USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -On March 25, 1843, the prisoners were forced to draw from a jar containing 159 white beans and 17 black beans. At dusk that day, those unlucky enough to draw a black bean were shot to death, as was Cameron as the leader of the escapees. The remaining prisoners were put to work on a road gang.

Detailed explanation-2: -To determine who among them would face the firing squad, the Texans were to draw beans from a small earthen jar. Those who drew a white bean would live; those who drew a black one would die.

Detailed explanation-3: -Every tenth man was ordered to die of execution by Mexican dictator Antonio López de Santa Anna, in what became known as the Black Bean episode, because the seventeen men were chosen by drawing beans from a sack. If they picked a black bean, they were blindfolded and shot.