First Clashes witle tlee United States
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seek some other employment. It was in the spring of 1791 that he announced to Wilkinson his intention of going to Texas for the first time, and it is seriously doubted that he had entered the province prior to this year. 2 In spite of the reluctance of Louisiana officials, he secured a letter and passport from Governor Miro and set out for San Antonio. He apparently did not reach his destination, but there is no doubt that he arrived in Nacogdoches and had spent some time there before his goods were confiscated. Disappointed, he took refuge among the Indians between the Illinois and San Antonio, where he claimed he became a favorite of the Comanches in particular. 3 After two years he admitted that he was bored with the wild life of the Indians, and he returned to the Spanish settlements "to repair his fortune." It was his return to Nacogdoches, probably in 1793, which he generally referred to as his second expedition to Texas:' He turned hunter, sold pelts, and succeeded in catching fifty wild horses which he drove back to Louisiana. Governor Carondelet received him "as a person risen from the dead." 5 The third expedition to Texas, r794-r796. Undaunted by the mis- fortunes and hardships of the first trip which perhaps was not so completely a financial failure as he would like to make us believe, Nolan immediately made arrangements to return to Texas. By June, 1794, he was back in Nacogdoches with five other citizens of Louisiana and a negro slave, armed with a letter from Carondelet and a passport. Cordoba, commandant at Nacogdoches, gave him permission to catch horses in accord with the request of the governor of Louisiana.' \1/hen, months later, Nava learned accidentally of the presence of Nolan in Texas, he asked immediately about his identity, and Munoz reported that he was an Irishman, a relative of the renowned frontier inspector, Hugo Oconor. It seems that Nolan gave the governor this information. but it is seriously to be doubted that he was related to Oconor. While in Nacogdoches he became a good friend of the experienced missionary ZNolan to Wilkinson, April 6, 1797. Wilkinson, ltfemoirs, II, Appendix No. 2. Yoakum has asserted he was in Texas in 1785, but gave no authority for his state- ment. Bancroft and many others have followed him. 3 Nolan to Wilkinson, June 10, 1796. Wilkinson, Memoirs, II, Appendix No. 2. 'Wilson, Maurine T., PhiUj Nolan and His Activities in Texas. M. A. Thesis, University of Texas, x 932. (Unpublished.) An excellent study, the best and most thorough available. 5 Wilkinson, Me11l(1irs, II, 117. 'Munoz to Nava, June 6, 1794; Carondelet to Munoz, September 9, 1794. Bexar Archives.
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