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before his fourteenth birthday, John Christopher Columbus
Hill left home with his father and older brother to join the
ill-fated 1842 Texas expedition to Mier, Tamaulipas, Mexico,
to end any questions over ownership of Texas. John Hill's
capture and subsequent adoption by President Antonio López
de Santa Anna is one of the most fascinating and curious to
come out of this extraordinary episode in Texas history.
After a series
of escalating events, including Mexican Gen. Adrián
Woll's sudden siege of San Antonio, the Texas Rangers sent
out a call for volunteers. On Christmas Day, 1842, the Texans
encountered the Mexican army at Mier, and the ensuing battle
lasted until the next afternoon. During the fight, John Hill
killed at least twelve Mexican soldiers; his brother was seriously
wounded; and all of the surviving Texans were captured. John
was sent back to Mexico City, while his father and brother
stayed with the rest of the group.
The Texan prisoners
subsequently escaped from prison and were recaptured. A furious
Santa Anna demanded that they all be executed. The ensuing
decision, to execute one-tenth of the group through a drawing
of black beans from a jar, is one of the most legendary events
in Texas history.
In Mexico City,
young John Hill asked President Santa Anna to release his
father and brother, who were still in prison. Santa Anna agreed,
on the condition that he be allowed to adopt John and raise
him in Mexico. John's father agreed, and he and John's brother
returned to Texas. John stayed in Mexico City and was enrolled
at the Colegio de Minería, or College of Mining, from
which he graduated in 1850 with a doctorate in engineering
and a degree in mining.
The story of John
C. C. Hill is one of the most remarkable stories to emerge
from Texas's struggle for independence. This volume, offered
with an educator's guide for classroom use, will appeal to
young and old readers alike.
Mary Margaret McAllen Amberson is the author
of the best-selling I Would Rather Sleep in Texas: A History
of the Lower Rio Grande Valley and the People of the Santa
Anita Land Grant.
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