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SAN ANTONIO IN THE ERA OF
TEXAS INDEPENDENCE AND EARLY STATEHOOD
1837 - 1860

MILEPOSTS during this early era include the establishment of San Antonio as an incorporated city within an independent Texas; the election of a Town Council and Mayor; and the appointment of the first City Marshal. The city now became a single entity, from the Alamo to La Villita, across the San Antonio River, and on west to include the area of San Fernando de Bexar, the Plaza de las Islas, the Plaza de Armas, the Presidio and Governor's Palace, and west across San Pedro Creek.

LAW ENFORCEMENT CONCERNS WERE IN TWO AREAS:
EXTERNAL THREATS : The threat of attacks from "Mexican Bandits" or hostile Comanches continued, particularly on the expanding fringes of the city. These were addressed by a combination of U.S. military troops stationed in and around San Antonio, and the Texas Rangers, who often recruited local residents to assist them in protecting the city. (Discussions of law enforcement concerns in the period 1830s-80s are included in numerous sources, including the histories of the earliest Texas Rangers: See: Texas Department of Public Safety, The Texas Rangers, Lone Star Junction's Texas Rangers, and in Texas A & M University's Sons of the DeWitt Colony page on Bosman Kent.)
INTERNAL THREATS : As San Antonio grew, it became more attractive to gunslingers (many of whom were armed young men with short tempers), and hardened criminals, attracted to the opportunities for adventure and profit presented by San Antonio's entertainment houses and businesses. While trial juries were often intimidated by the accused, vigilante groups were numerous and active. In 1846 the City Council appointed the first City Marshal.

A NOTE ON 19th CENTURY LAW ENFORCEMENT:
Throughout the "west" during the 19th century, law enforcement was organized in three levels:
Federal : Each region had a Federal Marshal
County: Each county usually had a Sheriff
City: Each town and city had a City Marshal, who was the lowest paid law enforcement official, and the one the city officials usually held responsible not only for law enforcement, but also for shooting stray dogs and picking up trash.
Texas had an additional level : The Texas Rangers, a combination of protection from Indian raids and enforcement of state laws.

1836: * Bexar County is created as an administrative entity by the Texas Congress. A Sheriff of Bexar County is appointed.
1837: * San Antonio incorporates, through the Texas Congress, as a city under an Alderman (Town Council) form of government.
1837: * Texas Rangers provide protection to San Antonio, among other areas. Famous Texas Ranger John Coffee "Jack" Hays arrives in San Antonio in 1837; builds a reputation for fighting marauding Indians and Mexican bandits.
1839: * Samuel Colt develops the Colt-Walker pistol, a five-shot revolver, at the request of one of Ranger Hays' men, Samuel Walker.(The pistol could be reloaded without taking the it apart, making rapid, multiple shots possible.)
1839: * Mayor Sam Maverick joins with Ranger Hays, Juan Seguin (later Mayor) and other San Antonians, to guard against Indian incursions from the west.
1840: * Austin is selected the capital of Texas.
1840: * Ranger William "Big Foot" Wallace arrives in San Antonio; comments on threats of Comanches and local thieves.
1840: * Peace talks between Comanches and the Texas government, held at the Council House in San Antonio, turn into a fight, with over 40 persons killed, including 35 Comanches, several Texas government representatives, and the Bexar County Sheriff. The incident resulted in a new wave of violence between Comanches and settlers.
1845: * December 29, 1845 : Texas admitted as 28th state of the Union.
1846: * U.S. government troops move into the Alamo, using it as a quartermaster and commissary depot.
1846: * San Antonio Town Council creates the post of CITY MARSHAL, with salary set at $50 a month.
* FIRST MARSHAL : JAMES DUNN (1/14/46), served less than one month. * Throughout the 19th century in San Antonio marshals changed frequently, and particularly when a new mayor took office. The marshal served at the pleasure of the City Council. Marshals during 1846 included Dunn, P.L. Buquor (2/11/46) and Van Bibber (10/1/46), all of whom served under Mayor Bryan Callaghan.
1847: * Marshals who served under Mayor Charles King (mayor from 1/1/47 until 12/31/48) included N.R. Mallon (1/1/47), H.M. Pittmann (5/31/48) and John Crawford (11/28/48).
1849: * Marshals under Mayor J.M. Devine (1/1/49-12/31/50) were John Crawford and P.H. Schmit (6/5/50). [Crawford returned to the Marshal post again under Mayor J.S. MacDonald (mayor 1/1/51), and then again when J.M. Devine returned as Mayor in 1/1/56.]
NOTE: * To see a complete list of City Marshals and Chiefs of Police from 1846 through 2003, please visit the
History : Marshals & Chiefs 1846 - 2003 page.
1850: * POPULATION : The First Federal Census lists the population of San Antonio to be 3,488 persons, including 1,167 Native Texans, 678 from other states, 572 from Mexico, 455 from Germany and Prussia, 128 from Ireland, 92 from France, 48 from England & Scotland, 41 from other countries, 45 residence unknown, and 262 Negro slaves.
1850: * Construction begins on new Courthouse and Jail Building on the NW corner of Military Plaza. This 2-story building, known later as the "Bat Cave", would house the Marshal and City Jail until the new City Hall was completed in 1892.
batcave batcave
The "Bat Cave": Courthouse and Jail; City Marshal's Headquarters until 1890s.
LEFT : View of Courthouse. RIGHT : Jail building behind Courthouse.

1854: * San Antonio's first volunteer fire company is organized : the Ben Milam Fire Company No. 1 (a 20-member volunteer bucket brigade).
1856: * Town Council adopts a new charter which provides for 8 aldermen (2 from each of four newly-created quadrants) and a mayor elected at-large.
1856: * According to Council Minutes, in response to recent robberies and murders and a request from residents living on the east side of the San Antonio River, the Town Council announced a plan to divide the city into three precincts, each of which was to be patrolled at night by five volunteer citizens under a captain appointed by the mayor. Newspapers questioned the plan, laborers (who would be doing the patrolling at night, after working all day at jobs) protested the plan, and the Council withdrew its proposal. Instead, Council appropriated $100 for a "secret information" fund (an early Crime Stoppers), to be used by the Marshal to buy information on crimes and criminals.
1856: * A caravan of camels passes through San Antonio on its way to Camp Verde, northwest of town. The camels were an experiment ordered by Secretary of War Jefferson Davis, to see if the animals could be used by the US military in the desert southwest. This has nothing to do with law enforcement, but we thought it was interesting.
1857: * By 1857 City Council added an "Assistant Marshal" to the law enforcement staff. This was partly prompted by the turmoil caused by the infamous "cart wars" between Texas and Mexican teamsters on the freight routes between San Antonio and Gulf ports.
1857: * New Yorker Frederick Law Olmsted, touring Texas in 1856-57, comments on San Antonio: "The street affrays are numerous and characteristic. I have seen for a year or more a San Antonio weekly [newspaper], and hardly a number fails to have its fight or its murder." "Where borderers and idle soldiers are hanging about drinking places, and where different races mingle on unequal terms, assassinations must be expected. Murders from avarice or revenge, are common here."
1857: * The first mail leaves San Antonio for San Diego, marking the start of the first successful transcontinental mail route.
1857: * Ben Milam Fire Company No. 1 changes its name to San Antonio Hook, Ladder and Fire Company.
1858: * The Alamo Rifles are chartered. This local volunteer company, organized to protect citizens from attacks by Indians and bandits, appears to have been mainly ceremonial in function : members dressed in bright uniforms from New York and graced social events in San Antonio.
1859: * Alamo Fire Association No.2 is formed.
1860: * POPULATION of San Antonio = 8,235.

Special Section:
THE PROBLEM OF FREDERICK FIELDSTRUP

FOR MORE INFORMATION on aspects of this early era, you may wish to visit the following sites (NOTICE : YOU WILL LEAVE THE SAPD HOMEPAGE. USE THE "RETURN" BUTTON TO COME BACK TO THIS PAGE.):

Easily available printed works include:

  • Mary Ann Noonan Guerra. The History of San Antonio's Market Square. (Alamo Press, 1988)
  • Mary Ann Noonan Guerra. The San Antonio River. (Alamo Press, 1987).

More detailed information on this period of San Antonio history is included in:

  • Carland Elaine Crook. San Antonio, Texas, 1846-1861. (Unpublished thesis, Rice U., 1964)
  • Rena Maverick Green (ed.) Memoirs of Mary A. Maverick. (San Antonio, 1921)
  • Rena Maverick Green (ed.) Samuel Maverick, Texan: 1803-1870. (San Antonio, 1952)
  • Frederick Law Olmsted. A Journey Through Texas. (New York, 1857)
  • Dr. Ferdinand Roemer. Roemer's Texas 1845-1847. (Orig. pub. Bonn, 1849; Trans & reprinted Austin, 1983)
  • Frederick Wilkins. The Legend Begins : The Texas Rangers 1823-1845. (Austin, 1996)
  • Journal of the City Council of San Antonio. (City Clerk's Office, San Antonio, 1837 ff.)

Photos are from the SAPD Photo Collection.

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1870-1900 HISTORY PART TWO

Copyright © San Antonio Police Department 1998-2004

THE PROBLEM OF FREDERICK FIELDSTRUP

     The only things that we know for certain about one Frederick (or Fredrico) Fieldstrup (or Fieldstrop), are that (a) he died, in San Antonio, on May 29, 1857, (b) he died at the same time as a criminal awaiting trial, William Hart, and (c) and several other individuals died at the same time. Who shot whom, who shot first, and whether or not Fieldstrup was acting in an official capacity as a San Antonio Marshal, as a concerned citizen volunteer/deputy, or as a vigilante, has yet to be fully documented. Later (1890s on) tall tales and vivid anecdotes abound, but verifiable contemporary accounts are sadly lacking.
     According to records of the Fourth District Court of May, 1857, Hart was in San Antonio awaiting trial, on a change of venue from Austin, and that as recently as 2 days before his death the latest in a series of "sureties" (posters of bonds guaranteeing his attendance at the trial) had asked to be relieved of that obligation, obviously fearing Hart had plans to flee.
     We also know that vigilante activity was common in San Antonio (and throughout Texas) at this time. Incidents of vigilante action, including hangings and other executions without trial, are recorded from the 1840s on. During 1857 in San Antonio, vigilantes were especially active. The weekly Herald felt it necessary to defend the results (fewer robbers and murderers) from criticism by other Texas papers, and a 1858 grand jury investigating the problem in San Antonio reported that "insufficient enforcement of the criminal laws" and generous clemency had ignited the vigilante actions. Such activities continued into the 1860s in San Antonio. In a well-known vigilante activity, bad guy Bill Augustin was lynched in Military Plaza in 1861 after intimidating jurors into acquitting him of a shooting.
     Of Fieldstrup himself, we have few records. If he was a deputy marshal on the night of May 29, 1857, then he was the first San Antonio marshal to be killed in the line of duty. Court records verify only that money was allotted to Coroner Martin Campbell for expenses relating to the deaths of Fieldstrup, Hart, and two others (James Miller and Robert Woods), who apparently also died in the battle.

SOURCES: Early law enforcement activities in San Antonio are not well documented. Although there are colorful tales in later histories (c.1890 on), dependable, contemporary sources are few and incomplete. The information above was taken primarily from the Journal of the San Antonio City Council, the Minutes of the Fourth District Court, and the Herald [weekly newspaper]. Many 19th century records were damaged or destroyed in the floods of 1908, 1917, and 1921, or in subsequent fires, or through neglect. Readers who know of contemporary (1850s), reliable documentary accounts relating to the Fieldstrup issue are encouraged to contact us.


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