Three Roads to the Alamo

by William C. Davis

  76 Ham, “Recollections,” UT.

  77 Jenkins, Tight Pants, 5.

  78 Parker, Trip to the West, 196.

  79 Ham, “Recollections,” UT.

  80 Miller, Public Lands, 23.

  81 Ham, “Recollections,” UT.

  82 Statement of effect of James Bowie, 1837, James Bowie Vertical File, UT.

  83 Bowie to Williams, August 1, 1830, Samuel May Williams Papers, Rosenberg Library, Galveston, Tex.

  84 Mexico City El Mosquito Mexicano, April 5, 1836, carries a letter written after the fall of the Alamo in which the writer refers to “the braggart Bowie,” and other Mexican accounts occasionally state that he was known chiefly for his boastfulness and bullying.

  85 Fisher to Austin, August 14, 1830, Barker, Austin Papers, vol. 2, 465.

  86 Austin to Fisher, June 17, 1830, ibid., 428, Fisher to Austin, August 14, 1830, ibid., vol. 3, 465.

  87 Francis W. Johnson, A History of Texas and Texans, vol. 1 (Chicago, 1914), 186. Johnson's narrative, which is virtually a memoir, is the only authoritative source for Bowie's purchases in Saltillo. Johnson was intimately involved with Williams and others in the land business, and since Williams himself had some interest in Bowie's dealings, Johnson would surely have known of them. He states that Bowie bought fifteen or sixteen in all. J. Frank Dobie, “Fabulous Frontiersman: Jim Bowie,” Montana, The Magazine of Western History 9 (April 1958): 48, misstates Samuel William's 1840 testimony into saying that Bowie got these grants in 1831, after his marriage to Ursula. Dobie may have been an excellent folklorist, but here and elsewhere in the Bowie literature he repeatedly shows himself to be a poor historian at best.

  88 Samuel Williams statement, 1840, Journal of the House of Representatives of the Republic of Texas, Fifth Congress, 1840-1841 (Austin, 1841), 369.

  89 Ham, “Recollections,” UT, says that on the Saltillo visit “Bowie speculated in Texas lands. He made many purchases.”

  90 Ham, “Recollections,”UT.

  91 Extracto, September 25, 1830, Béxar Archives, UT.

  92 James Bowie Citizenship Decree No. 159, October 5, 1830, Necogdoches Archives, TXSL.

  93 Decree No. 160, October 3, 1830, James Bowie Vertical File, UT.

  94 Promissory Note of the Dowry concerning the Nuptials, April 22, 1831, copy in James Bowie Vertical File, UT.

  95 Sources disagree on the fate of the cotton mill project, and none of them seems to be well informed. Edward Sears, “The Low Down on Jim Bowie,” in Mody C. Boatright and Donald Day. eds., From Hell to Breakfast (Austin, 1944), 196, says that Bowie never operated his mill in Mexico, and that when one finally opened it was run by someone else, but the Sears article is a dreadful piece of misinformed muckraking that is not to be taken seriously. Williams, “Critical Study, III,” 97, says that Bowie got the mill running but left the operation of it to Veramendi, who was his partner, and later sold the business at a loss following Ursula's death in September 1833, but gives no source for these claims. Yet this is hardly likely, as Veramendi soon assumed the governorship and hardly had time to manage a business. Dudley G. Wooten, ed., Comprehensive History of Texas 1685 to 1897, vol. 1 (Austin, 1898), 131, is the closest thing to an authoritative contemporary source, being a virtual reiteration of H. Yoakum's Texas history of 1846, and he states that nothing was ever done on the cotton mill project.

  It is also worth mentioning here that several sources claim that while in Saltillo Bowie was made a “colonel” and appointed leader of the San Antonio “Texas Rangers.” Williams says this in “Critical Study, III,” 99, as does Mims, Trail, 53, and Hopewell, Bowie, 65, all without authority. In fact the Texas Rangers did not come into being until November 1835, in addition to which there is no evidence of Bowie ever receiving any kind of commission or official appointment prior to the fall of 1835, though he exercised informal command of volunteers on a few occasions in the interim, but only for specific duties, and he certainly had no roving commission.

  96 Menchaca, Memoirs, 20-21; Menchaca testimony, Veramendi v. Hutchins, 126, Documents Pertaining to James Bowie, UT.

  Chapter 11 Travis 1831-1833

  1 Williams, “Critical Study, III,” 81, says on no authority that Travis went on Texas with an emigrant train from New Orleans to Nacogdoches. There were no such trains.

  2 Mixon, “Travis,” 12-13 speculates that Travis actually spent his first several days in Texas scouting land before going to San Felipe. She may be right, thought it does not seem to conform to his interests or inpatient temperament.

  3 A Visit to Texas, 215. It should be noted that the adjective “Texan” did not appear in common or official use until statehood came. Prior to that time the inhabitants universally referred to themselves as Texians.

  4 Niles, History of South America, vol. 1, 226.

  5 [William B. Travis], petition, May 11, 1831, Frontier America Rare & Unusual Americana Catalog no. 37 (N.P., 1996): 72-73. This document is listed as being dated May 10 in John H. Jenkins, The Texas Revolution and Republic Catalog no. 188 (Austin, 1986), item 48. It is not signed by Travis, but Jenkins and others are satisfied that it is in his handwriting.

  6 Application no. 588, Spanish Archives, General Land Office, TXSL.

  7 Promissory note, May 23, 1831, Stephen F. Austin Papers, UT.

  8 A Visit to Texas, 90-91.

  9 Parker, Trip to the West, 199.

  10 N. D. Labadie, “Narrative of the Anahuac, or Opening Campaign of the Texas Revolution,” in James M. Day, com, The Texas Almanac, 1857-1873: A Compendium of Texas History (Waco, 1967), 30-31.

  11 Miriam Partlow, Liberty, Liberty County and the Atascosito District (Austin, 1974), 273, 277; William Barret Travis to David Burnet, April 15, 1832, Philpott Texana Collection Auction Catalog, Dallas, October 16-17, 1995, item no. 203.

  12 Partlow, Liberty, 173, 277.

  13 John J. Linn, Reminiscences of Fifty Years in Texas (New York, 1883), 16.

  14 Philip E. Pearson, ed., “Reminiscences of Judge Edwin Waller,” Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association vol. 4 (July 1900): 42; J. M. Morphis, History of Texas (New York, 1874), 68. The origin of Travis's nickname “Buck” is unknown. Most references to it are in recollections, but at least one contemporaneous use of the name appears in a statement by Hiram M. Thompson, n.d., in the Hiram M. Thompson pension claim file, TXSL.

  15 Austin to Thomas Hart Benton, November 25, 1831, Barker, Austin Papers, vol. 2, 711.

  16 November 6, 1830.

  17 A Visit to Texas, 90-91, 95-96, 258.

  18 Ibid., 260

  19 G. M. Patrick to Moses A. Bryan, May 17, 1879, Texas Veterans Association Papers, UT.

  20 Stanley Siegel, Political History of the Texas Republic (Austin, 1956), 12.

  21 Labadie, “Anahuac,” 129-30.

  22 Owen, Alabama, vol. 4, 1681; Claiborne, Ala., Herald, February 27, 1829.

  23 Músquiz to Antonio Elosua, June 19, 1832, Músquiz to Letona, June 18, 1832, Nagocdoches Archives, TXSL. Later Texian recollections do not mention this episode.

  24 Labadie, “Anahuac,” 128.

  25 Ibid., 129-30; Monroe Edwards to Robert M. Williamson, May 24, 1832, Mirabeau B. Lamer Papers, TXSL. Margaret Swett Henson, Juan Davis Bradburn (College Station, Tex., 1982), 95, concludes without citing an authority that Warren D.C. hall was involved with Travis in the false letters. Certainly this is possible. Labadie only mentions one letter, but he was writing a quarter century later. Monroe Edwards, writing at the time, and on the scene, says two letters were delivered. Assuming Travis to be smart enough not to writer both in the same handwriting, but sign them with different names, he could well have had help Hall likely would have known an old Laffite hand named Ballou who lived some distance away, and thus could have written the letter signed “Billew,” while Travis wrote the McLaughlin letter.

  26 The date of the arrest is established by an unsigned letter dated July 8, 1832, and published in the New Orleans, Louisiana Advertiser, July 26, 1832. Content makes it
clear that either Travis or Jack wrote it, and the general tone and emphasis on constitutional liberties are most consistent with Travis' later writings, making it probable that he was the author.

  27 Lindsay to Williamson, May 18, 1832, Lamar Papers; Francisco Medina to Elozua, June 22, 1832, Nacogdoches Archives, TXSL.

  28 Edwards to Williamson, May 24, 1832, Lamer Papers, ibid.

  29 John Davis Bradburn to Military Commander of Coahuila y Texas, June 1, 1832, Nacogdoches, Archives, ibid.

  30 Labadie, “Anahuac,” 130.

  31 James Lindsay to Williamson, May 18, 1832, Edwards to Williamson, May 24, 1832, Lamar Papers, TXSL.

  32 Labadie, “Anahuac,” 130.

  33 Edwards to Williamson, May 24, 1832, Lamer Papers TXSL.

  34 Patrick Jack, Notes Regarding Disturbances at Anahuac, Williamson to the Citizens of Brassoria and its vicinity, June 4, 1832, ibid.

  35 Mier Y Terán to Letona, May 12, 1832, General Land Office, Applications, Austin's Colony, Volume 53, 163, ibid.

  36 Wanda Louise Roark, “Robert Wilson: Letters to His Son” (master's thesis, Stephen F. Austin State College [University], Nacogdoches, 1966), 12; Rogan, “Hall,” 274.

  37 Medina to Elozua, June 22, 1832, Nacogdoches Archives, TXSL.

  38 Elozua to Músquiz July 18, 1832, ibid.

  39 Jack Notes, Spencer Jack to Lamer, n.d., M. B. Lamer, Notes Upon the Taking of the Martha, etc., Lamar Papers, TXSL; Notes made by Mrs. Holley in Interviews with Prominent Texans of the Early Days, Mary Austin Holley Papers, UT.

  40 Labadie, “Anahuac,” 133.

  41 Miguel Aeciniega to Músquiz, June 17, 1832, Nacogdoches Archives, TXSL. Though flawed and dated in many respects, Edna Rowe, “The Disturbances at Anahuac in 1832,” Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association 6 (April, 1903): 286ff, is a good account of this affair.

  42 Michael Muldoon to Members of the Expeditionary Force, June 21, 1832, Nacogdoches Archives, TXSL.

  43 Other accounts say July 3, but the Travis account written on July 8 must be presumed to be more authoritative, and it says July 2.

  44 James Whiteside to Anthony Butler, August 2, 1832, Barker, Austin Papers, vol.2, 829.

  45 Labadie, “Anahuac,” 136; Memorial of Colonel Juan Davis Bradburn concerning the Events at Anahuac, 1831-1832, in Henson, Bradburn, 141-42.

  46 Memorial of Colonel Juan Davis Bradburn, Henson, Bradburn, 141-42.

  47 James B. Bailey to David Shelby June 27, 1832, Nacogdoches Archives, TXSL.

  48 New Orleans Louisiana Advertiser, July 26, 1832.

  49 Tocqueville, Democracy in America, 409.

  50 Ugartechea to Colonel Guerra, July 27, 1832, Ex XI/481.3/801, Archivo Historico Militar Mexicano, Secretaria de la Defensa Nacional, Mexico City.

  51 Francis J. Haskins to Austin, August 15, 1832, Williams Papers, Rosenberg Library, Galveston, Tex.

  52 A Visit to Texas, 213, 220; Parker, Trip to the West, 214; Smithwick, Evolution, 55-57.

  53 Moses A. Bryan, Recollections of Stephen Austin, 1889, Moses A. Bryan Papers, UT.

  54 A Visit to Texas, 217.

  55 Smithwick, Evolution, 55-57, 69.

  56 Brazoria Constitutional Advocate & Texas public Advertiser, September 5, 1832.

  57 Moses A. Bryan, Reminiscences, Bryan Papers, UT.

  58 Duncan W. Robinson, Judge Robert McAlpin Williamson, Texas' Three-Legged Willie (Austin, 1948), 16.

  59 Smithwick, Evolution, 69-70.

  60 A Visit to Texas, 217.

  61 Brazoria Constitutional Advocate & Texas Public Advertiser, July 15, 1832.

  62 Bryan, Reminiscences, Bryan Papers, UT.

  63 Ham, “Recollections,” UT.

  64 Reuben M. Potter, “The Fall of the Alamo,” Magazine of American History 2 (January, 1878): 18.

  65 Travis to Burnet, December 5, 1832, Philpott Texana Collection Auction Catalog, Dallas, October 16-17, 1995, item no. 204.

  66 Davis, Travis Diary, 68, November 7, 1833.

  67 Ibid., 29n September 14, 1833, 49, October 18, 1833, Robert E. Davis, ed., “Travis Draws a Will,” Manuscripts 22 (Spring 1970): 113; Travis to O. H. Allen, July 15, 1833, Lamar Papers, TXSL.

  68 Davis, Travis Diary, 8-9, September 18, 1833, 43, October 6, 1833; Agreement, December 19, 1833, Jenkins, Texas Revolution Catalog, item no. 67.

  69 Davis, Travis Diary, 45, October 9, 1833, 93, December 27, 1833.

  70 Ibid., 7-41 September 1833, 71 November 14, 1833, 75, November 29, 1833.

  71 Ibid., 68, November 7, 1833.

  72 Ibid., 68-73, November 1833; Parker, Trip to the West, 210.

  73 These figures are compiled from Davis, Travis Diary, and should be considered approximate because it is impossible to separate some of Travis's business receipts from repayments of personal loans.

  74 Draft, April 13, 1833, Williams Papers, Rosenberg Library, Galveston, Tex.

  75 Mixon, “Travis,” 66n McDonald, Travis, 92-93.

  76 Roark, “Robert Wilson,” 2-6, 10; Brazoria Texas Gazette, March 13, 27, September 25, 1830;.

  77 DeWitt Clinton Baker, A Texas Scrap-Book (New York, 1875), 289; Robert Wilson to James Wilson, November 9, 1853, in Roark, “Robert Wilson,” 148.

  78 Proposals for Introducing a Steam Boat into Texas, November 27, 1833, Benjamin C. Franklin Papers, UT; Roark, “Robert Wilson,” 18-20.

  79 Totals derived from Davis, Travis Diary, for the months of September- December 1833.

  80 Davis, Travis Diary, 9, September 8, 1833; 49, October 19, 1833.

  81 Ibid., 46, October 10, 51, October 24, 85, December 2, 1833.

  82 Ibid., 13, September 18, 15, September 25, 50, October 20, 68, November 6, 75, November 28, 86, December 3, 87, December 6, 1833.

  83 Ibid., II, September 15, 74, November 25, 88, December 10, 1833.

  84 Ibid., 91, 1833.

  85 Figures complied from Davis, Travis Diary, for the months of September 1833-March 1834.

  86 Homer S. Thrall, History of Methodism in Texas (Houston, 1872), 30; Wilma H. Moore, “A History of San Felipe de Austin, 1824-1836” (master's thesis, University of Texas, Austin, 1929), 84.

  87 Davis, Travis Diary, 45, October 9, 1833.

  88 Ibid., 45, October 9, 1833; “The Reminiscences of Mrs. Dilue Harris, Part 1,” Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association 4 (October 1900): 88.

  89 Davis, Travis Diary, 8, September 6; 10, September 10; 48, October 15; 94, December 24, 30, 1833; James Kirke Paulding, Westward Ho! vol. 1 (New York, 1832), 104.

  90 Davis, Travis Diary, 90, December 16; 92, December 23; p 92-93, December 25; 94, December 30, 31, 1833.

  91 Travis Family Bible, TXSL.

  92 Davis, Travis Diary, 7, September 3, 46, October 11, 53, 31, 67, November 1, 1833; Rosanna Travis to Dellet, September 6, 1833, Dellet Papers, ADAH.

  93 Davis, Travis Diary, 15, September 26, 85, December 2, 1833.

  94 Ibid., 7, September 2, 92, December 14, 92-93, December 25, 94, December 31, 1833.

  95 Tocqueville, Democracy in America, 303.

  96 Ibid., 10, September 12, 1833.

  Chapter 12 Bowie 1830-1831

  1. Ham, “Recollections,” UT. Interestingly, Ham does not say whether or not the money he went to Natchez to fetch was there, but it seems reasonable to assume that it was, and that he had it with him when he came back to Texas. Otherwise such a lengthy journey on a wasted errand ought to have been memorable enough that he would have mentioned it in his “Recollections”.

  2. Sibley to Johnston, December 29, 1830, Johnston Papers, HSP.

  3. United States Census, Lafourche Parish, Louisiana, 1830.

  4. Tregle, “Louisiana,” 393; Notary William Boswell, Rezin P. Bowie v. His Creditors, vol. 18, #505, statements of Rezin P. Bowie and others, April 27, May 12, 1832, New Orleans Notarial Archives.

  5. Sparks in Ellis, Crockett, 224.

  6. Conveyance Book F, 125-26, Terrebonne Parish Courthouse.

  7. Claiborne, Mississippi, 415.

&nb
sp; 8. On February 12 James, Rezin, and Stephen accompanied by Sterrett, met the buyers in Natchez and transferred to them some 14,000 arpents in scattered tracts in Terrebonne, almost all of it the remnant of James's fraudulent Harper report properties, in return for $42,000. The buyers agreed to take James's titles at their own risk. Moreover, James had borrowed money against his property as collateral from the Consolidated Association of Planters. Consequently the Walkers and Wilkins required that he sign over to them all his shares in the association acquired as a borrower, and in return they would satisfy the mortgage, paying him whatever—if anything—remained. That same day the Bowies sold the partners the sugar plantation on the Lafourche for $90,000.00, including all the machinery, the defective steam mill, boilers, coolers, and even a carriage. With the property went eighty slaves, almost all of them in their teens and twenties. Once again, however, there were those old mortgages that had cost James his Maronges parcel the year before. Rezin and Stephen had failed to pay them off, and that $30,860.49 was still outstanding, even though the sellers continued not to recognize their validity. The Walkers and Wilkins did not require withholding of an amount to cover the mortgages, however. A few days later the Walkers and Wilkins met Rezin in Catahoula, and there he gave them a schedule listing all of the remaining Bowie property in Louisiana, his own, James's, Stephen's, and even John's, for John was now removing entirely to Arkansas. For $40,000.00 he allowed them to take their pick of 40,000 arpents from some 67,240 arpents in Rapides, Ouachita, and Catahoula Parishes, and then sold the remaining 27,240 arpents for a flat $20,000.00. Of the twenty-six plots listed and sold from Ouachita and Rapides, all but two were James's fraudulent claims from the old Sutton report. Of some 56,900 acres covered in the sale, all but 320 were James's. He never got confirmation or clear title to these properties, but now it would be Robert Walker's problem, and he already had good enough ties to President Jackson that he might succeed where Bowie had failed, especially with Graham out of the way.