On December 20, 1842, a contingent of more than 20 men and 3 oxen-pulled wagons arrived around dawn in Austin to relocate the Republic’s archives to Washington-on-the-Brazos near Brenham, where a new capital was to be established. Republic of Texas President Sam Houston had ordered the surprise raid. Boarding house owner Angelina Eberly spotted the wagons being loaded and fired a six-pound mortar to alert Austinites. The raiding party headed northeast from Austin and were caught by angry citizens on a road along Walnut Creek, somewhere near Pioneer Farms. The records were returned to Austin. It was in 1839 that then-President Mirabeau B. Lamar had made the decision to relocate the capital to Austin while standing on a bluff overlooking the land where Pioneer Farms is now located.