THE LIFE AND TIMES
OF RIP FORD
Part 16:
Revolution and Politics, Again
by Bob Heinonen
John Salmon Ford missed the Texas Revolution when he got to Texas one month after the final battle--- the Battle of San Jacinto on April 21, 1836. Now, with the Mexican-American War over and the survey trip to El Paso complete, Old Rip Ford needed something to do—something he hadn’t done before. How about a revolution?
Rip had a lot of friends on both sides of the Rio Grande River. One was Jose Maria Jesus Carbajal. Although born in San Antonio and educated in the United States, Carbajal’s “great ambition was to free his country [Mexico] from the domination of military chieftains and to set on foot institutions similar to those of the United States. He resided in Camargo, and in 1851 he led a revolution which culminated in a plan—El Plan de la Loba….”[i] One of the articles in the plan was to sell off the land owned by the Catholic Church to help pay government expenses and reduce the public debt. Another was to return to their American masters all the slaves that had escaped to Mexico.
The northeastern states in Mexico supported Carbajal and made him commander of the revolutionary army.
“Ford agreed to join [his friend] General Carbajal, and did so early in October [1851], carrying with him about thirty of his trained Indian fighters with their own arms and equipment and pack mules. The accoutrements were paid for out of Ford’s own pocket…. Americans at Brownsville had organized, and were ready to cross and join [General Carbajal] in the neighborhood of Matamoros.”[ii] Many of General Carbajal’s staff officers were Americans.
Carbajal attacked Matamoros with Ford leading the Texians; the Texians gave a very good accounting of themselves by advancing all the way to the main plaza and capturing the custom house while the Mexican revolutionaries waited in reserve. For some unknown reason, General Carbajal withdrew the Texians at the end of the day. The next day, the Texians again fought their way to the plaza. This time Ford received a head wound that affected his ability to remember words and he withdrew from command and was taken to Brownsville where he was treated by a U. S. Army Surgeon.
After Ford left, the battle for Matamoros went on for some days at which time General Carbajal gave up the attack and withdrew from the city. “General Carbajal had an affair at Cerralvo, also one at Camargo early in 1852. He then withdrew to Texas, where he was arrested for violating our neutrality laws. He was found not guilty.”[iii] One more Mexican revolution disappears.
“Many influential Texans criticized the young ranger for getting involved in the Carbajal ‘fiasco.’ ‘A man has a right,’ Ford told them bluntly, ‘to assist a people who are resisting tyranny and battling for the exercise of their privileges as free men.’”[iv]
Apparently Old Rip didn’t anger too many people because, when he decided to jump back into politics, he won his first election easily. In January, 1852, Old Rip became a Senator in the Texas State Legislature. “Rip’s first effort in the Senate was an impressive victory: he carried a bill defining the Austin city limits, outlining the method of establishing and collecting ad valorem taxes, and compelling merchants who sold liquor to pay an additional five dollar license fee.”[v]
In the fall of 1852, after the session of the Legislature ended, Ford got back into the newspaper business by buying the South-Western American in Austin. “Within a month Ford had endorsed a host of causes: his editorials vindicated slavery and condemned the abolitionists, exposed corrupt politicians without mercy, demanded state support of railroads, campaigned for temperance, called for a permanent ranger service, and denounced the rapidly growing Republican party as un-American.”[vi]
Ford’s popularity did not subside. In December of 1853, Ford ran for mayor of Austin and won by a landslide. He immediately forced through an ordinance stopping the sale of liquor on Sunday and requiring law officers to be sober on the job. The Austin Marshal apparently decided to challenge Ford on this last issue and arrived at work drunk one morning. Old Rip just fired him and put the badge on to become the Mayor and the Marshal.
After his term as Mayor expired, Old Rip went back to being the Editor of his newspaper. It was during this next period that his politics “underwent a sudden and drastic change.”[vii] During his life, every man does some things of which he is not very proud. Rip Ford was no exception.
Next Month – Part 17: The Inconsiderate Years
Bob Heinonen is the founder of Texas Heroes and has been portraying Rip Ford since 1993.