Lawrence Sullivan "Sul" Ross (September 27, 1838 – January 3, 1898) was the 19th governor of Texas, a Confederate States Army general during the American Civil War, and the fourth president of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas, now called Texas A&M University.
Ross was raised in the Republic of Texas, which was later annexed to the United States. Much of his childhood was spent on the frontier, where his family founded the town of Waco. Ross attended Baylor University (then located in Independence, Texas) and Florence Wesleyan University in Florence, Alabama. On one of his summer breaks, he suffered severe injuries while fighting Comanches. After graduation, Ross joined the Texas Rangers, and in 1860, led Texas Rangers in the Battle of Pease River, where federal troops recaptured Cynthia Ann Parker, who had been captured by the Comanches as a child in 1836.
When Texas seceded from the United States and joined the Confederacy, Ross joined the Confederate States Army. He participated in 135 battles and skirmishes and became one of the youngest Confederate generals. Following the Civil War, Ross briefly served as sheriff of McLennan County before resigning to participate in the 1875 Texas Constitutional Convention. With the exception of a two-year term as a state senator, Ross spent the next decade focused on his farm and ranch concerns. In 1887, he became the 19th governor of Texas. During his two terms, he oversaw the dedication of the new Texas State Capitol and resolved the Jaybird-Woodpecker War.
Despite his popularity, Ross refused to run for a third term as governor. Days after leaving office, he became the fourth president of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas (now Texas A&M University). He is credited with reorganizing the university's finances to save it from closure by the state legislature and opening the first classes to women (the daughters and nieces of the professors). His tenure saw a large expansion in college facilities and the birth of many school traditions. After his death, the Texas Legislature created Sul Ross State University in his honor.
Lawrence Sullivan Ross was born on September 27, 1838, in Benton's Post, Iowa Territory. He was the fourth child and second son of Shapley Prince Ross and Catherine Fulkerson. Ross was jointly named for his paternal uncle, Giles O. Sullivan, and his father's grandfather and brother, both named Lawrence Ross. The senior Lawrence Ross had been captured by Native Americans as a child, and lived with them from the time he was six years old until he was rescued at 23. His father, Shapley Ross, was a ranger and Indian agent who often skirmished with Native Americans on the frontier. The experiences and stories told to young Sul caused him to grow up with an animosity towards the native tribes. To differentiate Ross from his uncle and great-grandfather, he was called "Little Sul" when he was a child, and later "Sul".
Shortly after Ross's birth, his parents sold their Iowa property and returned to Missouri to escape Iowa's cold weather. In 1839, the family moved to Milam County in the Republic of Texas, where they settled in Robertson's Colony on the lower Brazos River. Two years later, they joined seven other families under Captain Daniel Monroe and settled near present-day Cameron, where they received 640 acres (260 ha) of land along the Little River. While living in Milam, they became slave owners, enabled by the government grant of land. Their land adjoined Comanche territory and was raided several times.
In 1845, the family moved to Austin so Ross and his older siblings could attend school. Four years later, they relocated again. By this time, Shapley Ross was well known as a frontiersman, and to coax him to settle in the newly formed community of Waco, the family was given four city lots, exclusive rights to operate a ferry across the Brazos, and the right to buy 80 acres (32 ha) of farmland at US$1 per acre. In March 1849, the Ross family built the first house in Waco, a double-log cabin on a bluff overlooking the springs. Ross's sister Kate soon became the first Caucasian child born in Waco.
Eager to further his education, Ross entered the Preparatory Department at Baylor University (then in Independence, Texas) in 1856, despite the fact that he was several years older than most of the other students. He completed the two-year study course in one year. Following his graduation, he enrolled at Florence Wesleyan University in Florence, Alabama. The Wesleyan faculty originally deemed his mathematics knowledge so lacking, they refused his admittance; the decision was rescinded after a professor agreed to tutor Ross privately in the subject. At Wesleyan, students lived with prominent families instead of congregating in dormitories, thus giving them "daily exposure to good manners and refinement". Ross lived with the family of his tutor.
During the summer of 1858, Ross returned to Texas and journeyed to the Brazos Indian Reserve, where his father served as Indian agent. The United States Army had conscripted Indians from the reserve to help the "Wichita Expedition" of 2nd Cavalry in a search for Buffalo Hump, a Penateka Comanche chief who had led several deadly raids on Texas settlements. Fearing that Shapley Ross was too ill to lead them on the expedition, the Indians appointed Sul Ross as commander. With his father's approval, the younger Ross led the 135 warriors to accompany 225 troops led by brevet Major Earl Van Dorn. Ross was given the courtesy title of "Captain" during his command.
Native scouts found about 500 Comanches, including Buffalo Hump, camped outside a Wichita village in Indian Territory. Early in the battle, Ross and his men successfully stampeded the Comanche horses, leaving the Comanche warriors at a disadvantage when facing the mounted troops. When many Comanche tried to flee the area, Ross, one of his scouts, Lieutenant Cornelius Van Camp of the 2nd Cavalry, and one of his troopers chased a party of noncombatants that appeared to contain a white child. On Ross's orders, his man grabbed the child; as the four turned to rejoin the battle, they were confronted by 25 Comanche warriors. Van Camp and the private were killed with arrows, and Ross received an arrow through his shoulder. A Comanche picked up the trooper's carbine and fired a 0.58-caliber bullet through Ross's chest. His attacker, Mohee, was a Comanche warrior Ross had known since childhood. Mohee was killed by buckshot fired by Lieutenant James Majors of the 2nd Cavalry as the warrior approached the temporarily paralyzed Ross with a scalping knife.
After five hours of fighting, the troops subdued the Comanche resistance. Buffalo Hump escaped, but 70 Comanches were killed or mortally wounded, two of them noncombatants. Ross's injuries were severe, and for five days, he lay under a tree on the battlefield, unable to be moved. His wounds became infected, and Ross begged the others to kill him to end his pain. When he was able to travel, he was first carried on a litter suspended between two mules, and then on the shoulders of his men. He recovered fully, but experienced some pain for much of the rest of the year.
In his written report, Van Dorn praised Ross highly. The Dallas Herald printed the report on October 10, and other state newspapers also praised Ross's bravery. General Winfield Scott learned of Ross's role and offered him a direct commission in the Army. Eager to finish his education, Ross declined Scott's offer, and returned to school in Alabama.
The following year, Ross graduated from Wesleyan with a Bachelor of Arts and returned to Texas. Once there, he discovered no one had been able to trace the family of the young Caucasian girl rescued during the Wichita Village fight. He adopted the child and named her Lizzie Ross, in honor of his new fiancée, Elizabeth Dorothy Tinsley.
In early 1860, Ross enlisted in Captain J. M. Smith's Waco company of Texas Rangers, which formed to fight the Native Americans. Smith appointed Ross his second lieutenant. When Smith was promoted, the other men in the company unanimously voted to make Ross the new captain. In conjunction with several other Ranger companies, Ross led his men to retaliate against a Kickapoo tribe, who had murdered two white families. The tribe had been warned of the Rangers's approach and set the prairie ablaze. The Rangers were forced to abandon their mission when confronted with the massive wildfire.