The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 64, July 1960 - April, 1961 Page: 276
574 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
Southwestern Historical Quarterly
maining thirty years of his life cannot be given the entrancing
personal interpretation. His narrative, fragmentary and little
known, was written on the Red River near the old Louisiana
town of Natchitoches, in the English language that he had almost
forgotten, about things that already seemed to him to have hap-
pened a long, long time ago.
Ellis P. Bean accompanied Philip Nolan on his last expedition
into Texas in 18oo-i8o0. He witnessed the death of Philip Nolan
in what is now Hill County at the hands of Spanish soldiers.
Bean was captured and taken to Nacogdoches, then to San An-
tonio, and on to various prisons in Mexico. By 18o8 he was in
Acapulco Castle, and Bennett Lay says that Bean's Memoir, de-
spite its lack of literary polish, deserves to rank among the world's
great chronicles of prison experience. Josh Antonio Navarro,
having suffered the horrors of Mexican dungeons himself, fre-
quently told his children that he sympathized with the prison
experiences of such men as Bean and Stephen F. Austin.
Then came the Mexican Revolution and Bean was rescued by
the troops of a mestizo priest, Jos6 Maria Morelos y Pavon. Bean
made himself important to Morelos and was sent to the United
States for help. He found the United States busily engaged in
the War of 1812 and accepted General Andrew Jackson's invita-
tion to participate in the Battle of New Orleans. According to
letters written at that time by Bean to his half-brother, Captain
William Shaw, in Tennessee, it was Bean who gave General An-
drew Jackson a detailed account of the conduct of Jean and
Pierre Lafitte and their brave Baratarians in the battle.
Bennett Lay has successfully avoided the temptation to over-
dramatize and exploit the private life of this rugged individualist
sensationally, but the fact that Bean was a bigamist plus did have
consequences with his ambitions. Bean settled in Texas near
Nacogdoches and played a leading part in the development of
that area. He was an Indian agent provocateur for Mexico and
later for the Republic of Texas. His revolutionary companions-
in-arms were directing affairs in Mexico City, and he had reasons
to think that he would be appointed governor of Texas. He
helped to defeat Haden Edwards and the Fredonian Rebellion.
He was intimately associated also with the leading Texans such276
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Related Items
Other items on this site that are directly related to the current periodical.
The Texan Archive War Of 1842 (Text)
Front cover of an article reprinted from an issue of the Southwestern Historical Quarterly.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Periodical.
Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 64, July 1960 - April, 1961, periodical, 1961; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101190/m1/308/: accessed April 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.