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  Quanah Parker (ca. 1845–1911). Quanah Parker, the last chief of the Quahada Comanche Indians, son of Peta Nocona and Cynthia Ann Parker, was born about 1845. According to Quanah himself, he was born on Elk Creek south of the Wichita Mountains in what is now Oklahoma, but there has been debate regarding his birthplace, and a Centennial marker on Cedar Lake southeast of Seminole, Texas, in Gaines County, claims that site as Quanah's birth location. He was a major figure both in Comanche resistance to white settlement and in the tribe's adjustment to reservation life. Nomadic hunter of the Llano Estacado, leader of the Quahada assault on Adobe Walls in 1874, cattle rancher, entrepreneur, and friend of American presidents, Quanah Parker was truly a man of two worlds. Though the date of his birth is recorded variously at 1845 and 1852, there is no mystery regarding his parentage. His mother was the celebrated captive of a Comanche raid on Parker's Fort and convert to the Indian way of life, Cynthia Ann Parker. His father was a noted war chief of the Noconi band of the Comanches.
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Colonel John Coffee Hays -- 1817-1883 -- Born January 28 at Cedar Lick in Wilson County, Tennessee. At age 15 he moved to Mississippi and learned surveying. Mid-1836 Hays was in Texas and was appointed Deputy Surveyor of the Bexar District. He also joined a Ranger Company under Erastus "Deaf" Smith. Hays combined his knowledge of Indian warfare with his rangering. In 1840, Hays was appointed a captain of the Rangers. His Ranger companies, often mixed groups of Anglos, Hispanics and Indians, were involved in important actions at Plum Creek, Cañon de Ugalde, Bandera Pass, Painted Rock, Salado, and Walker's Creek. The battle at Walker's Creek marked a turning point in Indian warfare with the first effective use of repeating firearms for the Texas Rangers in close combat with the Comanche. Hays gained further respect as a fighter during the Mexican War. The First Regiment, Texas Mounted Riflemen, and served with the army of Zachary Taylor. In 1847, a Hays regiment helped to keep the communication and supply lines open between Veracruz and Mexico City for the troops under General Winfield Scott. After the Mexican War, Hays left Texas, following the gold rush to California in 1849. He was elected as Sheriff of San Francisco in 1850. In 1853 he was appointed U. S. Surveyor General for California. He was one of the developers of Oakland, California and held interests in land, banking and utilities. In 1876, Hays was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention. Captain Hays died April 21, 1883. He was interred in the Mountain View Cemetery in Oakland, California. View Santa Anna’s presidential coat captured and worn my Colonel John Hays to a festive party.
Captain Samuel Hamilton Walker – 1815-1847 -- Born in Maryland, Walker came to Texas in 1836. Walker served in Captain John Hays' company of Rangers in San Antonio that same year. In 1842, as a scout for Captain Jesse Billingsley, he fought against Mexican General Woll and his Mexican troops in San Antonio. Walker was among the soldiers captured during the attack on Mier and was marched in chains across the desert. Caught after an attempted escape, he drew a white bean in Santa Anna's infamous "Black Bean" incident, in which seventeen men were executed. Successfully escaping a second time, he rejoined Hays in San Antonio. During the Mexican War, Walker served with Taylor's Army on the Rio Grande in 1846, and later with General Winfield Scott's Army. His discussions with inventor Samuel Colt led to the introduction of the "Walker" Colt in 1847, a revolver superior to those already in use. On October 9, 1847, Walker was killed while leading a charge into Huamantla, Tlaxcala, Mexico. Samuel Walker's remains were later returned to Texas and buried with honors at San Antonio. View the Colt-Walker Revolver, of which the design is attributed to Captain Samuel Walker and which also revolutionized the Texas Rangers and the West.
General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna -- 1794-1876 -- Born February 21, 1794, in Jalapa, Veracruz, Mexico as Antonio de Padua MarĂa Severino LĂłpez de Santa Anna y PĂ©rez de LebrĂłn, was known as Santa Anna or LĂłpez de Santa Anna. He was a Mexican political leader who greatly influenced early Mexican politics and government, rising to the ranks of General and President. An unprincipled adventurer, he was touted as the "Napoleon of the West" over his turbulent 40-year career. General Commander of the Mexican Army, Santa Anna was President of Mexico 11 times (1833-36, 1844-45, 1847, 1843-55); seven of his terms were after his army was defeated by the Texans. In 1836 he led a Mexican army into Texas, after his success at the Alamo; his forces were annihilated by General Sam Houston at the Battle of San Jacinto on April 21, 1836. Santa Anna, a prisoner of the Texans, signed the Treaty of Velasco, granting the withdrawal of Mexican troops and the "Independence of Texas." In 1838 Santa Anna, caught in a cannonade, lost a leg during a revolt against a French squadron at San Juan de UlĂşa in the "Pastry War." When the United States declared war on Mexico in 1846, an exiled Santa Anna volunteered his services to help defend Mexico. He was allowed to return home to aid his countries efforts. Once back in Mexico, he declared himself President, but was removed from office in 1847 due to his loss of the war. He was again exiled in 1851, living mainly in Jamaica and Columbia. He lived abroad until the age of 74 finally returning to Mexico to die in poverty on June 21, 1876. View sword captured by General Sam Houston from General Santa Anna after battle.
