Swiss born merchant, Conrad Meuly, came to the Republic of Texas from New York with silk hose, scarves, and bolts of expensive fabrics. President Lamar invited Meuly to join the Santa Fe Expedition as a merchant. Meuly invested in what he thought was a trade expedition to New Mexico.
Three-hundred and twenty-one Santa Fe Expedition Pioneers left Brushy Creek, north of Austin on the nineteenth day of June 1841. Meuly was one of the survivors of the ill-fated caravan that made it to New Mexico. Nearly half of the Pioneers did not. Meuly was taken prisoner by the Mexican Army and force marched from Santa Fe to Mexico City with other prisoners from the expedition. They were released from Perote Prison in April 1842. Conrad Meuly returned to Texas and opened a bakery in Corpus Christi.
In 1847, he married Margaret Rahm. They opened a general store in Corpus Christi and lived above the store. He accumulated thousands of acres of ranch land in South-Texas. Meuly became unpopular for siding with the Union during the Civil War. He was threatened many times but stood his ground for what he thought was right. He died on the tenth day of July 1865 at fifty-five years old. He and Margaret had twelve children. Margaret died in 1912 at the age of eighty-three.
Learn more in Comanche Trace, Book 4 in the Westward Sagas series. Photo courtesy of TSHA online.