Over the course of a long lived life, Juan Nepomuceno Seguín served as a political leader and as a soldier for both Texas and Mexico. And over the course of that lifetime, Texas would know him as a brave man and war hero while Mexico would consider him a traitor.. Of all of the patriots of the Texas Revolution, it was Seguín who had the most troubled relationship with the land he helped to found.

Born in Bexar, San Antonio on October 27, 1806, Seguín was the son of a prominent Tejano family. As Seguín was growing up, Bexar was a desperately poor place, shattered by decades of Indian raids and violent feuding. Seguín's father, Erasmo, became a key ally of Stephen F. Austin and his colonists in the area. Father and son had witnessed the inability of Spain and Mexico to bring stability and prosperity to the area, and believed that the best hope for the future of Bexar lay with the establishment of a strong Anglo-American …show more content…
He faced the problem of trying to contain increasing numbers of Anglo adventurers, as well as mounting financial difficulties of his own. He mortgaged his house and property to buy goods for a smuggling venture into Mexico. The venture failed, with Seguín losing everything. He returned to San Antonio in the wake of the Santa Fe expedition, in which a large number of Texans were captured and taken on a humiliating march to Mexico City. Whispers began that Seguín had betrayed the expedition.

It was the beginning of the end for Seguín. In early 1842, he notified President Houston of his suspicions that the Mexicans were planning a raid into San Antonio. The Texan government refused to send any aid to the city, and Seguín and most of the Tejano inhabitants evacuated the city during the Mexican invasion. Though the Mexicans occupied the city for only two days being forced to retreat, Seguín's reputation was in tatters. Most Anglos now believed that he had turned