DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker at Flour Bluff tells it — and it's a story worth every mile of the drive to get here. It starts, as so many good Texas tales do, with someone else's quarrel spilling over into Texas business. In the spring of 1838, France blockaded the coast of Mexico during what history calls the Pastry War — so-called, the marker tells us, because of the mistreatment of French citizens living in Mexico, pastry chefs among them.
Now you might think a dispute involving pastry chefs sounds like small potatoes, but blockades have a way of reshaping the whole map of commerce. That French blockade made the strategic location of Corpus Christi Bay suddenly very attractive to smugglers. Supplies got carried overland across the Rio Grande, and the illicit trade flourished — Mexico was buying sorely needed goods right there in Texas.
President Sam Houston didn't want to antagonize Mexico over it, but Mexican patrols showing up near Corpus Christi had a way of offending Texans regardless of what the president preferred. Then, in July of 1838, authorities at Texana started hearing reports of Mexican activity near the bay. A captured Mexican sea captain let slip something significant — his government had declared Corpus Christi a port of entry and had dispatched around four hundred men to protect it.
Four hundred men. On what Texas considered its own soil. Well, a summons went out, calling Texans to rally at Texana on August the seventh to drive the invaders from the republic's boundaries.
Volunteers answered and made their way toward the bay. But here's where the story takes that particular turn that only real history manages. By the time the Texans arrived, some of the Mexicans had already landed their supplies near the tip of Corpus Christi Bay and turned right back around to Matamoros.
The rest scattered. What they left behind was about a hundred barrels of flour and parts of a steam engine. The Texans confiscated the usable flour and the other contraband — and the place where all that flour sat unclaimed on a Texas bluff?
It became known as Flour Bluff. Four hundred men, a French blockade, a sea captain who talked, and a hundred barrels of flour. That's all it took.
What the marker says
In the spring of 1838 France blockaded the coast of Mexico during the Pastry War, so-called because of the mistreatment of french citizens, including pastry chefs, living in Mexico. The strategic location of Corpus Christi Bay led to the revival of smuggling in this area. Supplies were carried overland across the Rio Grande, and the illicit trade flourished as Mexico bought sorely needed goods in Texas. Although president Sam Houston did not wish to antagonize Mexico, Mexican patrols at Corpus Christi offended many Texans. In July, 1838, authorities at Texana heard reports of Mexican activity near the bay. A captured Mexican sea captain said that his government had declared Corpus Christi a port of entry and had dispatched about 400 men to protect it. A summons was issued, calling Texans to rally at Texana, August 7, to drive the invaders from the republic's boundaries. By the time the volunteers reached the area, some of the Mexicans had landed their supplies near the tip of Corpus Christi Bay and returned to Matamoros. The rest scattered, leaving about 100 barrels of flour and parts of a steam engine. The Texans confiscated the usable flour, and other contraband, and the site became known as Flour Bluff. (1976)