The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 54, July 1950 - April, 1951 Page: 327
544 p. : ill., ports., maps. (some col.) ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Notes and Documents
Columbia, the new Texas capital, ready to leave "early in the
morning" for the Buffalo Bayou site. Seven weeks later he was
back in Columbia, having completed his part of the chore of
laying out town lots for a non-existent city that would one day
become Texas' leading port. No record remains of what remu-
neration he or the Bordens received for the surveying. From the
extant record it would appear that Lapham received only a bad
case of chills, for which he drank "heavy draugts of black
pepper and sassafras tea."11
By March, 1837, Lapham had returned to Fort Bend, appar-
ently to aid Thomas Borden in surveying; during part of the
time, however, Borden was in the United States seeking funds
and gear for the Telegraph and Texas Register. Lapham remained
in the Fort Bend vicinity until about May, 1838, when he went
to Ohio for a short last visit with his parents.12
On his return to Texas early in the fall of 1838 he left behind
the settled coastal region around Richmond and Fort Bend
County to seek out more westerly Texas lands. Near San Antonio
Samuel Maverick engaged Lapham and several others to do some
surveying. On October 20 Maverick left the party on Leon
Creek to return to San Antonio, four or five miles away.
Reports of what happened next vary. According to one con-
temporary report, the Indians came upon the surveyors' camp
the afternoon of Maverick's departure, the surveyors scattering
for cover with the Comanches pursuing. Meanwhile in San
Antonio news of the Indians' proximity had been learned, and
a scouting party under Captain B. F. Cage sent to intercept.
The party found the body of Lapham in an open prairie "with
an arrow sticking in his body and scalped." Since the body was
located "a considerable distance" from the camp, it can be sur-
mised that Lapham fled across country rather than seeking cover
until darkness could shield his retreat.'3 On the other hand,
Mary Maverick says that the attack and Lapham's death occurred
at night.14
11Moses Lapham to Amos Lapham, October 1, 1836; November 21, 1836.
12Moses Lapham to Amos Lapham, March 4, 1837; May 1, 1837; April 26, 1838.
Moses Lapham to Levi Lapham, June 7, 1837. T. H. Borden to Moses Lapham,
July 15, 1838.
1sJohn P. Borden to Amos Lapham, n.d.; Paschal P. Borden to Amos Lapham,
December 16, 1838.
14Rena Maverick Green (ed.), Memoirs of Mary A. Maverick (San Antonio,
19-1), 53-327
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 54, July 1950 - April, 1951, periodical, 1951; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101133/m1/439/: accessed April 30, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.