Shannon Wagers

If you were living in New Mexico back in the 1970s, you might remember seeing bumper stickers reading, “Texan Go Home,” or, in a lighter vein, “If God Had Meant Texans to Ski, He Would Have Given Them a Mountain.” I haven’t seen either one of those in many years, but resentment against our Tejano neighbors still simmers among us, and it isn’t just because they talk funny and have more oil than we do. It has deep historic roots.

In the 1830s, Texas, like New Mexico, was part of the Republic of Mexico. But some 30,000 Anglo-Americans—mostly southerners—had migrated to Texas, bringing with them their racial and religious prejudices. Many hoped to see Texas annexed by the U.S. as a slave state.

In 1835, they revolted, and after a couple of years of hard fighting, defeated the Mexican army and raised the Lone Star flag over their new Republic. Unfortunately, the Treaty of Velasco, which ended the conflict, defined the

boundaries of the new nation somewhat ambiguously. Many Texans interpreted it to mean that their territory extended to the Río Grande, or possibly farther, encompassing more than half of present-day New Mexico. They advocated taking the land, by force if necessary.

Moreover, Texas wanted to cash in on the lucrative commerce moving over the Santa Fe Trail, which crossed the Kansas prairie to the north. Some envisioned opening a competing southern trade route that would link Santa Fe

with ports on the Gulf coast, and in 1841, Texas President Mirabeau Lamar authorized an expedition for the purpose of exploring the feasibility of such a route.

Whether the objectives of the expedition were primarily military or commercial is a question still debated by historians. No doubt it was a little of both. The Texans made no secret of it. Reports of the preparations were even published in Austin newspapers, giving New Mexico ample time to prepare a defense.

Rumors that the Texans were organizing an invasion reached Governor Manuel Armijo in Santa Fe as early as the summer of 1840. He immediately notified his superiors in Mexico City and begged them to send reinforcements to defend the beleaguered frontier. But the central government was in disarray and nearly bankrupt, so no aid was forthcoming. New Mexico would have to defend herself as best she could.

Gov. Armijo is one of the more colorful and controversial figures of 19th century New Mexico. The famous quip, “Pity poor New Mexico: so far from heaven and so close to Texas,” has been attributed to him. He has been represented as corrupt, cowardly and corpulent. No doubt there’s some truth to that, but on this occasion at least, he appears to have acted decisively and taken immediate steps to organize a force to repel the invaders. It consisted of about 100 regular troops from the Presidio at Santa Fe, augmented by a citizen militia recruited from towns and pueblos across New Mexico. Few owned firearms. Most were armed only with lances, bows and arrows. Armijo took command personally, deployed his forces along the eastern frontier, and waited.

The Texans were better equipped but badly organized. The expedition comprised a number of merchants and a train of wagons laden with trade goods, accompanied by 270 well-armed troops, including an artillery unit with a brass howitzer in tow. By the time the wagons began rolling westward it was already early summer. The prairie grass that had been lush in the spring was withering and water holes were drying up, leaving sparse forage for their animals. Then they became lost and wandered for weeks on the vast expanse of the Llano Estacado, where they were harassed by bands of Comanches. Provisions grew short. Finally, the commander of the expedition, Col. Hugh McLeod, made the fatal decision to divide his forces.

The New Mexico troops, guided by veteran comancheros who knew the plains well, intercepted the scattered groups of demoralized Texans, disarmed them, relieved them of their teams and wagons, and marched them off to Mexico City as prisoners of war. They were not well-treated, and their ordeal has even been compared to the infamous Bataan Death March of World War II. With their recent rebellion so fresh in memory, the Mexican authorities were not kindly disposed toward the Tejanos, and they narrowly escaped execution as spies. Many of the prisoners died before they were repatriated the following year.

But that was not the last time invaders from Texas crossed our borders. Several attacks were made on outlying settlements in retaliation for the harsh treatment of the prisoners. Finally, in 1862, during the Civil War, a Confederate force composed mostly of Texans marched up from El Paso and managed to do what the 1841 expedition could not: capture Santa Fe. But they held the capital only briefly before once again being chased back to Texas by our loyal New Mexico volunteers (with a little help from federal troops at Fort Union and some Colorado volunteers.)

Since then, the Tejanos have left us alone (except for skiers.)

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