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THE RANGERS IN THE AFTERMATH OF THE SANTE FE EXPEDITION
AN IMPORTANT DOCUMENT SIGNED BY JOHN C. HAYS, COMMANDING SPY COMPANY, SAN ANTONIO, 1842
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AN IMPORTANT DOCUMENT SIGNED BY JOHN C. HAYS, COMMANDING SPY COMPANY, SAN ANTONIO, 1842
"Captain Jack Hays" Texas Ranger. Autograph receipt signed ("John C. Hays") to Ignacio Chavis, San Antonio, 15 May, 1842. 3½ x 7½ inches. "...one cow for the use of the Spy Company valued at twelve dollars..."
Tense months for the Republic followed what Sam Houston termed "the wild goose campaign to Santa Fe." In reprisal for Texas' ill-fated invasion of Mexican territory (in an attempt to force a trade route between Austin and Santa Fe), Mexico captured San Antonio in March 1842. The Mexican army withdrew after only 2 days, with Hays' Rangers in pursuit. Unfortunately, the Rangers lacked the strength to actively engage the enemy.
Amazingly with the evidence of increased Mexican incursions into Texas, the Texans disbanded their forces following the San Antonio invasion, except for "The few spies under Captain John C. Hays post at San Antonio". Hays' group was relied upon heavily in the spring and summer of 1842, constantly reconnoitering from the San Antonio River to the Rio Grande. The present lot comes from this period, when a poverty-stricken Republic and its few defenders had to take supplies where they could be found.
Hays was so successful as a leader of this surveillance and guerilla force that an irritated Mexico placed a $500 bounty on his head. Houston later commended "The gallant Hays and his companions".
See Webb, The Texas Rangers, Austin, 1965, pp. 72-74.
"Captain Jack Hays" Texas Ranger. Autograph receipt signed ("John C. Hays") to Ignacio Chavis, San Antonio, 15 May, 1842. 3½ x 7½ inches. "...one cow for the use of the Spy Company valued at twelve dollars..."
Tense months for the Republic followed what Sam Houston termed "the wild goose campaign to Santa Fe." In reprisal for Texas' ill-fated invasion of Mexican territory (in an attempt to force a trade route between Austin and Santa Fe), Mexico captured San Antonio in March 1842. The Mexican army withdrew after only 2 days, with Hays' Rangers in pursuit. Unfortunately, the Rangers lacked the strength to actively engage the enemy.
Amazingly with the evidence of increased Mexican incursions into Texas, the Texans disbanded their forces following the San Antonio invasion, except for "The few spies under Captain John C. Hays post at San Antonio". Hays' group was relied upon heavily in the spring and summer of 1842, constantly reconnoitering from the San Antonio River to the Rio Grande. The present lot comes from this period, when a poverty-stricken Republic and its few defenders had to take supplies where they could be found.
Hays was so successful as a leader of this surveillance and guerilla force that an irritated Mexico placed a $500 bounty on his head. Houston later commended "The gallant Hays and his companions".
See Webb, The Texas Rangers, Austin, 1965, pp. 72-74.