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Providing a chronological view of the interrelationships of the people and events that created The Republic of Texas
A work in progress
By….David L. Martin SRT
Second Flag of the Republic of Texas |
Third Flag of the Republic of Texas (from Charles B. Stewart drawing) |
1519
Alonso Alvarez de Pineda with Anton de Alaminos as his pilot was placed in charge of an expedition to find a link between the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean. His expedition traveled around La Florida and along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico including the Texas coast. They mapped the coastline and claimed the area they called Amichel (south Texas) for Spain and spent time with the Huastec indians. (A)
1520
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"WATERLOO TRADING COMPANY" "Lone Star Chapter, SRT" TEXAS SUTLERS 
Crutchfield Currency's Texana Collection |
Pineda and his men returned in 1520 with orders to settled the area called Amichel (south Texas). This time the Huastec indian were not friendly. By this time Cortez had subdued Moctezuma II and Tenochitlán (Mexica). The Huastecs killed and skinned Alvarez de Pineda and killed most of his men. (A)
1527
November …. There is record of a hurricane
destroying a merchant fleet on
1528
The Conquistador Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca
wrote a detailed account of the failed Narvéz expedition which described nine
years of captivity and servitude with several Native American tribes he
encountered on the Texas
gulf coast and in
1540
Francisco Vásquez de Coronado searches for "
1541
May 23….Coronado finds friendly Indians and a place
for his army to camp in
1542
April 30….Hernando
De Soto´s men
traveled to central
APRIL 9....A fleet of 4 ships commanded by Captain Antonio Corzo of the New Spain Flota returning to Spain loaded with silver
and gold along the
Unfortunately, the natives to the area known as the Karankawa
had a hostile relationship with the Spaniards. Thus a battle ensued between the
survivors and the tribe and the Europeans tried valiantly to fight their way
south into what is today known as
1568
David Ingram, an English sailor is put ashore with
about a hundred of his fellow seamen after a storm hit the fleet of Sir John
Hawkins off the coast of Mexico. Ingram with some the group traveled from near
the Rio de Minas
1598
April 30…After a 50 day crossing of the
1687
March 20….Robert de
1690
June 1….The Mission San Francisco de los Tejas is
founded near present day
1718
May 1…The Mission San Antonio de Valero (the
May 5 …..Martin de Alarcón (appointed governor of Tejas in 1716) founded San Antonio de Béxar Presidio and his entrada of 10 civilian families and a total of 72 persons that he recruited from frontiersmen in Coahuila and Nuevo Leon established the Villa de Bejar. (11)
1721
April….Spanish
establish el Presidio La Bahia del Espiritu Santo upon the ruins of La Salle´s
Fort St. Louis on Matagorda Bay.
1729
The
Presidio Nuestra Señora del Pilar de los Adaes and
1731
March 5….The Mission San Francisco de Ia Espada
is established at
March 9….Canary Islanders arrive in
1748
December 25....General
Jose de Escandon established the first city (Villa de Llera de Canales) in
Nuevo Santander, Nuevo España. This new estado included part of land between the
1749
La
1750
Beginning about 1750 the Witchitas (Taovaya) indians started building two permanent villages on opposite banks of the Red River. Anglo settlers visiting the site in 1859 found Spanish artifacts and
named the site Spanish Fort.
1758
March 16....Mission Santa Cruz de San Sabá with it´s Priests and Lipan Apaches are attacked by 2000 Comanches,Wichitas and Caddos carrying French muskets. Two priests and several other persons are killed and the mission is burned. The
suvivors escaped after dark to presidio San Luis de las Amarillas (about four miles away) which was under the command of Diego Ortiz Parrilla.
1759
In 1759 Col. Diego Ortiz Parrilla led a retaliation effort against Taovaya (Wichita) and Comanche Indians who had looted Mission Santa Cruz de San Sabá. Several hundred Spanish soldiers found the Taovayan village (near Spanish Fort, Texas)fortified with entrenchments, wooden stockades, and a moat and protected by some 6,000 Indians flying the French flag. After a four-hour battle the Spanish retreated. They even center their baggage train and two cannon. (19)
1765
Spanish establish an outpost at El Orcoquisac
(Wallisville)
1766
September
4…A hurricane hits
1772
In 1772 the Marqués de Rubí recommended
that the garrison at Los Adaes be transferred to San Antonio de Béjar and that
San Fernando de Béjar become the Capitol of Tejas
1779
March 2, Joel Roberts Poinsett is born in Charleston, South Carolina.
July….The Spanish
Spanish Texas
sent over 25,000 head of cattle to aid the Americans in their revolution. Gálvez carried out a masterful military campaign and defeated the British colonial forces at Manchac, Baton Rouge, and Natchez in 1779. The Battle of Baton Rouge on September 21, 1779 freed the lower Mississippi Valley of British forces and relieved the threat to the capital of1780
Gálvez recaptured
Mobile from
the British at the
Battle of Fort Charlotte. The
importance of Galvez's campaign from the American perspective was that he
denied the British the opportunity of encircling the American rebels from the
south, and kept open a vital conduit for supplies. Galvez also assisted the
American revolutionaries with supplies and soldiers, a good deal of it through
intermediary and committed revolutionary,
Oliver
Pollock. (22)
1786
August
17….David Crockett is born in
April 14, David Gouverneur Burnet was born in New Jersey.
1791
Philip Nolan; mustanger (horse trader), filibuster and
mapmaker is granted his first passport to go to Spanish Texas .
A hurricane struck the
1793
Antonio
Lopez de Santa Anna was born February 21 of this year as was Sam
Houston on March 2 and Stephen F. Austin on
November 2.
July 23….Jane Wilkinson is born in
August 16….Mirabeau B. Lamar is born
in
March 21 A Spanish force of 120 soldados departed Nacogdoches and intercepts Philip Nolan and about thirty other "filibusters" (filibustero, meaning pirate or buccaneer) at the headwater of what is now Lake Whitney, Texas on Nolan river. Philip Nolan refused to surrender and is killed. Many of his men are marched to the Old Stone Fort and then to Mexico City. One of them is be executed for the group´s violations of Spanish law. The group in compelled to roll dice to determine which one is the condemned man (Ephraim Blackburn).
October 28….Juan
February 6….Dr. Charles Bellinger Stewart is born in
February 20…..James Butler Bonham is born in Red Banks,
1809
August 9….William Barret Travis is born in Red
Banks,
1810
September 16….Father Miguel Hidalgo and his peasant
parishioners (the Federalists) revolted
against the tyranny of the Spanish (centralists). The Mexican war for
independence began.
Diez y seis de Septiembre (16 September)--Texans, may we always revere and celebrate this milestone of our liberty and independence--Don Guillermo
1812
November 7….Guitiérrez-Magee expedition that had
marched from Louisianna laid seige to La Bahia.
March 29….Battle of Rosillo (Rosalis) on
April 1….Governor Salcedo surrenders
August 18…. The Federalist´s army of native Texians and American volunteers are defeated at the Battle of Medina south of San Antonio by Spanish "royalists" resulting in the most casualties of any battle in the western United States. The Spanish army pursued the survivors to the neutral zone of Louisiana. The army under Spanish General Joaquin de Arredondo killed many adult males across Tejas and impressed their families into forced labor in Bexar. Lt. Antonio López de Santa Anna participated in the defeat of the first "Republic of Texas" as a member of the Spanish Army.
(33)
1816
September 13….Galveston proclaimed a puerto habilitado of the rebel "federalist" Mexican republic under the control of French privateer Louis Michel Aury.
1817
April 7…..Francisco Xavier Mina, Spanish
revolutionary, leads an expedition from
Jean Lafitte seizes control of
1818
January 16….French expariates arrive in
September
12….A hurricane wrecks Jean Lafitte´s fleet in
January25….Anna Raguet is born in
June 8….The James Long Expedition crosses the Sabine and proceeds to
1820
Jane
Wilkinson Long joins her husband in
December 23….Moses
January 17….The Mexican government gives Moses Austin
permission to settle 300 families in
February 24…Plan de Iquala and the Treaty of Cordova on 24 August called for an independent Mexican nation under Emperor Agustín Iturbide .
May 4….Lafitte and his brother Pierre leave
June 10….Moses
August ….Mexican Governor Antonio María Martinez
authorizes Stephen F. Austin to continue with his father´s enterprise to
establish a colony in
1822
April 8….James Long is shot by a Mexican guard in
The constitutional tradition in
December 16…..The Fredonian Rebellion begins in
1827
March 11….The constitution of the Estado de Cohuila y Tejas in line with old Spanish law gives Texians several important traditions concerning the disposition of private property and law: the community property system, the homestead exemption from bankruptcy, independent executors and adoption laws.
1829
January 27….The Matagorda Colony is founded.
April 6-….Mexico rescinds the constitution of 1824
and stops American immigration to
September 30….Jim
1832
December 2….Sam
June 13….The Turtle Bayou Resolutions,
documents leading to the revolution of 1836, are adopted.
June 26….The Battle of Velasco results in the first bloodshed of the revolution.
April 1….Santa Anna is inaugurated president of
July 8….Stephen
McKinney and Williams Maritime Flag
Chilean National and Navy Flag (1817)
la bandera Estrella Solitaria (Lone Star flag)
January 3….Examples of the flag at the top are seen on letterhead for the
firm McKinney, Williams and Company dating to as early as 1834. Established by Thomas F.
McKinney and Samuel M. Williams, this firm opened up maritime trade in Texas to international
markets. It appears that the flag later adopted for use by the Texas Navy was the standard flown on
McKinney and William’s ships, several of which, including the famous steamer Yellowstone, were
utilized during the Texas Revolution. (47) January 3….Stephen F. Austin is arrested and accused of trying
to start a revolution against May 17….Archelaus Bynum Dodson marries
Sarah Bradley. June 30….Mexicans oficials put down an uprising of colonists at
October 2….Battle of Gonzales: 51 Texians prevent a division of Mexican
cavalry from taking their cannon at Gonzales under the "Come and Take
It" flag. October 2….Guadalupe Victoria Cannon: Plácido Benavides and the citizens of
October 7….Greenberry
October 9 -10….Battle for Goliad: October 10….Gail Borden Jr. begins publishing the Telegraph and
October 11….The Permanent Council was formed in San
Felipe de Austin as the interum governing body of Charles Bellinger Stewart was
elected secretary of the
September 19.....The Harrisburg committee of
vigilance and safety upon hearing Gen. Martin Perfecto de Cos (el cuñado de
Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna) planned an invasion of Texas, they formed a company
of volunteers.
Sarah Bradley Dodsonqdesigned
and, with help of other Harrisburg women, made the first tricolor Lone Star flag
of Texas. When the company of Andrew Robinson, Jr., was mustered into the
revolutionary armyqv in 1835, she presented it
to the members. The Robinson company participated in the siege of Bexarqv
and the capture of the Alamo. They did not return to East Texas until early
1836, still led by the Dodson flag. The flag was reportedly taken back to
Harrisburg when the company returned home, and it is said to have flown over the
building where the Convention of 1836qv met
and declared independence from Mexico. The subsequent history of the flag is
unknown. Sarah Dodson was about to have a baby when she and her husband had to
flee for their lives due to the approach of Santa Anna´s Army. She had her baby
on the "runaway scrape". When they returned
to Harrisburg, they found the whole town, along with their home, had been burned
by Santa Anna. She had five more children and lived until 1848. She is buried in
Bethel Cemetery in Grimes County, Texas. October 12….The siege of Bexar (
October 28….Battle of Concepción: James bowie and James W. Fannin Jr. with
90 Texians repel an attack at the mission Concepción (near San Antonio) by Col.
Domingo de Ugartechea with 275 Mexican soldados. November 4….Battle of the November 7….The Declaration of November 11….Dr. Charles Bellinger Stewart was
appointed by the General Council as enrollment clerk and secretary to the
executive, thus becoming in effect the first November 25….The
December 5….Ben Milam and 300 volunteers including a detachment of New
Orleans Greys storm San Antonio de Bexar to drive out the Mexican army of
General Cos. Ben Milam is killed by a
sharpshooter on Dec. 7. December 9….Gen. Cos surrenders February 8….David Crockett and some of his " February 11….Col. James Neill leaves the February 23….Siege of the February 24….Albert Martin carries Col. Travis´s letter
of appeal for help to Gen. Houston and February 25….Samuel Colt obtained patents in the February 29….William Oury leaves the March 1….Albert Martin returns to the
March 2….The Texas Declaration of Independence is adopted at Washington-on-the-Brazos. March 3….Moses Rose (fifty-five year old veteran of the Napoleonic
Wars) chooses to leave the March 4….Sam
March 6 Under Santa
Anna´s blood red flag of "no quater" and the sounds of Degüello the final assault of the The Mexican
Toluca battalion is of the first to attempt to scale the north wall in the face
of the Texians armed with up to five loaded rifles, most from their armaments
captured from General Cos. Colonel Francisco Duque, the Toluca Battallón commander,
was wounded and
two thirds of their number die in the assault. Colonel Travis was one of the
first to mount the wall and fire his shotgun into the surge of the attackers. He
was promptly shot in the head, probably by one of the Mexican Cazadores that
preceded the main column armed with British Baker rifles. By dawn the battle
was over and 183 Texians, Tejanos and Anglos from several different countries were dead. The The most interesting chapter in Santa Anna's memoirs is his
account of the Texas campaign. These memoirs were written nearly forty years
after, and many of the details had escaped him, yet he is faithful in his
relation of major events. The following is an abstract of the 7th chapter of
"My Memoirs, Written in My Last Exile": I assembled and organized the expeditionary army of Texas at
Saltillo. The filibusterers who believed that we would not return to Texas were
greatly surprised at seeing us, and ran frightened to the Alamo. On that day,
the fortress had a garrison of six hundred men, whose commander was named N.
[W.] Travis, of great renown among the filibusterers. The so-called General,
Samuel Houston, in a letter which I intercepted, said to the famous Travis: 'Take courage, and hold out at all risk; I am coming to
your aid with 2000 splendid men, and eight well mounted cannons" The filibusterers defended themselves obstinately, and gave
no sign of surrender, and died fighting. Not one was center alive, but among us
they put out more than a thousand. (50)
(Sons of Dewitt Colony) March 11….Sam March 13….Gonzales is burned as the Runaway Scrape begins. March 19….James Walker Fannin and his men lose the
Goliad Massacre: March 27….Fannin´s Texians and American volunteers including the Alabama
"Red Rovers" who are prisoners from the battle of Coleto
Creek and many of the Georgia Battalon who are prisoners from the battle of
Refugio are executed at Goliad by
Col. José
Nicolás de la Portilla (whom General Urea conveniently center in command) on orders from Antonio López de
Santa Anna. March 29….San Felipe de Austin is burned to prevent its falling into
the hands of the Mexican army.
April 9….The first flag of the Texas Navy was adopted via executive order issued by President David G.
Burnet while his government was headquartered at Harrisburg. Burnet’s order
called for a flag that is: “union blue, star central, thirteen stripes prolonged, alternate red and
white.”
Battle of San Jacinto April 15….Sam April 20….The Texian cavalry skirmishes with the Mexican cavalry and the
Twin Sisters duel with the Mexican artillery at
April 21….By Sam Houston´s order, Deaf Smith burns Vince´s bridge on
Sims Bayou and April 21….Texians
Advance: The Texas Army ( 910 men) lead by Gen.
Sam Houston attacks and defeats the larger Mexican army (1265 soldados)
commanded by Antonio López de Santa Anna and General Martin Perfecto de Cos. April 22….Santa Anna is captured near Vince´s bridge on Sims Bayou by
Joel W. Robinson, Joseph D. Vermillion, Alfred H. Miles and David Cole. May 14….Santa Anna and President David Burnet sign the Treaty of
Velasco. May 19….Nine-year-old Cynthia Ann Parker is captured by Indians; it
will be 24 years before her rescue. June 3….Land-based Texas Rangers capture Mexican ships, earning the
nickname "Horse Marines." August 26….The Allen Brothers buy the site for " October 22….Sam November 15….Texas patriot Lorenzo de Zavalla dies. November 26….Joel Robison´s father, December 27….Stephen F. Austin dies. January 26….The steamship Laura successfully
navigates the Buffalo Bayou but misses the April 26….John J. Audubon comes to October 10….Lt. A.H. Miles, who was in the party that captured Santa Anna at November 10….Ten Rangers and fifty Indians die in the Battle
of Stone Houses in 1838 October 20….Moses Lapham, who helped destroy Vince's Bridge at January 16The
January 25….Republic of Texas President Mirabeau Bonaparte Lamar signs
a drawing by Dr. Charles Bellinger Stewart and an enhanced copy for the legistaltive record that depicted the
Republic of Texas legislative act description of a new flag and seal for Texas...................................................................
..... The Lone Star Flag
July 16….Chief Bowles of the Cherokee is killed at the Battle of
the Neches August 29….After consultation with Capt. John Coffee “Jack” Hays and
other Texas Rangers, Capt. Samuel
Walker, former Texas Ranger advises Samuel Colt on an improved version of the
Colt Texan (Patterson), a new pistol to be called the “Colt Walker”. 1840 January 17….Republic of the March 19….Council House fight: 65 Comanchees bargain
for ransom for their anglo slaves in the court house in May 9….Sam June 24…..Col. Henry Karnes calls for a volunteer army to fight
Indians, Mexicans and lawless elements on the frontier. August 5….Linnville Raid begin with the spearing and
scalping of Mr.Tucker Foley. 1000 Comanches encouraged by Mexican authorities
raid south August 12….The Battle of Plumb Creek: Texian Army
personnel, volunteers and Tonkawa warriors catch the Comanches returning to November 6….Republic of the February 11….Lieutenant Charles Fuller is killed by
mutineers while in command of the Texas Navy schooner " March 3….A Mexican army of 1000 soldados led by
Gen. Rafael Vasquez occupies March 2….Robert Potter, signer of the Texas Declaration of
Independence, is murdered in the Regulator-Moderator War. April 20….Germans form a society to aid German immigration to
September 11….A Mexican army of 1500 soldados led by
French General Adrian Woll occupies September 18….Battle of Salado Creek:
General Woll´s army of 1100 soldados and Cherokee indians attacks Col Matthew
"Old Paint" Caldwell and Maj. Jack Hays´ company of 210 Texians. The Cherokee leader, Cordova and 104 Mexicans
died during the battle with 71 wounded dying later in September 18….53 men, mostly from Honorable mention...Sam Maverick's slave, Joe Griffin distinquishes himself as one of the bravest
men to fight for The Republic of Texas, dies with Dawson´s company... October 3….Sam Houston sends Alexander Somervell to take command of the Republic of Texas Army gathered in San Antonio that was called up from the different counties to repell the "Vasquez Invasion". There upon began the "Somervell Expedition" with noted Texian warriors such as: Ben McCulloch, Tom Green, Ewin Cameron and William Fisher. December 19….The Mier Expedition: December 31….The Archives War: 1843 January 1….William March 25….The prisoners of the Mier Expedition after escaping and surrendering again draw white and black beans from a pot;
the 17 who draw black beans are executed by the Mexicans at a place called Rancho Salado (between Saltillo and San Louis Potosi). August 15….President September 3….Henri de Castro founds Castroville. December 9….Anson Jones takes the oath of office as the last president of
the February 1… March 14….Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels purchases the land that will
become June 4…..Anson Jones negotiates treaty for Mexican recognition of
February 19 The
April 25….A border skirmish near May 8…The Battle of Palo Alto, the first
major fight of the Mexican War, results in a May 9…Gen. Zachary Taylor defeats the
Mexicans at Resaca de Ia September 21….Ranger Capt. Robert
Gillespie dies leading a charge on the Bishop's Palace in 1847 January 19….Nuns
of the Ursuline order arrive in April 18….Gen. Winfield Scott defeats
Santa Anna at the battle at Sierra Gorda.
October 9….Capt. Samuel Walker is killed while leading a charge at the
battle of Huamantla cerca de February 2….The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ends the
Mexican-American War and confirms the State of 281-467-8146 Credits
and documentation: * Photo and research
courtesy of Texas State Library and
Archives. (A) The Mariners
Museum Library
http://www.mariner.org/exploration/index (1) (26) David Roth: NWS National
Centers for Environmental Prediction - Hydrometeorological Prediction Center,
(6)
(6a)
Credit: Handbook of Texas: Online
(7) a.
Hakluyt´s folio b. the Historical Writings of John Fiske...1892.
(11)
Spanish Expeditions Into Texas, 1689-1768 by William C. Foster
(19) T. Lindsay Baker, Ghost Towns of Texas (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1986).
Dallas News, April 14, 1935. Guy Renfro Donnell, The History of Montague County, Texas (M.A. thesis, University of Texas, 1940). Llerena Friend, "Old Spanish Fort," West Texas Historical Association Year Book 16 (1940). Jeff S. Henderson, ed., 100 Years in Montague County, Texas (St. Jo, Texas: Ipta Printer, 1958).
Courtesy of TSHA Online and Lea Anne Morrell (25) (33)
Puaruarán decree states: "National flag at war. A
checkered white sky-blue cloth whose longitude (hoist) and latitude (fly) be
just like those used by the other nations. The arms (coat of arms) established
and detailed as the Nation great seal according a same-date decree, with no
amendments nor alterations, shall be placed inside a white oval on a silver
field centering the cloth. Bordering all the cloth a red six-inches wide
orle."
(47)
Texas Navy Association "A Brief History of the Texas Navy Flag"
(48)
Samuel May Williams, Early Texas Entrepreneur, by Margaret Swett Henson
(49)
Annual Report of the American Historical Association By American Historical Association (1916) (50)
The simular flag (bottom) was conceived by Jose Ignacio (Chilean Minister of War and Navy 1817-1822) and designed by
Antonio Arcos as the NATIONAL FLAG OF CHILE AND THE CHILEAN NAVY FLAG ON OCTOBER 18, 1817.
Chilean Naval Captains, some of which were American ex-naval captains, used the design and color to confuse Spanish warships at a distance. Samuel May Williams
traveled to Argentina in 1814 and lived in Buenos Aires until about 1819. While there he became fluent in Spanish and would have been
familiar with the Chilean flag and the reason for the design and colors. American vessels such as the Columbus, a corvette brig, arrived
in Buenos Aires as an American merchant ship loaded with cannons, powder and guns.
The cargo and the Columbus were sold to Chile and renamed the Araucano. She center Buenos Aires under the command of
her American captain Charles Whiting Wooster (now a Chilean Captain) as a Chilean warship flying the bandera Estrella Solitaria (Lone Star Flag). (48) (49)
Credit: J. Barto Arnold III and Melinda Arceneaux Wickman
BIBLIOGRAPHY: J. Barto Arnold III and Robert S. Weddle, The Nautical Archeology of Padre Island: The Spanish Shipwrecks of
1554 (New York: Academic Press, 1978). Austin American-Statesman, January 26, 1990. Carl J. Clausen and J. Barto Arnold III,
"The Magnetometer and Underwater Archaeology: Magnetic Delineation of Individual Shipwreck Sites, a New Control Technique,
" International Journal of Nautical Archaeology and Underwater Exploration 5 (1976). General Land Office, Treasure Tempest
in Texas (1969?). David McDonald and J. Barto Arnold III, Documentary Sources for the Wreck of the New Spain Fleet of 1554
(Austin: Texas Antiquities Committee, 1979). Marjie Mugno, "Padre's Spanish Treasure," Texas Highways, January 1971.
Dorris L. Olds, Texas Legacy from the Gulf: A Report on Sixteenth Century Shipwreck Material Recovered from the Texas Tidelands (Austin: Texas Memorial Museum, 1976).
(22) excerpts from: Notable Men and Women of Spanish
Texas By Donald E. Chipman, Harriett Denise