In March 1839, while pursuing a band of Mexicans and Indians, an Anglo-Texan posse captured “a negro by the name of Raphael.” Under interrogation, Raphael testified that he had joined up with a roving gang of Mexicans and Indians in armed opposition to the Republic of Texas and “acknowledged himself a friend to their designs, and declared that he would continue to be.” The audacity of this African American’s “hostile attitude toward the Texans” convinced his captors that Raphael was beyond redemption. They shot him and then rode on.
