The Cordova Rebellion ( Jan 12, 2025)
by Scott Sosebee
When Texas became a Republic in 1836 after the Texas Revolution, it did not end the armed struggles within its borders. Nacogdoches became a focal point of much of the chaos, a condition of the turmoil and infighting that had plagued the region long before the Texas Revolution began. American settlers, Tejanos, and Indians all bickered over land titles and power in the frontier region. It was a place ripe with intrigue and suspicion, a tinderbox waiting for a larger explosion.
East Texans of Spanish and Mexican descent particularly resented Anglo intrusion into the area, especially within the lands surrounding Nacogdoches. Although through the turn of the century it was the descendants of the Spanish soldados and early residents around the missions, as well as the Spaniards who had come with Gil Y’Barbo in 1779 who had first populated Nacogdoches, by the 1830s, White settlers from the United States had begun to overwhelm the original Tejano population. The newly arrived residents almost immediately began to question the validity of the land titles of the older, mostly Tejano settlers, and the emotions of the Texan rebellion against Mexico only added to the turbulence.
Tejanos, of course, were not the only inhabitants of East Texas who found their land holdings in question. Remnants of the Caddo people, Kickapoos, Shawnees, and Cherokees also occupied land in East Texas. The Cherokee, led by their leader Duwali (Chief Bowl), had moved into the lands north of Nacogdoches in the early 1820s. When Anglos began to move into the region during the late 1820s and 1830s, distrust developed between the two groups. Cherokee hopes of actually gaining legal ownership of their lands led them to remain loyal to Mexico when the Texas Revolution began in 1835.
Such frustration and suspicion eventually boiled over in the Cordova Rebellion of 1838. Vincente Cordova was a long-time Nacogdoches resident who had served in a number of official capacities, including as alcalde. He had supported the Texians during the revolution because he was a Federalist opposed to Santa Anna, but he was against declaring independence. After the war, Cordova, along with many Tejano residents of East Texas, began to resent Anglo political and economic oppression—primarily attempts to gain title to land long in the possession of Tejano families. Eventually, Cordova and many of his fellow Tejanos, joined by Kickapoos (although some records suggest that a small number of Cherokees also participated), began to plan a rebellion that would once again make Texas a part of Mexico.
In August 1838, a group of Nacogdoches men searching the Angelina River bottom lands for stolen horses were attacked by Cordova’s forces. Thomas J. Rusk subsequently mobilized the militia, and Cordova, following the Mexican tradition of a grito, issued a proclamation of his grievances and announced that he and his men were ready to die in defense of their rights. After the Angelina River skirmish, Cordova and his men moved south, toward Mexico, and were then overtaken and defeated in a battle near Seguin in south-central Texas.
Cordova escaped capture and eventually made his way to Mexico; he was subsequently killed when he accompanied Mexican General Adrian Woll in his occupation of San Antonio in 1842. Nacogdoches officials arrested thirty-three alleged members of the conspiracy, and all were indicted under a charge of treason. Only one man, Jose Antonio Menchaca was convicted and sentenced to hang, but newly elected Texas President Mirabeau Lamar pardoned Menchaca four days before he was scheduled to die.
Lamar had other plans for the aftermath of the Cordova Rebellion. Citing the rumors of Cherokee participation in the rebellion (although Duwali denied all accusations), Lamar ordered Texan troops to East Texas to expel all Cherokees from East Texas. The Cherokee War was brief and culminated in a massive Cherokee defeat at the Battle of the Neches, a few miles west of present-day Tyler. Duwali died in the battle and his troops fled in disarray. Small engagements continued in the next few weeks, but the war ended the Cherokee presence in Texas—the true final act of the Cordova Rebellion.
The East Texas Historical Association provides this column as a public service. Scott Sosebee is a Professor of History at Stephen F. Austin State University and the Executive Director of the Association. He can be contacted at sosebeem@sfasu.edu or via www.easttexashistorical.org.