EXTRACTS: Illustrators issue 27 © 2019 The Book Palace (96 PAGES in Full edition)

32 The Mier Expedition also known as The Drawing of the Black Bean, oil on canvas, 1896. Based on an actual event of Texan history. Trying to take control of the Mexican town of Mier in 1843, Texan soldiers were imprisoned by the Mexican Army and subjected to a life or death lottery. The drawing of the black bean involved soldiers drawing out of a jar a white or black bean to determine their fates: life in prison or execution. The unfortunate seventeen soldiers who drew black beans were executed.