MIRABEAU B. LAMAR
(Mirabeau Buonaparte Lamar)
A part of this quotation is very often taken out of context by just quoting the phrase “prosecution of an exterminating war” implying that Lamar was urging genocide. However, the war was urged only if the Indians did not cease their raids and massacres. Further, he specifically excludes women and children from the “extinction”. In addition he holds out the option of forced “total expulsion” if the raids continue. Brutal his threats were. And given that the whites were taking the Indians traditional lands it is easy to see where there were reasons for Indian resistance to white expansion. However, there was another reason that Lamar and most of the white settlers wanted the Indians expelled: They wanted the land.
Mirabeau Buonaparte Lamar was an attorney born in Georgia, who became a Texas politician, poet, diplomat, and soldier. He was a leading Texas political figure during the Texas Republic era. He was elected as the second President of the Republic of Texas after Sam Houston. He was known for waging war against bands of Cherokee and Comanche peoples to push them out of Texas, and for establishing a fund to support public education.
