This Day In Texas History - March 19

[joe817]

1687 - While on a second trip from Fort St Louis near the Matagorda Bay, Rene Robert Cavelier, Sieur de LaSalle was killed by by Pierre Duhaut, one of his followers disenchanted by the many failures and set backs of the LaSalle Expedition. The murder occurred near the present Trinity River, in what would become Grimes or Cherokee counties.

1697 - Future Texas chronicler Isidro Félix de Espinosa was professed as a novice at the College of Santa Cruz de Querétaro, a Franciscan missionary institution in Mexico. He probably arrived in Texas in 1703. Espinosa's missionary activities in Texas included his participation in several expeditions. Dubbed the "Julius Caesar of the Faith in New Spain" because he worked by day and wrote all night, Espinosa left behind several works on early Texas, including a biography of his friend Antonio Margil de Jesús. Espinosa's Crónica de los colegios de propaganda fide de la Nueva España has been called the "most important contemporary account of the Franciscans in Texas."

1823 - Don Agustin Iturbide who had overthrown the Spanish Government and established himself as Emperor of Mexico, was himself overthrown by Mexican Federalists under Santa Anna. A governing commission is then established with a new Constitution is promised. By January 1824, pieces of the new Constitution are enacted into law, and by October 1824, the completed new Constitution becomes law.

1826 - Cherokee leader John Dunn Hunter arrived in Mexico City to renew negotiations with the Mexican government for land for a Cherokee settlement in Texas. Hunter was promised land to be granted to individual Indian settlers but was unsuccessful in getting a tribal grant with the right of self-government. He returned to East Texas and, with Cherokee diplomatic chief Richard Fields, began negotiations with Martin Parmer and his associates for the so-called Fredonian Republic, which would have divided Texas between the Indians and the Anglo-Americans. The Mexican government moved quickly to quash the uprising, however, and the Cherokee council refused to take part in the Fredonian Rebellion.

1836 - Texans, commanded by Colonel James Fannin, having left the protection of the mission at Goliad, were defeated in an open field battle by Mexican Federal troops under General José Urrea. This is known as the Battle of Coleto. [For a fascinating read: http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/onli ... /qec1.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ]

1836 - Robert Hamilton and George C. Childress were appointed by the Convention of 1836, to go to Washington, D.C., to seek recognition of the independence of Texas and establishment of commercial relations with the United States.

1840 - Republic of Texas soldiers killed some thirty Penateka Comanche leaders and warriors and five women and children in the Council House Fight in San Antonio. The Comanches had come to San Antonio seeking to make peace. Texas officials had demanded that the Comanches return all captives, but the Penatekas brought only a few prisoners, including the severely abused Matilda Lockhart. After a dispute about the other captives, Texas soldiers entered the Council House, where the peace talks were being held, and informed the assembled chiefs that they were to be held as hostages until the remaining captives were released. The Comanche chiefs attempted to escape and called to their fellow tribesmen outside the house for help. In the ensuing melee, the soldiers killed most of the Comanches who remained in the Council House courtyard. Six whites were killed and twenty wounded as well. The Council House Fight outraged Comanche sensibilities, for they considered ambassadors immune from acts of war. Led by Buffalo Hump, the Penatekas retaliated by raiding deep into Texas. Comanche hatred of Texans deepened and contributed much to the violence of the frontier.

[joe817]

Letters From The Past: David G. Burnet to M. B. Menard, March 19, 1836. Interim president of Texas instructs Menard to negotiate neutrality with Indian tribes of eastern Texas without promising land.

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