The Lipan Apaches and Mexico

The Lipan Apaches have always had an affinity for the patriot fighting for independence because they value freedom and have fought and resisted for 250 years to preserve and maintain their freedom.

When Mexican patriots in Texas took up the grito of Father Manuel Hidalgo of Dolores for the independence of Mexico from Spain, the Lipans backed the patriots. They fought against the Royalists at the Battle of Salado Creek near San Antonio in 1812 and again at the Battle of Medina in 1813.

When Mexico finally severed itself from Spain and became an Empire under Agustín Iturbide in 1821, Lipan chiefs Cuelgas de Castro and Jolsha (Yolsha) Pocaropa signed a treaty at Laredo with the newly-independent government of Mexico and traveled to Mexico City to ratify the treaty.

The close ties which developed between the Lipan chiefs of Texas and Mexican Tejanos during the struggles for Mexican independence were further strengthened a decade later when Texans began to fight for their independence from Mexico.

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