Philip Nolan (1771 – 21 March 1801) was a mustang trader and freebooter in Natchez, on the Mississippi River, and the Spanish province of Tejas (aka Texas).
[1] As a teen, he went to work for the Kentucky (part of Virginia until 1792) and Spanish Louisiana entrepreneur James Wilkinson as his business secretary and bookkeeper (from 1788 to 1791).
During this time, he made the acquaintance of Manuel Gayoso de Lemos, the district governor of Natchez during the final years of Spanish control there.
He made acquaintance with Texas Governor Manuel Muñoz and the commandant general of the Provincias Internas, Pedro de Nava.
He wrote directly to the viceroy of Mexico, warning him against foreigners (such as Nolan) who were stirring up the Texas Indians against Spanish rule.
There is considerable dispute about the exact nature of this filibustering expedition; some claim that he promised his men that they would seize riches and land and create a kingdom for themselves.
Frances bore him a son Philip Nolan, Jr., in July 1801, after he had left on his fourth and final trip to Texas.
Rhea Kuykendall, a descendant of one Joseph Pierce who had settled on the "old Dixon Grant" along Mustang Creek, found the weathered tombstone of Philip Nolan.