Musings of a History Buff

Famous Texans: James Bowie, Part 6

by ELLIS KNOX Reporter

In the summer of 1832, James Bowie traveled to Natchez on business and while there got word from home in Texas that the Mexican army commander in Nacogdoches, José de las Piedras, had demanded all residents in his area of command must surrender their arms, Latino and Anglo alike. Bowie immediately headed home to San Antonio. By this time, Antonio López de Santa Anna was president of Mexico, and most of the residents of Texas had actually supported his coup. The Texas citizens, Latino and Anglo, began almost immediately to become disgruntled by the laws this new Mexican government passed between 1830 and 1832 concerning the state of Coahuila y Tejas. The laws were actually aimed at the Anglo settlers but affected all the Texican residents. Bowie arrived in early August and joined a delegation to Nacogdoches to protest the order to surrender their weapons.

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