1. Lamars Presidency Unit 6: Chapter 12 Section 2

2. I. Mirabeau Lamar Becomes President Texans elected Lamar president when Houstons term ended in 1838. Improving education was Lamars main goal, but he had many other goals during term.

3. Congress set aside nearly 18,000 acres of land in each county to support public schools. Lamar also opposed annexation. He wanted Texas to be a powerful nation, reaching to the Pacific Ocean Mirabeau Lamar Becomes President

4. II. The Capital Is Moved to Austin A. 1839 Congress approved Waterloo on the Colorado as the site of a permanent capital. B. The new capital was named Austin, in honor of Stephen F. Austin.

5. III. Lamars Policy Towards the Indians Lamar believed Cherokees had no fair claim to Texas lands they occupied. 1839: ordered Cherokees removed from Texas. Surviving Cherokees were forced from their land and moved across the Red River out of Texas.

6. IV. Raids Lead to Council House Fight Comanches raid several white settlements from 1838-1840 Later, Comanches agreed to meet with Texas authorities. Comanches promised to bring their Anglo captives, but produced only one girl, Matilda Lockhart. The angered Texans tried to take the Comanches hostage, but they resisted and fighting broke out.

7. Raids Lead to Council House Fight The incident was called the Council House Fight 7 Texans and 35 Comanches died in the fighting. Council House Fight has been called the greatest blunder in the history of Texan-Indian relations.

8. V. Texas Rebuilds Its Navy Lamar ordered a newly restored navy into Mexican waters. He thought Mexico would recognize Texas in exchange for the promise that the navy would not invade Mexico. Sam Houston won the presidency again in 1841 and recalled the navy.

9. VI. The Santa Fe Expedition Texans wanted control of Santa Fe, a trading center on the upper Rio Grande in present-day New Mexico. 1841: Lamar sent an expedition party to Santa Fe to try to control the region and open up trade for Texas.

10. The Santa Fe Expedition The Santa Fe expedition had many misfortunes and hardships; heat, shortages of water and food, and Indian attacks led to suffering. After all of this, expedition was confronted by a Mexican army that forced the Texans to march 1,000 miles to Mexico City.

11. VII. Financial Difficulties Lamars purchase of navy ships and their maintenance were expensive. Expeditions were expensive. Texas was deeply in debt when Lamar left office – more than $7 million!