J.L. Shepherd (Not Buried Here)




Of the 17 victims of the Black bean Lottery, only 16 are entombed on Monument Hill. One of our volunteer interpreters shares the story of James L. Shepherd who couldn’t quite escape his fate:

Following their attempted escape and drained by the long ordeal, most of the captured Texans accepted their fate and took their turns at drawing a bean from the jar. James Shepherd, only 17-years-old, was one of the unlucky ones. After the 17th fatal black bean had been drawn, the doomed men were provided pen, ink, and paper to write to friends and relatives. The men were then forced to kneel in front of a wall. For seconds that seemed like an eternity, silence filled the courtyard. Then the sharp command to fire shattered the stillness, and the first salvo began.  

It was so loud. James was hit by a ball through the side of his cheek. His arm was broken by another ball. He fell forward on his face and pretended to be dead. The following morning, they found only 16 bodies. James had crawled away. 

He was bleeding and needed food and bandages. He had survived, but he was in Mexico and had no idea how to get back home without being caught. What was he to do? Where could he go for help?  

Within four days, James L. Shepherd, lone survivor of the Black Bean Lottery, was recaptured and shot in the street outside Saltillo. He had been lucky once but not this time.

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