Ken Cooper was a researcher on the St. Louis involvement in the Mexican American War, 1846-1848 and conducted years worth of research on the subject and on people invloved. One area of focus for him was on the Battle of Santa Cruz de Rosales. A village, now named Rosales, 65 miles south of the city of Chihuahua, Mexico. The battle occured 45 days after the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. Beyond the battle itself, Cooper researched two players of the battle, Philip Gooch Ferguson and Augusts Jones.

Augustus Jones was born in Kaskaskia, Illinois, in February 1796. At the age of sixteen, he volunteered in the War of 1812 and served with the militia on three separate tours. As a young man, he impressed many of his superiors with his bravery and ambition, so much so that word of his reputation reached Andrew Jackson. Jackson later, while serving as President, appointed him as a U.S. Marshal. During the Mexican-American War, Jones successfully raised a company of volunteers from Washington County, Missouri, and served as Captain of Company D, Third Regiment of Missouri Mounted Volunteers. He was honorably discharged in 1848.

Augustus was married three times, and across these marriages he had 18 children, though not all survived to adulthood. Jones served as a principal or second in many duels in Missouri, including the duel between Lionel Brown and Colonel John Smith T. He had many prominent family members, including John Rice Jones, William Ashley Jones, Miers Fisher Jones, and George Wallace Jones. Augustus Jones died in February 1887 in Columbus, Texas.

Philip Gooch Ferguson was born in Prince Edward County, Virginia, in April 1824. Almost a year after his birth, his family migrated to Missouri, settling in what is now Bridgeton. Ferguson attended military school and grammar school and became an avid reader. By the 1840s, he had learned the printing trade and became employed by several local newspapers, such as the Missouri Argus and the People’s Organ. He later started his own newspaper with a partner, the Miner’s Prospect, in Potosi, Missouri, in 1846

In May of the following year, he volunteered for the Mexican-American War and joined the company formed by Augustus Jones. During the war, Ferguson frequently sent articles and writings back to the Miner’s Prospect, describing his and the company’s experiences. He wrote about the hardships of the march, as well as the sadness, tragedies, and moments of humor. After his discharge, he resumed work as a writer for several newspapers, eventually becoming a reporter for the St. Louis Missouri Democrat, later known as the St. Louis Globe-Democrat. Philip wrote under many aliases, such as Quintillion, Lello and Jenks. Philip Ferguson died in April 1890 in St. Louis.