Camp Resolution of the Texan Santa Fe Expedition
South Plains, Floyd County, Texas
Marker Inscription
In an effort to establish a western trade route and expand Texas jurisdiction, Republic of Texas President Mirabeau B. Lamar sent an expedition of merchants, along with a military escort, to Santa Fe in 1841. The group left Brushy Creek north of Austin in June and in August arrived in this vicinity, where they established campsites at the confluence of the Los Lingos and Quitaque creeks (1 mi. E). Traveling across unfamiliar territory, the expedition encountered numerous hardships. Provisions, food, and water were reduced to dangerously low levels, and bands of Kiowa Indians continually harrassed the group, killing some. Facing the impassable ravines of the Caprock, the military commanders decided to divide the group. One party was sent to find New Mexican settlements and seek help, while the second remained. Commander Hugh McLeod drew up a resolution detailing the decision to split the command, and the site became known as Camp Resolution. Finally reaching New Mexico in September, the men were met by Mexican soldiers and were forced to march to Mexico City, where they were imprisoned. Resulting in a U.S.-Mexico diplomatic controversy, the expedition also aided Texas' western land claims. Texas Sesquicentennial 1836 - 1986
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In 1841 Republic of Texas President Mirabeau B. Lamar dispatched merchants and a military escort toward Santa Fe, hoping to open a trade route and extend Texas's jurisdiction. Near here, exhausted and low on provisions and harried by Kiowa raiders, commander Hugh McLeod drew up the resolution — splitting his command — that gave this campsite its name; the expedition ended in captivity in Mexico City.
Why it matters
The doomed Santa Fe Expedition inflamed U.S.–Mexican tensions and helped press the Texan land claims that would reshape the Southwest.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related people
- · Mirabeau B. Lamar
- · Hugh McLeod
Related events
- · Texan Santa Fe Expedition
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Trading Area of Jose Tafoya and other Comancheros
Quitaque, TX
In the Quitaque area, New Mexican traders called Comancheros ventured deep into Comanche country to barter flour and goods, a trade that began in the 1700s and peaked from 1864 to 1868. In those years Comanches, Kiowas, and Apaches drove stolen horses and cattle up from Texas to exchange for guns and supplies. José Tafoya ran wagons and pack mules until the U.S. Army caught him in 1874 and pressed him into service as a frontier scout.
Archeological Sites at Mackenzie Reservoir and Tule Canyon
Silverton, TX
Before Mackenzie Reservoir flooded this stretch of the Texas Panhandle, archeologists recorded 77 sites documenting some 10,000 years of human presence, beginning with an ancient bison kill. Burial sites, hearths, and stone tools mark long prehistoric occupation, while gun flints and glass beads record the arrival of European trade goods in the 1700s. The era closed in 1874 when Col. Ranald Mackenzie's 4th Cavalry drove Native peoples from Tule Canyon, once a rich grazing ground for buffalo and antelope.
Two Miles North of Here
Tulia, TX
After U.S. cavalry under Mackenzie routed Southern Plains tribes at Palo Duro Canyon in September 1874, the troops slaughtered roughly 1,450 captured horses two miles north of this marker. Destroying the herd left the surviving warriors afoot, forcing them back onto their reservations.
Coronado in Blanco Canyon
Floydada, TX
Between 1540 and 1542, the Spanish conquistador Francisco Vazquez de Coronado led a vast expedition—more than a thousand people and thousands of animals—north from Mexico chasing rumors of golden cities. Their exact path across the southern plains has long puzzled historians, since surviving accounts are brief and contradictory. In the spring of 1541 the company camped in a wide canyon, and chain mail, crossbow points, and other European artifacts later unearthed around Blanco Canyon helped archaeologists confirm that Coronado passed this way.