![]() Corn fields were torched and villages destroyed. The Cherokee were his first targets in the summer of 1839 a village was attacked and many Indians, including Houston’s friend Chief Bowles, were killed. Lamar’s policy was ethnic cleansing, where native peoples had two choices: expulsion or extermination. Gone were the diplomatic niceties, the high flown rhetoric of brotherhood and assimilation. Lamar was the brutal, uncompromising face of westward expansion. The Texans refused to discuss the matter. In 1838, Comanche chiefs Eswacany and Essomanny meet with Texas officials in San Antonio to negotiate the establishment of territorial boundary lines. But Lamar, like his namesake Napoleon, dreamed of empire-only his version was an all-white empire devoid of native peoples. His predecessor, Sam Houston, genuinely appreciated Indians and sought peace with them. This was not a request, but a demand, and part of the hardline policy promoted by Texas President Mirabeau Bonaparte Lamar. One of the main issues in this conference was the return of white captives taken in various raids. The Comanche were arguably the most powerful tribe in Texas, with a well-deserved reputation for striking without warning in brutal, bloodthirsty raids that had set the frontier aflame well before the coming of the Anglo Texans. Once inside, they sat on the hard packed earthen floor-most natives did not like chairs-while the Texas peace commissioners sat on a raised platform facing them.Ī large crowd of San Antonio citizens had gathered outside, perhaps a bit apprehensive but still curious about the new visitors. The chiefs dismounted, and were directed to enter the Council House. The meeting would be held in the Council House, a one story, flat roofed, limestone building that, along with the adjoining jail, was located at the Main Plaza and Calabozo streets. Faces were daubed in paint, colorful red vermillion stripes alternating with darker shades. Some chiefs had ornate headdresses of splayed eagle feathers, while others wore buckskin shirts decorated with long ribbons acquired from trade with the whites. Mounted on wiry Indian ponies, they were dressed in their finest, another signal that their intentions were not hostile. The chiefs were especially splendid, looking every bit like the “Lords of the Plains” they would later be called. These were clear signals of the Comanche’s peaceful intentions-women and children would not accompany a war party and furs and horseflesh were common items of trade. The Penateka Comanche mission also included 32 women, children, and old men, a large collection of furs, and a small herd of horses. It was a large delegation, headed by 12 chiefs, along with 35 warriors. The date was March 19, 1840-dia de San Jose, or “Saint Joseph’s day” in a city that was still largely Hispanic in custom as well as outward appearance. It was a colorful spectacle few citizens in San Antonio, Texas, had ever expected to see: a large delegation of Comanches coming in to discuss terms of a possible peace treaty.
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