Ewen Cameron

Captain Ewen Cameron (1811 – April 26, 1843) was an officer in the Republic of Texas army, and participated in the ill-fated Mier Expedition. Biography Cameron, who had migrated from Scotland to Kentucky, had come to Texas in 1836, arriving just after the Texas Revolution. In late December 1842, the Mier Expedition was a raid on the Mexican border settlement of Ciudad Mier, which turned into the Battle of Mier when the Mexican Army arrived. Cameron and the other Texans were taken prisoner, after inflicting a large number of casualties on the other side. At a location called El Rancho Salado, a jar containing 159 white beans and 17 black beans was presented to the Texan prisoners. Each man drew a bean from the jar, while blindfolded. The 17 Texan prisoners who drew black beans were executed at dusk by a Mexican firing squad. This is known as the Black Bean Episode and occurred on March 25, 1843, three months after the Battle of Mier.