The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 67, July 1963 - April, 1964 Page: 465

THE SOUTHWESTERN HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
VOL. LXVII APRIL, 1964 No. 4
ras iliitarq Operations
Against l4exico, 1842-1843
RALPH A. WOOSTER
ALTHOUGH SAM HOUSTON HAD ADVOCATED PEACEFUL RELATIONS
with Mexico in his second presidential inaugural mes-
sage on December 13, 1841, the first two years of his sec-
ond administration were filled with disturbances between Texas
and Mexico.' The greater part of the causes underlying these
troubles naturally stemmed from the Texas War for Independ-
ence; Mexico had never recognized the independence of Texas
and still maintained that the Texans were rebels. Texans, on the
other hand, not only were convinced of their independent status
but wished to extend their boundaries. Past atrocities such as the
Goliad and Alamo massacres also had not been forgotten by
Texans.
An aggressive Mexican policy had been openly encouraged by
President Mirabeau B. Lamar, the second chief executive of the
Texas republic. This policy had resulted in the ill-fated Texan
Santa Fe Expedition, news of which was just reaching Texas when
Houston took office for the second time." In the face of demands
that the Santa Fe Expedition be avenged, President Houston
stressed the need for peaceful relations between the two nations,
as he felt that only through order and stability fostered by peace
could Texas maintain her independent position. Little time
elapsed, however, before he was made to realize that such a
iHouston's Inaugural Address, in Amelia W. Williams and Eugene C. Barker
(eds.), Writings of Sam Houston (8 vols.; Austin, 1938-1943), II, 391-394. See also
Houston's message to Congress, ibid., 399-409.
2For the Santa Fe Expedition see George W. Kendall, Narrative of the Texan
Santa Fe Expedition (2 vols.; New York, 1844); William C. Binkley, "New Mexico
and the Santa Fe Expedition," Southwestern Historical Quarterly, XXVII, 85-107.