Backing up a year to 1851, the same year that RIP Ford took thirty Texas Rangers into Mexico after runaways and fought the Seminoles, Warren Adams, a professional Slave Hunter, arrived in Eagle Pass.
I can find no information on Adams but he must have been a big deal at the time. The Seminole Subagent Marcellus Duval had contracted with him to undergo this major operation. Texas Governor Peter Bell even issued a proclamation in support of Adams.
At that time John Horse and a companion crossed over into Eagle Pass, got drunk, and were promptly captured by Adams, which one imagines was a major score. The surprising thing is Horse was not promptly shipped out in irons. Within three days Mexican authorities contacted Governor Bell requesting his release as a Citizen of Mexico.
Wildcat crossed over to Eagle Pass, negotiated with Adams, and secured the captives’ release for $500 in gold and a promise to deliver up the Black Seminoles. The gold, when delivered, was soaked in blood, this was interpreted as a threat and Adams withdrew.
He returned two months later from San Antonio with a force of more than 100 men. This time it was the US Army at Fort Duncan in Eagle Pass who intervened, warning Mexican authorities of Adam’s intent.
Obviously the Feds did not approve at that time of Texas’s assorted cross-Border incursions. Federal misgivings could have been the reason John Horse was not immediately sent into slavery and/or trial.
Any element of surprise lost, and facing armed opposition on the Mexican side, Adams succeeded in capturing only a single unfortunate Black family. His career was finally put to a halt by US Army Second Lieutenant Daniel Huston, Jr. On February 5, 1852, the officer and his soldiers destroyed Adams camp, scattering his force and confiscating whatever weapons they could find.
Mexican authorities praised the work of the blacks and tribespeople, stating that “the immigrant Indians from the United States…. the Mascogos [Black Seminoles] and the Seminole have justified the Republic’s hospitality, contributing faithful and useful assistance to such military operations as an expedition against the barbarians and the defense of…..” Mexico.
