Part Five---Mirabeau Lamar, General Hugh McLeod and the Santa Fe Expedition

   

The Llano Estacado, not the Mexican Army, defeated the Santa Fe Expedition. 

      After the Battle of Plum Creek, in August of 1840, Mirabeau Lamar, President of Texas, still faced problems.  He had been elected by an overwhelming majority of the votes, largely because both his opponents committed suicide before the election.  His policies differed greatly from those of Sam Houston, who preceded him and would follow him as president of the republic. 

     Unlike Houston, Lamar mistrusted all Indians and felt that they should be forced out of Texas by whatever means available, up to and including extermination.  Houston was against slavery and wanted Texas to become a state of the Union.  Lamar wanted to continue slavery and did not want to be annexed by the United States—he wanted to build a nation that stretched to the Pacific Ocean and was recognized as a world power.  Lamar felt that Texas, with all its land and its vast potential, would be foolish to become subservient to any other country.

     Lamar wanted immediate recognition of the Republic of Texas by France, England, and other world powers, which he hoped would enable the republic to borrow money from world banking institutions.  Texas was dead broke, unable to collect taxes and, even after formal recognition by Britain and France, unable to borrow.  During Lamar’s three year tenure, the republic generated a bit over one million in revenue, and spent almost five million.

     To distract the public from these problems and as a first step toward expanding the empire to the Pacific, Lamar started a campaign to annex New Mexico, at least that part east of the Rio Grande, which Texas had claimed since San Jacinto.  The trade along the Santa Fe Trail would go a long way toward alleviating Texas’ financial situation and Lamar was convinced that the people of New Mexico were ready to join Texas and split from the despotic rule of Santa Anna, who had returned to power in Mexico.  Lamar believed when he announced Texas was ready to assimilate New Mexico, the New Mexican people would jump at the chance to become Texans.

     Lamar tried to get support, financial and otherwise, from the Texas Congress for his plan to send a “trade mission” to New Mexico.  The legislature would have nothing to do with the idea, so Lamar, on his own, appropriated $89,000.00 to finance the mission.  No doubt he exceeded his authority and went against the constitution, but he managed to get the expedition organized and funded.  He chose his young friend, Hugh McLeod, now a 27 year-old brigadier general, to lead the military component of the expedition.
    
     McLeod was lap-dog loyal to Lamar.  He was red-headed, freckle-faced, a bit rotund and a quite  jolly fellow.  A lot of fun at parties.  He was also dumb as a post.  There was a reason he was last in his class ar West Point.

     The Santa Fe Expedition consisted of 21 ox-drawn wagons carrying about $200,000.00 in merchandise, several businessmen, four civil commissioners, one newspaper editor, five companies of infantry, and one artillery company.  Including the soldiers, the expedition totaled 321 men.  General McLeod was in command of the military forces, which were there to lead and protect the expedition, not for any aggression against New Mexico.

     With Mexican guides, eighty head of beef cattle for food, provisions for ninety days and high hopes, the wagon train left Brushy Creek, in the vicinity of present-day Round Rock, on June 19, 1841.  The guides must have been dandies.  Six weeks later, heading for Santa Fe, they were closer to Oklahoma City.  They made it to the vicinity of present-day Wichita Falls, and mistook the Wichita River for the Red River.  After following the Wichita for twelve days, McLeod realized their mistake and sent scouts north to hunt for the Red River.  The Mexican guides deserted.

     McLeod eventually found the Red River, and followed it west.  His command was in trouble—supplies were running low, there was little food, no one knew how far it was to Santa Fe, progress was slower than anticipated, and Indians had stolen some of their horses and all of the beef cattle.  When the little group found the Llano Estacado, McLeod split them up and sent a patrol west on horseback to find a route to the trading villages of New Mexico, while he and his group camped in the valley.  They couldn't find a place to climb the Caprock with twenty-one wagons.

     The men in both groups were starving.  According to the reporter Kendall, they ate snakes, prairie dogs, toads, and anything else they could catch, and they didn’t cook it long.  Indians had stolen their cattle and most of their horses.  They lost six soldiers fighting Comanche, and morale was non-existent.

     On September 12, the advance patrol sent back a guide to lead McLeod and the wagons into New Mexico, where the Texans expected a hero’s welcome. In the meantime, the Mexican guides who deserted made it to Taos and told of the expedition headed toward New Mexico.  The Mexican authorities were less than pleased.

     When Governor Manuel Armijo heard of the expedition, he considered it an armed invasion.  He brought 1500 troops to San Miguel and captured the advance party on September 17^th, then surrounded and captured McLeod’s main force near Tucumcari on October 5^th.  Captain William G. Lewis, who spoke Spanish, convinced both Texas parties to surrender, which may not have been a difficult task.  The troops were thirsty, hungry, tired, and unwilling to fight a much larger force.  Captain Lewis lied when he assured them that the Mexicans would treat them kindly and send them back to Texas with full bellies.   Whether or not he knowingly lied is a matter for debate.  Surrender to a friendly army may have appeared to be a good option to the starving troops, but Armijo’s army was not friendly.

     The Texan captives were bound and listened as the Mexican officers debated their fate.  Governor Armijo was determined to execute all the prisoners, the accepted Mexican way of dealing with revolutionaries. When the officers' vote was taken, the prisoners were spared by one vote.  Early the next morning, they were bound together by twos and started a march to Santa Fe, then El Paso, on to Mexico City and finally to Vera Cruz and Perote Prison, where they arrived in December of 1841.  Many died during the march from Santa Fe to El Paso, but the sadistic commander (an officer named Salazar) was replaced by a more lenient individual in  El Paso and the rest of the 1200 mile march was less strenuous.  Most of the prisoners were released in April of 1842, after diplomatic pressure from the United States Ambassador, Waddy Thompson.

     Governor Armijo confiscated all the trade merchandise for his own use and continued to rule New Mexico with an iron fist.  He was known to be corrupt—rumors persist that he started his fortune by stealing sheep from his employer and selling them back.  In 1846, he was prosecuted for treason and cowardice during the Mexican/American war, but was acquitted.

     Captain William G. Lewis was released by Armijo and rewarded with his choice of items from the Texan merchandise wagons.  He was widely considered a traitor and was shunned by both Texans and Mexicans for the rest of his life.  His intervention resulted in the surrender of all the Texas troops without a shot being fired.  He may or may not have been aware of Governor Armijo’s plans.

     Even though Hugh McLeod was popular with his men and with President Lamar, he was not a good choice to lead the expedition.  His choice of guides was obviously flawed, he allowed the beef cattle and over eighty horses to be stolen by Indians, he had no idea of the whereabouts of Santa Fe or how far it was from Austin, he split his troops and surrendered without a fight.  All in all, not unforseeable results from an officer who was considerably less than bright..

     General McLeod was treated leniently while in prison, because of his rank in the Texas Army.  He returned to Texas and retired from the military when Sam Houston regained the office of president.  McLeod, a lawyer, opposed Houston on every major issue for the rest of his life.  He died of illness during the Civil War while serving as a Lt. Colonel in the unit that became Hood’s Texas Brigade.   In honor of his contributions, Hugh McLeod’s grave was moved to the Texas State Cemetery in Austin.

Mirabeau Bonaparte Lamar--Georgia Fire-Breather, Statesman, Poet, Visionary, and President of the Republic of Texas

 

     Mirabeau B. Lamar was blamed for the failure of the expedition.  A “Letter to the Editor” in the Austin newspaper of the time suggested that he be traded for the Texan prisoners in Mexico.  His political opposition considered him a much better poet than President.  Lamar truly believed that Texas should stretch from the Gulf to the Pacific and worked tirelessly toward that end.  He believed strongly in education and introduced legislation that forced each new county to set aside three leagues of state land to finance a school system.  His work resulted in the establishment of Texas A&M in 1871 and Texas University in 1876. 

     George Wilkins Kendall of the New Orleans Picayune, who went on the expedition and wrote a book-length report about it, wrote at the time,

President Lamar’s estimation of the views and feelings of the people of Santa Fe and vicinity, was perfectly correct.  Not a doubt can exist that they all were, and are (1843), anxious to throw off the oppressive yoke of Armijo, and come under the liberal institutions of Texas; but the Governor found us divided into small parties, broken down by long marches and want of food; discovered too, a traitor amongst us; and, taking advantage of these circumstances, his course was plain and his conquest easy.

     Had this mission proved successful, Lamar would have been heralded a greater hero and the history of Texas, Mexico, and the United States would have been drastically altered.  Lamar was a dreamer, who, like his rival, Sam Houston, dreamed big dreams.  History will remember him for his substantial contributions to education in Texas and no one will blame him for his grandiose dreams.  That sorta comes with the territory….




Thanks Jimmy, for the idea for this series.  Hope you enjoy....