The First Caudillo

The word, caudillo, as used in Mexico, came to mean a political-military leader. Caudillo, translated into English as “leader,” or “chief,” but as in most peasant societies, the word came to express a dictator or potentate. The Merrimam-Webster dictionary defines caudillo as “a Spanish or Latin-America military dictator.” Image -
Agustín Cosme Damián de Iturbide y Aramburu

One of the best known caudillos in Mexican history was José Doroteo Arango Arámbula, also known as Pancho Villa. Villa was a provisional governor of the Mexican state of Chihuahua from 1913-1914.

Villa led a 1916 raid on Columbus, New Mexico, which resulted in a year-long expedition by General John J. Pershing to find the “bandit.” Pershing’s pursuit proved unsuccessful.
Pancho Villa was assassinated in 1920 by seven gunmen outside of Hidalgo del Parral, Chihuahua, Mexico.

Other historically famous Mexican caudillos were Antonio López de Santa Anna Pérez de Lebrón, Agustín Cosme Damián de Iturbide y Aramburu, José de la Cruz Porfirio Díaz Mori, and Álvaro Obregón Salido.

Iturbide marched troops into Mexico City on September 27, 1821. The following day, Mexico was declared an independent empire. Iturbide is known as Mexico’s first caudillo.

Mike Kearby's Texas copyright 2010

The Dictator and Thomas Adams

Thomas Adams (1818-1905) was the first person in the United States to manufacture chewing gum that had chicle as the base ingredient. Image - Thomas Adams.

Large quantities of chicle, which comes from the sapodilla tree in Central America, had been given Adams by friends of General Antonio López de Santa Anna. The former Mexican dictator was in exile at the time and spent time at Adams’ house on Staten Island. Santa Anna persuaded Adams that the inexpensive chicle could be compounded with the more expensive rubber to make an economical alternative for carriage tires.

Adams tried for a year but was unsuccessful at every attempt to accomplish the ex-dictator’s “get-rich” scheme. One day, after yet another rubber failure, Adams is reported to have popped a piece of chicle into his mouth. He remembered that Santa Anna enjoyed chewing chicle gum. Adams realized that the softer chicle gum was superior to the paraffin wax gum that was popular at the time in the United States.

Shortly after that, Adams and his oldest son, Thomas Jr., made up “penny sticks” of the gum and distributed them to a local drugstore. The chicle gum was an instant hit. Adams sold his chicle gum with the slogan "Adams' New York Gum No. 1 - Snapping and Stretching."

In 1888, Adams’ Tutti-Frutti flavored gum was the first gum to be sold in a vending machine. By 1899, Adams Sons and Company had become the largest and most profitable chewing gum company in the United States. In that same year, Adams and five other chewing gum companies joined forces as the American Chicle Company. Thomas Jr. was named chairman of the board of directors for the new company.

Thomas Adams Sr. died in 1905.

Mike Kearby's Texas copyright 2009

The McCormick League

The San Jacinto battlefield, a prairie located eight miles north of New Washington, was situated within a league of land owned by Margaret (Peggy) McCormick. Buffalo Bayou bordered the league on the northwest, San Jacinto Bay on the northeast, and a large swamp known as Peggy's Lake on the southeast.

Eight miles to the southwest lay Vince's Bridge, which led to Harrisburg, the only escape route for the Texian and Mexican armies before the battle. Deaf Smith, and six volunteers, Peter Alsbury, Moses Lapham, Denmore Reaves, John Coker, E.R. Rainwater, and John Garner, burned the bridge on April 21 before the fighting began.

Photo- Henry McArdle's Battle of San Jacinto 1895

Peggy McCormick moved to Texas in 1824 with her husband, Arthur and sons, Mike and John. The McCormick's were members of Stephen F. Austin's first colony. Arthur McCormick drowned in Buffalo Bayou in 1824 leaving Peggy and her two young sons to work the land as best they could. The widow McCormick made ends meet by raising and selling cattle.

Peggy and her sons fled their ranch in late April as Gen. Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna's troops approached. Days after the battle of San Jacinto, Peggy returned home to find her cattle pilfered by both armies and her land strewn with the bodies of Mexican soldiers. She confronted Sam Houston and Santa Anna demanding that one or both men bury the dead. Both refused. Peggy and her sons buried what bodies they could.

John J. Linn who arrived at San Jacinto with Vice-president Lorenzo de Zavala after the battle and later interviewed Santa Anna recalled the conversation between Peggy and Gen. Houston that day. Linn said Houston told Mrs. McCormick, "Madam, your land will be famed in history." To which Peggy replied, "To the devil with your glorious history!"

Peggy later petitioned the Republic of Texas for damages caused by the two armies to her property. The new government refused her request of one hundred forty head of cattle, seventy-five bushels of corn, and two horses. Later county surveyor, George M. Patrick re-surveyed the McCormick league and unbeknown to the family, moved almost half of the McCormick land east into the San Jacinto swamp. The "new" western land produced by the re-survey was assigned to a veteran of San Jacinto who quickly resold the land to Patrick.

Peggy died in a suspicious fire in her home in 1854. Speculation was that the widow, who had once owned one of the largest cattle herds in Harris County, had been robbed and possibly murdered before the fire was set.

Mike McCormick drowned in Buffalo Bayou in 1875 near the spot where his father had drowned in 1824. During the revolution, Mike, acting as a courier between Gen. Houston and Pres. Burnet, warned Burnet of the approaching Col. Almonte at New Washington thus saving the lives of Burnet, his wife, as well as other members of the provisional government…but that…well that's a whole 'nuther story...

Read more about Peggy McCormick at: http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/MM/fmcbs.html

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