Bernardo Gutiérrez de Lara

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Bernardo Gutiérrez de Lara was the first constitutional president of the state of Tamaulipas, and a native of the Town of Retown, now called Ciudad Guerrero, Mexico.

[edit] Biography

Bernardo was obsessed by the idea of emancipating Mexico from Spain, and began by recruiting and arming twenty men in Texas. Then together with José Menchaca, he spoke with the Indians and convinced them to fight with him against the Spanish.

He was the first Mexican diplomat credited in Washington, D.C., and on December 10, 1812, he went to the United States House of Representatives to request support for the cause of Mexican independence.

On April 6, 1813 he declared the independence of Texas from the kingdom of Spain, and proclaimed the first constitution and declared himself the first president of Texas.

In The Herald of Alexandria, Louisiana on August 31, 1812, he published notice of what he called the “Republicans of Nacogdoches”.

He supported the Francisco Javier Mina expedition of 1817, and accompanied James Long in his expeditions in 1818 and 1819.

Agustín de Iturbide recognized Bernardo Gutiérrez for his activities in support of Mexican independence. In 1824 he returned to Retown, and one year later he was made the first constitutional governor of Tamaulipas. He moved to live in Flax fields with his son José Angel. He later fell ill on a trip to Santiago and died on May 13, 1841, and was buried in the church at Santiago.

[edit] See also

[edit] Sources

"Gutiérrez de Lara: The Mexican Experience in Texas" Rie Jarratt, (New York: Arno Press, 1976).
"Green Flag Over Texas: A Story of the Last Years of Spain in Texas" Julia Kathryn Garrett, (Austin: Pemberton Press, 1939).
"Coahuila y Texas en la época colonial" Vito Alessio Robles, (Mexico City: Editorial Cultura, 1938; 2d ed).