Ou,- Catleolic H e1'itage in Texas
for intended violation of the neutrality laws of the United States. In defiance of Spanish opposition and the odds against him, the bold adventurer was to set forth on his fatal undertaking. He first attempted to propitiate the commandant of ·Nacogdoches and to win the friendship of Father Jose Manuel Gaetan by sending to the former a piece of linen and other gifts, and to the latter a double-barreled gun-strange gift for a priest. 22 To what extent he was influenced by Thomas Jefferson, vice-president-elect at the time, and other officials cannot be determined. That both Daniel Clark and Wilkinson wrote to Jefferson concerning the young adventurer "whom nature seems to hav~ formed for Enterprises of which the rest of Mankind are incapable" and that an interview was arranged with the high dignitary in the summer of 1800, there is no doubt. 23 It is likewise true that immediately upon his return from the East, Nolan made formal application to Governor Casa Calvo, who had succeeded Gayoso de Lemos, for permission "to run the pasture lands to the north." But the new governor, more dis- trustful of Americans than his predecessor, promptly refused the request. 2 ' Undaunted by the refusal, Nolan proceeded to enlist men for the most formidable expedition he had ever undertaken. His boldness smacks strongly of official approval of the American authorities. By October, 1800, he had.contracted with eighteen Americans, seven Spaniards, and two Negroes. The Americans were Simon McKoy, Jonah Walters, Solo- mon Cooley, Ellis Bean, Joseph Reed, William Danlin, Charles King, Stephen Richards, Joseph Pierce, Thomas House, Ephraim Blackburn, David Fero, Robert Ashley, John House, Michael Moore, Mordicai Richards, John King, and Augustus or John Adams; the Spaniards were Luciano Garcia, Vicente Lara, Refugio de la Garza, Juan Joseph Martinez, Lorenzo Hinojosa, Joseph Berban, and Joseph de Jesus de los Santos; and the two Negroes were Juan Bautista (called Caesar by the Ameri- cans) and Robert. 25 12 Hale, E., "The Real Philip Nolan." Mississippi Historical Society, P1'blications, IV, 310, and 315. See also Elguezabal, June 29, 1801. Bexar Arcliives. "Daniel Clark to Thomas Jefferson, February 12, 1 799; Wilkinson to Jefferson, May 22, I800; Cox, "The Louisiana-Texas Frontier." Texas Histori~l Assodation, Tlte Quarterly, VII, 3Io, and 3I4; X, 58. . 24 Hale, "The Real Philip Nolan." Mississippi Historical Society, · Publications, IV, 292. 2 5The list was compiled by Miss Maurine Wilson. The last three of the Americans deserted before the expedition entered Texas. Wilson, Pliili,P Nolan a11d His Activities in Texas.
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