of the
other troubles in San Antonio and said they
would kill him. SeguIn left for Laredo.
When he arrived in Laredo , he was
arrested by the Mexicans and put in jail. He
120
i
was given a choice by Santa Anna. He was
told he could spend the rest of his life in jail or
he could join the Mexican army as a major. He
would have to fight the Texans who had once
been his friends. SeguIn made his decision and
agreed to join their army.
The Mexican army planned a second
invasion of Texas in September, 1842, and
now SeguIn returned to San Antonio as a
member of the Mexican army. He fought in
several battles. While in San Antonio, SeguIn
learned that his ranch had been sold by the
government for taxes.
After the Mexican army was beaten at the
Battle of Salado , they decided to return to
Mexico. SeguIn returned with them, taking his
family and others who wanted to go.
He was made a colonel in the Mexican
army and took part in many other famous
Mexican battles. Later he left the Mexican
army and was allowed to return to Texas.
SeguIn spent the rest of his life living
sometimes in Texas and sometimes in Mexico.
He died in Nuevo Laredo in 1890 and was
buried there.
In 1969, some citizens of Seguin, Texas,
visited his grave in Mexico to honor him. They
wanted to have his body moved to the Texas
city that was named for him. During the Bicen­tennial
Celebration of the United States in
1976, his body was reburied in Seguin as a
Texas hero.
121
POSTSCRIPT
FOR VOLUME ONE
In this volume, we have looked at some of the
stories from the beginning of Mexico to the
time of Texas independence. But this is not the
end of the Mexican story. It is only a stopping
place , the end of Volume One. Volume Two
begins where this volume ends and includes
stories of warriors, outlaws, ranchers and
workers, settlers and citizens. It continues the
story of the Mexican Texans up to today.
The stories you have just read are only
about a few of those who have helped make
Texas what it is today. There are many other
people who have done interesting things and
have equally interesting stories to share.
Possibly your parents, grandparents or some­one
else in your family could tell you about
some of them. You might like to record some
of these stories and begin your own personal or
family history.
The stories included in this volume show
how life was in the early days and how people
tried to solve their problems. Some stories
remind us that life has always had difficulties.
Perhaps, also, you will see that one person can
make a difference ... to his neighborhood, to
his state and to his country . Perhaps you could
be that kind of person someday!
122
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p. 58
p . 59
p. 60
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