I thought the prose about the Indians, and especially the Commanches, was one of the best parts of Lone Star, when Ifirst read it. Then I found out Fehrenbach wrote a book on Commanches too! Not quite as good as Lone Star but good. It has probably been eclipsed by S.C. Gwynne's Empire of the Summer Moon.

The Malakoff Heads are on exhibit at Navarro College in Corsicana.

http://www.arrowheadology.com/forums/south-central/53710-malakoff-heads-cook-education-center-navarro-college-campus.html

Thanks for the link ! Will have to go check them out

Something I find intriguing and a little amusing in the Spanish, Mexican, American settlement period is the random private invasions. I can just imagine a lot of these filibuster incursions beginning over a few rounds of stiff drinks.

I doubt these incursions were either whiskey-fueled or amusing to those who led them. Rather, these were desperate, adventurous men who saw limited opportunity back home and possible wealth awaiting in Texas.

I had driven past the Nolan River in Johnson County many times before reading in Fehrenbach's Lone Star that Philip Nolan had been killed by Spaniards on its banks in 1801. Next time I go there, I'll seek out the marker.



Last Spring, I traveled to Goliad. Augustus McGee's tombstone is inside the walls of Presidio La Bahia, stating that he was a 2nd Lieutenant, US Army and that he died in 1913. (I have to assume that his actual grave was never found and that the tombstone was placed inside the rebuilt fort sometime in the mid-1960's). If you get a chance to visit Goliad, I recommend booking a night in the apartment inside the fort. Definitely worth the experience (no ghost encounters on my visit, though).

BUMP

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Last Spring, I traveled to Goliad. Augustus McGee's tombstone is inside the walls of Presidio La Bahia, stating that he was a 2nd Lieutenant, US Army and that he died in 1913.

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Odd. The stone says 1813.

dcbowers,

Regarding Augustus Magee, stay tuned. The entire biography of him prior to the expedition consists of one sentence in the Handbook of Texas. I've got 10 pages on him in my master's thesis and am currently working on a detailed article with much more. Until the latter comes out, here you go on Magee. This is the section of my thesis that outlines his very interesting, and surprising history. He wasn't a poor adventurer, but from one of the richest families in Boston:

http://gutierrez-magee.texhist.com/2017/01/the-military-men.html

And no, he was NOT third in his class at West Point, as all the previous articles say. He was 2nd, but even that was meaningless because it was only chronological for 1809, and class rankings did not begin until 1815. In 1809, you simply graduated when you finished the coursework. He finished in 7 months, which was slightly better than average at the time. He did, as my article points out, have a very good preparatory education.

As for Magee's actual place of burial no one knows. He died during the siege of Goliad (in 1813) and was buried somewhere within the Fort probably, but no one knows. Oddly enough, the folks at Goliad do have several bones of an unidentified individual that were dug up by archaeologists in the 1960s. They dug up lots of bones, but all the others were in the church graveyard and were reburied. This one was apparently outside it. Because Magee was a presbyterian and could not be buried in a catholic cemetery, it's not impossible that it's him. But it's basically just part of a jaw and an arm bone or something like that.

aalan94,

Thanks for sharing. Very interesting.

Makes me wonder if some DNA could be extracted from the bones and compared with DNA from surviving extended family members of Augustus Magee.