The Missouri-Texas War

You didn’t know there was a battle fought between Missouri and Texas? Neither did I until a few years ago.

In 2008, I took up a hobby called Geocaching. Essentially, it is a treasure hunt game that can take you to many interesting or noteworthy places, most of which you probably never knew existed.

Through Geocaching, I have found over 2,600 interesting places, including at least one in all 114 counties in Missouri. I have been to a medieval castle in Northmoor (a KC suburb), the home of the largest trees in Missouri in Big Oak Tree State Park in the boot heel, and a claustrophobia-inducing cave near Springfield. But one of the most memorable stories I learned in my ventures was the history of Moses Austin.

Moses Austin was born in Connecticut, lived a while in Virginia where he married and had children, and then moved his family to an area that at the time was Spanish territory, but would eventually become southeastern Missouri. There he became rich in lead mining (an industry that still thrives there today) and was part of building the roads, bridges, stores, and mills in what is now Potosi.

In 1821, Moses was granted permission by Spain to establish a colony of 300 families in what is now Texas. Unfortunately, Moses died before that project got underway, but he bequeathed his permission to his son, Stephen Austin.

You might recognize Stephen Austin as the namesake of Stephen F. Austin University in Nacagdoches, Texas, and of the Texas capital city of Austin. Stephen, who actually served as a state representative in the Missouri legislature when we were still a territory, brought the 300 families to Texas. He was dubbed “the Father of Texas.” After a life instrumental in winning Texas’ independence and establishing the Republic of Texas, Stephen Austin died in 1836.

Over 100 years later in 1938, some Texans felt that not only should the Father of Texas be buried in Texas, but so should the “Grandfather of Texas,” Moses Austin. So, some of them traveled up to Potosi with an undertaker and hearse, and began to dig up Moses’ body from its tomb.

When the people of Potosi discovered this, they called the marshal and a posse of Missourians fought off the Texans, saved Moses’ body, and sent the Texans packing.

A few weeks later the Governor of Texas sent his Secretary of the State to Potosi with a public apology for the incident. Potosians like to brag that they are the only town that ever took on the State of Texas and won.

Today, you can visit the tomb of Moses Austin in Potosi and see the cracks in the tomb made by the Texans, or go to Texas and see the statue of Moses in San Antonio.

For more info on Geocaching, visit www.geocaching.com. For more info on Moses Austin, visit en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moses_Austin. For more info on other interesting places in Missouri, visit www.visitmo.com.