Presidential Terms The Texas Constitution limited the first President to a term of only 2 years. It was soon changed to 3 years. In addition no President could be elected two times in a row.

Mirabeau Lamar After Houston, Mirabeau Lamar was elected President. He was very different than Houston Lamar wanted Texas to stay an independent country and expand Texas’ territory. Used the Texas army to fight the Comanche for their land. He built a navy to fight Mexico He believed in government spending, set aside land for public education, and moved the capital to Austin. Because of this Texas fell deeper in debt Lamar

The Santa Fe Expedition 1841 Lamar sent the Santa Fe Expedition of around 300 men to capture the city of Santa Fe and try and convince the people there they should be loyal to the Texas Government.

Texas was in love with Santa Fe

The Santa Fe Trail

The expedition was an attempt to gain control over the Santa Fe Trail (a trade route) and control the New Mexico territory. The Santa Fe expedition was a disaster. The Texians were attacked constantly by Comanche, got lost, and when they finally arrived in New Mexico a Mexican Army of 1,500 troops surrounded them and they were forced to surrender. The prisoners were marched 2,000 miles to the Mexican city of Perote and held for a year.

Sam Houston’s Second Term After the failure of the Santa Fe Expedition, most Texans lost faith in Lamar’s vision for Texas. In 1841 Sam Houston was re-elected for a second term in office. He would reinstall his policies in Texas government. Restrict spending and restore peace with Mexico -One of his first actions was to disband (break up) the Texas Navy which cost too much Some members of the Navy refused to come back to Texas so Houston labeled them pirates and told other counties to attack these rebellious ships

Santa Anna returns to Mexico After being held prisoner in Texas and then being in exile in the United States, Santa Anna is allowed to return to Mexico in 1837. Exile: Not allowed in ones home country

The Mexican Government had no use for him so he was forced to retire to his hacienda. (Ranch) But after France invaded Mexico in the so called “Pastry War” Santa Anna was asked to lead the army again. He led the Mexican forces to victory against the French. Santa Anna was wounded in the leg and eventually had to have his leg amputated. Exploiting his wounds with eloquent propaganda, Santa Anna came back to power. He retook the presidency in 1838

Invasion of Texas In response to the Santa Fe Expedition, in early March 1842 Santa Anna ordered his army to cross the Rio Grande and occupy San Antonio. After a few days they returned to Mexico. In September the Mexican government was determined to keep the Texas frontier in turmoil. Santa Anna ordered Adrián Woll to attack San Antonio again and informed the Mexican Congress that he planned to retake Texas. Adrián Woll, seen here in the 1860’’s, was actually a French adventurer and was with Santa Anna at the Alamo and San Jacinto

President Houston ordered the Texas Army to attack the Mexican Army. The Texans defeated them at the Battle of Salado Creek and the Mexicans retreated back to Mexico. During the battle 36 Texians were surrounded by Mexican cavalry and killed. This is know as the “Dawson Massacre”

Story time! The Mier Expedition A group of Texans crossed the border and attacked the Mexican town of Mier. They were captured and forced to draw beans out of a jar. White bean meant life. Black bean meant death. This is called the “Black Bean Episode”

The Archives War As you probably guessed Houston and Lamar were bitter rivals. So when Houston was elected President again in 1841 the last thing he wanted was to serve in “Lamar’s Capital.” After the two brief Mexican invasions that captured San Antonio, (only 70 miles away from Austin) Houston decided Austin was unsafe and moved the capital to Washington-on-the-Brazos. (110 miles east) President Houston ordered the removal of the Texas’ archives (public records) from Austin and assigned Texas Army Colonel Thomas Smith and Captain Eli Chandler to bring them to Washington-on-the-Brazos without bloodshed.

The Texas Archive War ended without anyone getting hurt . Smith and Chandler with a small group of soldiers entered Austin in the dead of night on December 29, 1842. As they loaded archives stored in the General Land Office Building into wagons, Angelina Eberly was awakened by the noise. She ran outside and fired a cannon, alerting the town that something was happening. Smith and Chandler fled with three wagons full of archival material. The Soldiers were caught by a armed group from Austin and the archives were returned to Austin. The Texas Archive War ended without anyone getting hurt . Angelina Eberly firing the cannon

Comanche's and the Republic In March of 1840 the Texas Republic Government arranged a meeting with Comanche tribes in San Antonio The Texans wanted peace and the return of White captives. The meeting turned bloody when both sides opened fire. 35 Comanche where killed and another 30 were captured in what became known as the Council House Fight 7 Texans were killed in the fighting. The Comanche swore revenge!!!!

The 1840 Great Comanche Raid!!! In August the Comanche got their revenge for the Council House Fight. Around 400 Comanche raided south all the way to the Texas coast. The town of Victoria was attacked and the town of Linnville was totally destroyed. On their way back to Comancheria the Texans ambushed the Comanche at the Battle of Plum Creek where they recovered close to $300,000 in money and goods stolen from Texas!