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Federalist Wars: Final Phase

for horses on which to return home.[196]  During this time Colonel Fisher and several other Texans sent word by Dr. James Murphy, one of the first to return to Texas, that the Mexicans, who had been so loudly proclaiming their intent of castigating the "usurper," would not trouble Texas, as plans were being laid by five states to revolt shortly and form a separate government in northern Mexico.[197]  Murphy reported one thousand to twelve hundred troops east of the Río Grande, mostly above Laredo, where they had gone to chastise the Comanches and repel their incursions. He estimated, in January 1841, that there were five hundred troops at Matamoros, and a few at Saltillo, making, in all, a grand total of nearly two thousand men on this side of the mountains. Eventually, within about two weeks time, most of the Texans under Fisher's command had started for home, disappointed that their efforts had met with so little success and even less reward. A few tarried to see if they could not obtain payment for the supplies they had furnished. Among these was John P. Kelsey, who failing to accomplish his object, struck up an acquaintance with Don Mateas Ramírez, "a wealthy and influential Spanish gentleman" through whom he met General Arista. No doubt the two men developed an understanding in respect to the frontier trade, for Kelsey was in New Orleans in March 1841, acquiring an assorted stock of merchandise for a trading station at Corpus Christi, which he operated until September 1842, when he temporarily abandoned it.[198]

When Jordan and Seguin arrived opposite Camargo, they found the troops under Canales and Arista glaring "peacefully" at each other. Seguin advised his men to proceed immediately to the Nueces, as Canales had deserted the cause. As for himself, he would cross the river and seek to obtain their pay from Canales as provided for in the Convention, but his followers declared that they were willing to forfeit it, rather than that their leader should run the risk of being arrested. Seguin insisted on going, for he had personally expended



196. During the stay at Camargo, Jack Palmer was murdered by a Mexican servant. Lamar Papers, VI, 111.

197. Captain James D. Owen to Patrick Usher, Victoria, Jan. 26, 1841, in Telegraph and Texas Register, Feb. 10, 1841. Patrick Usher was nominated by President Houston for Chief Justice of Jackson County, and Senate confirmation was accorded on December 20, 1836. He later represented Jackson County in the Fifth Congress. Winkler (ed.), Secret Journals of the Senate: Republic of Texas, p. 34; Brown, History of Texas, II, 187.

198. Brown, Indian Wars and Pioneers of Texas, pp. 759-760.

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AFTER SAN JACINTO: The Texas-Mexican Frontier, 1836-1841
Joseph Milton Nance, 1963