The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 48, July 1944 - April, 1945 Page: 340
617 p. : ill., maps, ports. ; 24 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Perote 7ort - Where terals
Were Imprisoned
J. J. McGRATH and WALACE HAWKINS
T HE OLD fort or castle of San Carlos, commonly known as
Perote Fort or Perote Prison, in the state of Vera Cruz,
Mexico, is the setting of the final and anticlimactic chapter of
three of the most disastrous episodes in the history of Texas.
Much has been written of the events connected with this old
prison, but little has been said of the place itself, where some
of the most ill-fated sons of Texas spent sad, weary, and dejected
years. Since this old fort has been military in character, no
visitors have been allowed inside its sacred historic walls, and the
photographs shown herewith are the first allowed to be made
and presented to the public.
Every Texas schoolchild is familiar with the three disastrous
expeditions organized during the formative days of the Republic
of Texas which ended by their members' spending time in the
prison of Perote; these three ill-advised forays were the Santa Fe
expedition, the capture of San Antonio by General Adrian Woll,
and the pathetic attempt of a handful of men to capture Mexico
and their subsequent defeat and surrender at the town of Mier,
on the Mexican border. Of these events only salient facts are
to be mentioned in this article, the primary purpose being to
tie up the three events with the old Perote Fort.
The Santa Fe Expedition
From the green, grass-carpeted valley given the local desig-
nation of Brushy Valley, near Round Rock, Texas, the ap-
proximately 320 men forming the Santa Fe expedition set out
on the morning of June 19, 1841, headed for Santa Fe, New
Mexico, determined to make that portion of the world, then
under Mexican domination, but claimed by Texas, a part of the
Republic. Ostensibly these men were to be only a peaceable
group, since they did not have the official sanction of the Con-
gress of the Republic. In fact this "peaceable" coterie of men,
under the inspiration of President Mirabeau B. Lamar, was
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 48, July 1944 - April, 1945, periodical, 1945; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth146055/m1/380/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.