"Battles for the Nueces Strip" Topic

"During the 10 years after the battle of San Jacinto, the fledgling Republic of Texas was scarcely able to keep Mexican soldiers beyond its border or raiding Indians out of its settlements. Annexation to the United States made Texas frontier vulnerabilities the problem and responsibility of the U.S. Army. This was everywhere a daunting and frequently thankless task, but nowhere was the army's mission more complex than on the Rio Grande frontier.

The stretch of the Rio Grande from modern Del Rio to the Gulf of Mexico presented unique military issues. The army's primary mission there was to enforce on the ground a national boundary that was still largely a theory drawn on a map. Local tensions flared into cross-border violence as a new Anglo-American legal system was imposed on Spanish-Mexican traditions. Lipan Apache and Kickapoo raided north of the border from their refuges in Mexico. Comanche and Kiowa swept down from the Plains to raid villages south of the river. The region would be a military and diplomatic headache for the United States government throughout the 19th Century.

In the mid-1700s, the area had evolved as an extension of the northern Mexican cattle culture, the domain of the vaquero. Colonel José de Escandón began moving colonists from the interior of Mexico to the Rio Grande in 1748. Within a year, he had laid out the townships of Reynosa and Camargo on the south bank of the river in its lower valley. Revilla was established in 1750, Mier in 1753. Two years later, Laredo was planted on the north bank, making it an exception among the 20 towns Escandón developed…"
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Amicalement
Armand

That's a pretty cool article, Armand…glad to learn about the Black Seminoles service and awards also!

And for those who wish to recreate the period, there are NO saguaro cacti growing naturally in Texas, only in parts of Arizona and in Sonora, Mexico. I blame the Marx Davy Crockett at the Alamo set for this misconception.

Happy you enjoyed it my friend!. (smile)

Amicalement
Armand

@William Warner +1

As an Arizonan that issue has been a pet peeve of mine for 50+ years