Archives War
Will Houston Be The Capital Of Texas
Capital Being Moved
The Battle Starts
The Letter Sam Houston Wrote
Even More Battle
Capital Has Not Been Changed
In December 1842, Houston announced that Austin was no longer the capital and ordered Colonel Thomas I. Smith and Captain Eli Chandler to Austin to remove the archives. Smith and Chandler and 20 men loaded three wagons without incident before being spotted by Mrs. Eberly. She fired a cannon to alert the citizens of Austin. Smith and Chandler fled with their wagons, with the vigilantes in hot pursuit. At Brushy Creek in Williamson County, just north of Austin, Chandler and Smith were forced to surrender at gunpoint. The archives were returned to Austin, where the citizens celebrated with a New Year's Eve party. The government itself did not move back to Austin until 1845, and the question of the location of the Texas capital was not completely settled until 1850, when Texans voted by a large majority to make Austin the permanent seat of government.