It is hard to imagine reading about any of the key events surrounding the Texas Revolution and the times surrounding it without encountering the name of Creed Taylor. Taylor was the son of a family of early Texas settlers. Despite his youth, he is thought to have taken part in the following battles: the “Come and Take It” battle in Gonzalez, the Battle of Concepción, the Grass Fight, the Siege of Bexar, the Battle of San Jacinto and others.
Henry Wax Karnes was a soldier in the Texas Revolution and later was a Texas Ranger. He was born in Tennessee in 1812 and grew up in Arkansas. He first came to Texas on a visit in 1828 and later returned for good in 1835 when he enlisted in the army under Captain John York. One of the first battles he is known to have participated in was the Battle of Concepción (on the grounds of Mission Concepción) and later in the Siege of Bexar. He was also associated with Erastus “Deaf” Smith and is thought to be the first to deliver the news to Sam Houston of the fall of the Alamo mission to Santa Anna.
(Mission Concepción)
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Junius W. Peak was one of the more charismatic individuals in Texas history. His family moved to Texas from Kentucky in 1855. The family was large, with many brothers and sisters. Jefferson and Martha Reser Peak bought 229 acres of farmland close to the small Dallas settlement. Peak would recall that his father Jefferson paid $110 for the land.
Manuel Trazazas Gonzaullas was born on the Fourth of July, 1891 in Spain. His parents were naturalized US Citizens but were in Spain at the time of his birth. Manuel was brought up in the border town of El Paso. He was reportedly inspired to become a Texas Ranger after seeing Ranger John R. Hughes on horseback when Gonzaullas was only a youth. His desire to pursue a career in law enforcement was further led by the murder of his two brothers and the serious wounding of his parents in an incident. He did not join the Rangers at his first opportunity, but rather served in the Mexican Army and an agent for the US Treasury Department for five years. He married in 1920 and enlisted in the Rangers later the same year.
Continue reading Manuel T. “Lone Wolf” Gonzaullas, Texas Ranger
Ranger John Coffee “Jack” Hays was born in Little Cedar Lick, Wilson County, Tennessee, January 28, 1817. In “Texas Rising,” he seems to be a somewhat less important character, likely because most of his service as a Texas Ranger occurred after the Texas Revolution. Hays was related to Andrew Jackson’s family in that Mrs. Jackson was his great aunt. His father fought with Andrew Jackson and gave Jack his middle name Coffee in honor of Gen. John Coffee who had also served under Jackson.
When Hays was still a young man, he left Tennessee and moved to Mississippi where he learned surveying. Some accounts have him coming to Texas in 1836, early enough to serve under Erastus “Deaf” Smith and Henry W. Karnes while others maintain that he arrived in late 1837 or early 1838. Regardless, he had settled in San Antonio by February, 1840 and apparently “rangered” while he also served as a surveyor. He fought in the Battle of Plumb Creek and in 1840 he became Captain of a company of Rangers under Mirabeau B. Lamar, during the interim years after the Texas Revolution but before the Mexican-American War. In addition to Plum Creek, he was also involved in action at Cañon de Ugalde, Bandera Pass and Painted Rock.
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Texas History Notebook 