Turtle Bayou Resolutions

Drafted and signed at Turtle Bayou on June 13, 1832, the Turtle Bayou Resolutions were the first formal protest by Texas colonists against Mexican tyranny and an early step in the chain of events that eventually led to the Texas Revolution of 1836. The settlers were protesting recent restrictive Mexican laws meant to limit immigration and trade between the United States and Texas, enacted because Mexico feared losing Texas to the U.S. In Anahuac, anger centered especially on the unreasonable acts of Col. Juan Davis Bradburn, a local Mexican government agent, and alarm deepened after he unjustly imprisoned several Texans, including William B. Travis, later a hero of the Alamo. Fighting erupted on June 9 and 12, 1832, between citizens and Bradburn's militia, and afterward Texans met at Turtle Bayou to plan their next actions. There they drew up resolutions condemning President Bustamante's violations of Mexico's constitution, urging resistance to his regime, and calling on all Texans to uphold the cause of civil liberty. The signers were John Austin, W. H. Jack, Hugh B. Johnson, Luke Lesassier, Wylie Martin, and R. M. Williamson, most of whom later served with valor in the 1836 Revolution and in the Texas Republic.

Texas · United States