July 4, 1843; Cimarron, Kansas: The embarrassment of Texans over the failures of the Santa Fe Expedition of 1841 and the Mier expedition of 1842, as well as Mexican general Adrian Woll's 1842 raid on San Antonio, led Texan Jacob Snively to petition the Republic of Texas for permission to retaliate. On January 28, 1843, he requested approval for an expedition to capture Mexican caravans passing through territory claimed by Texas along the Santa Fe Trail. With permission granted, nearly 200 Texans gathered at Fort Johnson, near Coffee's Station on the Red River. Calling themselves the Battalion of Invincibles, they organized themselves into four companies and chose Snively as their commander.
The force, about 190 strong, crossed the Red River and traveled northwest across present-day Oklahoma, finally reaching the Arkansas River. Snively kept his force hidden south of the river for one month, hoping to pounce on passing Mexican wagon trains. On one occasion, they battled a force of a hundred Mexican soldiers, killing seventeen and capturing the others, but the rest of the time was spent waiting. The long days of inactivity soon brought discontent, and many of the men wanted to return home. On 28 June, the battalion was disbanded and the prisoners were released.
The men divided into two groups, designated the "Mountaineers" and the "Home Boys." The latter group of about seventy-six men selected Eli Chandler, who had opposed many of Snively's actions, as their leader. The companies marched separately to the Arkansas River. On 30 June U.S. Dragoons under Capt. Philip St. George Cooke, who had been sent to protect the Mexican caravans, discovered and disarmed the Mountaineers, leaving them with only ten muskets. Most of the Texans, however, had hidden their good weapons when they saw the Dragoons, and they gave Cooke only the arms they had captured from the Mexicans. About forty-two of Snively's men accepted Cooke's offer to escort them back to Independence, Missouri, rather than retrace their steps through dangerous Indian country. Snively and the rest rejoined Chandler on 2 July.
On 4 July, the company camped at a little stream called Owl Creek, which does not appear on modern maps but may have been near present-day Cimarron, Kansas, There, more than a hundred Comanches attacked the Texans and stampeded about fifty of their horses. After fighting off the attack, about thirty mounted Texans tenaciously pursued the raiders until nightfall. Finally catching up with the Indians, the Texans killed about twelve warriors and recovered some of the stock. They lost one of their own men in the fight, however, and several were wounded.
With men wounded, horses lost, and ammunition getting low, the Texans knew they were running out of options. When a large Mexican caravan appeared on the Santa Fe Trail on 13 July, the Texans followed it for a while but soon realized that its escort was too large to fight. The reunited companies, under Snively, finally turned toward home.
