USA > Texas > A new history of Texas; being a narration of the adventures of the author in Texas, and a description of the soil, climate, productions, minerals, tons [!], bays, harbours, rivers, institutions, and manners and customs of the inhabitants of that country; together with the principal incidents of fifteen years revolution in Mexico; and embracing a condensed statement of interesting events in Texas, from the first European settlement in 1692, down to the present time: and a history of the Mexican war > Part 13
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24
It is not supposed that any system of government can be so administered as to operate precisely equal on all ; and the chances against this supposition are multiplied to an almost indefinite extent in a country so extensive as ours, where our pursuits are so much diversified; but it is believed that a much nearer approximation could be made to the grand goal of perfection by infusing into the social and political systems, some of the tenets of the ancient Spartans with such modifications and additions as the practical experience as well as the speculative theories of modern political economists have brought to view.
It would seem to be the appropriate business of the people of the United States to discard all obsolete theories
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and adapt their system to the actual wants of the com- munity ; never supposing that in achieving a separation from the mother county, our forefathers accomplished eve- ry thing ; yet while the boasted superiority of our people, our institutions and our soil, is the theme of every day, I fear it is much more common to boast of what has been done, than by manly and enlightened exertions, to earn the merit of patriots as well as the name.
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May we not unto oblivion pass, But grow as strong as monumental brass; High as the Serpent of this metal made, While Nations stand secure beneath our shade.
The love of money is the besetting sin of our people , an inordinate thirst for gain usurps the throne of all the finer feelings of nature ; to be rich is to obtain a patent of nobility ; and it is observable in every department of life, that the grand aim and end of our being is reversed, and in its stead we have substituted the sordid and de- ceitful and often narrow calculations of self interest to the almost entire exclusion of all that is ennobling in inan, and all that can confer true happiness upon a community, or goodness upon the individual members of society. Mo- dest worth is abashed, and too often in this land of boast- ed superiority, the brightest gems are trampled under foot in embryo, and men whom the God of nature has endow- ed with rare and valuable qualities, are doomed to languish in obscurity, until the chilling blasts of penury level them . to the earth.
The people of Texas are doubly cursed with this cor- roding malady. The liberal policy of the Mexican gov- ernment gave birth to speculations in lands on a large scale, and these giant calculations now enter into the trade of the country in all its ramifications, until men seem al- together averse to engage in any regular business which
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does not promise a speedy return of fortune ; and in the absence of such opportunities dissipate time and money to the ruin of their own constitutions and the absolute an- nihilation of all the sources from whence flow the purest and less defiled springs of human happiness.
Leagues of land are spoken of in Texas as our eastern farmers would of acres, change hand with much less bar- gaining and apparent anxiety, and while such traffic has and will again enrich many, it will with the same certain- ty, if continued, impoverish the country at large, by draw- ing from productive labor a large mass of individuals, cre- ating distinct interests and classes in society, and dooming a great many of the inhabitants to a life of dependence upon the lords of the soil, who it is preposterous to sup- pose will not, as they do elsewhere, rule the actual pro- ducers with a rod of iron, and eventually make them any thing but free or independant peasantry.
Many are emigrating to Texas, who have seen and felt the pernicious influences of the system of landlords and tenants, of masters and slaves, as they exist in many of the agricultural states of this Union, and many too, are emigrating who have witnessed the abuses of factory dis- ciple in the manufacturing districts of the United States, where the operatives are in some instances but one re- move from the degradation of the ill fated sons of Africa, whom the injustice of man have doomed to bondage and at the same time to become a curse to the country, that tolerates such atrocious barbarity.
Uncheering then as is the surface of many things in Texas, it is yet to be hoped that with the history of the world before them and the extinple of the United States always in view, the Texan Emigrants will ponder over the defects which exist in our social and political union and devise some remedy for those evils which are not sodeep-
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ly rooted as to defy the strength of freemen when united for the humane purpose of meliorating the condition of mankind of whatever colour or nation they may be.
It is however probable that the attitude in which Mexi- co and Texas now stands, may be altered at no distant day to a more hostile position; and in such event numerous as are the Mexicans, and rich as their country is in the pre- cious metals, the contest can scarcely be doubtful so far as the recovery of this part of the Mexican Republic is concerned. She cannot regain Texas, there are a thou- sand good reasons for this opinion; but it is more than pro- bable that when the tug of war does come, that hostilities will not cease until, under the walls of the Mexican cap- ital, the victorious standard of the Anglo Saxons will be raised to the ramparts, and then the mingled forcers of the United States and Texas will dictate the terms of peace · with similar motives and objects in view to those enter- tained by Cortes when affecting to treat with the An- cient Montazuma.
Under such propable circumstances, the time may pass when it would have been practicable to introduce a system of wise, enlightened and humane legislation ; and in such event no one can, with any regard to truth, pretend to foresee the ultimate distiny of Texas. That she is rapid- ly to increase in numerical strength, whether in peace or war, is beyond all doubt ; that she may extend her terri- tory to twenty times its present dimensions, is highly pro- bable ; that she may become united with us is by no means impossible ; but I believe there is nothing more certain. than that it will be long ere the government can be con- sidered as settled ; and that in her fortunes it will not be possible to prevent our citizens from participating, and perhips to such an extent as to involve the nation in war with foreign powers; many of whom look upon the past
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conflict as altogether unjust on the part of Texas, and do most certainly believe, that not only the people, but the responsible government of the United States were abet- tors in a crusade against the peace and rights of a neigh- bouring nation, with whom we were in amity, and bound by the most solemn compacts to a friendly and commer- cial intercourse, while in entire disregard of such obliga- tions, we connived at the national assassination of Mexico.
Again, the abolition of slavery and other incidental questions will continue to be agitated in the United States, and without daring to conjecture the consequences, I would remind my readers that more unlikely things have happened in the world, than a union between the Texans and the slave holding portions of the United States ; the latter of whom are perhaps naturally enough extremely sensitive on the slavery subject, and the former are most- ly men who will scruple at nothing which promises an ad- dition of strength in either money or men. And this feeling is becoming incorporated with every sentiment of the inhabitants, encouraged as it is. by the influence of some master spirits, who have located in Texas. who talk in day of the glories of conquest, and at night dream of gold and the Halls of the Montazumas. Apart then, from numer- ous other subjects of interest, I predict that the future historian will have ample materials from which to cull im- portant events in the progress of North American enter- prize and vicissitude growing out of the relations between the Republic of Mexico and her two northern neighbors ; and I would gladly believe that the flowers which may deck his pages will be emblems of peace and not the long and too often cruelly used implements of distruction .- But for this I can hardly hope. Rapid as has been the advance of mankind in the march of improvement in par- ticular sciences, the present actual condition of the world
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affords but a painful foretaste of that blessed promise, that the lion shall lie down with the lamb, and wars shall be no more ; but on the contrary, in private and public life every thing appears in a ferment portentious of tremendous future convulsions ; and this alone should impress the minds of parents with the great responsibility they incur while training the rising generation, who are destined to act a conspicuous part in the drama of life ; while it should teach those delegated with high powers, wisdom; modera- tion, and justice, in all things, as the safest foundation for a nation's glory, the back ground of whose picture has too often disclosed orphans in nakedness and want, and wid- ows in weeds and tears.
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CHAPTER XI - -
PRODUCTS.
Cotton, Indian corn, sugar cane and rice are the lead- ing products of the country, the first mentioned of which is at present the only article of exportation, and it is pro- bable this will be the case for a long time to come. Much has been said respecting the increased quantities which can be grown in Texas over the Southern lands of the United States, but from the best imformation I could ob- tain, I incline to the opinion that Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas and Louisiana lands will produce as much cot- ton to the hand in the aggregate, and of about equal quali- ty to that grown on the plains of Texas, and the same I believe may be said with truth of the other products men- tioned above. Figs and oranges may doubtless be culti. vated to advantage in many districts within 80 miles of the gulf of Mexico, and perhaps the product would be great- er than the same could be made in any part of the United States of the same extent. In the 2nd division as before noted in this work, a greater variety of products can be raised, and planters can grow almost every thing wanted for consumption, and have a large remaining surplus for sale, if industrious and economical. This surplus would
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consist in provisions chiefly ; and doubtless the best busi- ness that can now be engaged in, is the opening farms and rearing stock, for while stock can now be with very little expense numbered exceedingly fast, and sold at very high prices, the unceasing tide of emigration will lessen the facilities for this branch of business, but will at the same time enhance the value of improved lands in a ratio equal, if not greatly more, than has been found in the set- tlement of any portion of the United States.
Those unacquainted with the markets in Texas would doubtless be astonished at the comparative high prices at which almost every thing is sold, and some have attributed such prices to the abundance of money ; but this opinion is fallacious and the truth is, high prices result from inade- quate supplies, and the depreciation of the currency of the country, added to the real scarcity of that. Much of the importations are directly or indirectly invested in land which sellers of goods are disinclined to pay much for, and a heavy profit is universally laid on to meet their usual large calculations and to cover a heavy tariff and the discount on such money as can be obtained, ranging as it now does, from forty to sixty per cent. below par.
Again, house rent, board, labour, and every thing which a new settler is in want of, is as about five to one compared to most places in the United States, and the Emigrant who does not find his contingent expenses in- crease in a greater ratio than even that, will have to keep less company, drink less grog and play fewer games than is in many parts of Texas consistent with people's ideas of a gentleman. These practices however, are rather on the wane in some few places, and it may be barely hoped, will in a few years entirely disappear.
In addition to provisions, all such goods as are general- ly wanted in new countries may be shipped to Texas,
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with a fair prospect of good profits ; building materials will bear transportation from places on the sea board, as distant as Maine as well as the Ohio River, particularly such as are suitable for the construction of small frames. Any quantity of powder, lead, guns, bowie-knives, spirit- ous liquors, playing cards, violins, drums, fifes and even jews-harps are in request, and stoves in winter sell at en- ormous prices, when the weather often changes suddenly, and the transit to extreme cold renders a good stove and tight house, articles of absolute necessity to those who would wish to preserve life, not to say health.
Blankets are in universal demand, answering as they do, the double purpose of covering while in the arms of Mopheus, and cloaks, when going out, and do serve as such by simply making an aperture in the centre through which the head is protruded, and the blanket lays in am- ple folds around the body not inaptly reminding the be- holder of a Catholic priest in full costume. This expres- sion is not used out of any disrespect felt towards that worthy, learned and pious body of men, but entirely from the first impression made upon my mind en seeing the dress of some Texans in a cool moonlight evening ; and I yet think the similarity at a distance near- ly complete.
Large emigrating parties will always do best; and among the many reasons for this opinion, I will mention the advantages of uniting in one settlement men of differ- en't occupations, which would greatly contribute to the convenience of all. A teacher, and when practicable, a minister of the gospel should be included, there being as yet even in thickly populated districts, few persons who devote their time to such pursuits ; and on the frontiers where the strongest inducements for settlers are found, schools and houses of devotion or persons to officiate are
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entirely out of the question. Besides one little communi- ty of such kind would soon attract others of like charac- ter, and necessarily exercise a happy influence over the minds of those at a distance, as well as among its immedi- ate members.
Emigrants should be provided with furniture, imple- ments of industry, seeds of various kinds, young peach, pear, cherry and apple trees ; clothing, medicine and.books, as well as materials for building, with as much work done as possible ; such as morticing, tenanting, dressing boards, &c. All the above named articles are difficult to obtain in the country, and carpenters' work is enormously high. But when parties go out thus provided with the addition of a good stock of provisions, meats excepted, they may soon live comfortable and avoid the heavey expense of living at the prices which less provident emigrants are al- ways subject to. Native plums, grapes, etc., are abundant, and of a most delicious flavor, far superior to any thing of the kind I have ever seen elsewhere ; and I make no doubt but wine of superior quality can be extracted from the grapes of Texas in such quantities as to insure a large profit on the business, particularly when the different vari- eties are tried and improved by cultivation. There are as yet no Manufacturers in Texas, and artisans who go out relying alone on their skill in business will meet with disappointment. Carpenters, Printers, Saddlers, Brick- layers, Black Smiths, Gun Smiths, and Jewellers are in re- quest; and in the new settlements, Wheel-wrights and Mill- wrights may find employment ; and although the price of a decent pair of boots is from $20 to $25, and hatsand other articles of clothing in proportion, yet so high are the duties on importations, and so high the expense of living, that the clear profit on such goods, if manufactured in the country, must be very small when the stock is purchasel
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els, There, and the rate of exchange considered. I am the wire particular in these statements from the fact of having seen many mechanics in Texas entirely destitute, and such very generally endeavor to return, having im- bibed strong prejudices against the country, for perhaps no other reason than che absence of correct information respecting their particular avocation before hand.
Tanneries, I believe, might be established in almost any part of the country, when based upon capital, with a certainty of success. Abounding, as Texas does, with the raw material for such business, small importations would complete thei stock ; and their goods when finished would afford a very handsome profit ; the article of sole leather, for instance, commanding generally $1,25 per pound.
Young men of good moral character and handsome ac- quirements, may have a wide and uncultivated field in which to lay the foundation for future usefulness in Texas ; such perhaps as cannot be elsewhere found, and these, if possessed of strong nerves, and qualified to perform the double duty of heroes and saints, may have a very bright prospect of becoming in time, not only rich but eminent and distinguished among men while living, and objects of veneration when dead.
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Lawyers are already congregated in most of the vil- lages in such numbers as to induce an opinion that the market is full, and whether this is owing to their superior sagacity and intelligence or not, many of them are reap- ing rich harvests, and others are sowing the seeds which in time will produce abundant crops, not only for the pre- sent brotherhood, but for swarms of the liberal profession who will from time to time, abandon the exhausted soil of the older states, and take deep root on the fertile plains of this new Republic. This class of men have for
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ages made a conspicuous figure in the history of the world ; their daily avocations make them conversant with every thing ; and it cannot be denied that some of the brighest pages which adorn our history records the deeds of noble daring, both in cabinet and field, of members of the bar ; and it may with equal truth be said that they enact, ex- pound and execute the laws of every civilized country to the exculsion of most others, and that this influence will continue until the mass of minkind are much better in- formed than at present, and be able to produce in other professions men of such varied and useful knowledge as may be acquired by the study and practice of law.
Physicians will generally succeed in Texas; not be- cause the climate is unfavorable to health, for it is mostly otherwise, with the exception of a large district border- ing the gulf of Mexico. But the change of climate and water-the decomposition of vegetable matter,-the ab- sence of necessaries among numbers of the people, and the singular and intemperate habits of many, will con- tinue for years to be fruitful sources of disease ; and skilful physicians will enrich themselves, and benevo- lent ones will be a blessing to the country. The Thomp- sonians have nearly taken possession ; and certainly have at hand an abundant supply of native medicine, which, when properly used, will go far to remove disease ; but probably not so far as one of them supposed when riding with me in a large prairie and spying a clustre of Lobela, he dismounted and loudly exclaimed,
Now hail, my precious herb ! That springs from holy ground ; You are a sure cure for all disease And healest every wound !
Few other pursuits besides those above and elsewhere enumerated, will be found profitable at present in Texas ;
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but a witty friend at my elbow whispers that a student of phrenology might prosecute his studies with signal ad- vantage ; and should any such emigrate, I would be pleas- ed to hear if there are any new developments on the cran- ium of his Honor the Mayor of Houston, whom Gen. Baker declares is detered from encountering with a man- ly look, even the most intimate acquaintance, from a recol- lection of the awful crimes he has somewhere committed.
The future products of Texas, within her present limits, will certainly be of immense value, and of great variety ; so much so, that almost every vegetable known to the West India Islands, as well as much that is grown in the United States, will be successfully cultivated, and the proceeds will, in time, be amply sufficient to support, in affluence, at least twelve million of people. Could the foul blot of negro slavery be erased from her escutcheon it would be difficult to perceive, according to the usual cur- rent of events, any thing which is to retard her onward career ; and with the exception of the complicated land system, any serious obstacle in the way of those who de- sire to become permanent cultivators of the soil. This sys- tem, complicated as it is, I have been able to analyze and abridge, and now present it in such form as will at once convey all the useful information that is scattered through a great many volumes ; and all that can be acquired by the settler short of a residence in the country, and a kind of initiation into the arts and mysteries of the trade.
First, then, aliens cannot hold lands, the titles to which emanated from the Mexican Government, it being clearly their intention to found a community of independent land owners, and faithful citizens, by giving them a permanent interest in the country, and the colonization laws, with a single exception, both in letter and spirit, explain the policy of the government on this subject. This excep-
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tion was in favor of a company termed the Rio Grande Steam Navigation Company, which was allowed exclu- sive privileges as an encouragement for settling the coun- try along the Rio Grande River, and navigating its wa- ters with Steam Boats. The contract was made with the Mexican States of Tamaulipas, Chihuahua, Coahuila, and Texas, and confirmed by the federal congress ; but the company after expending considerable funds abandoned the enterprize as hopeless, and of course the lands re- main beyond the reach of any but actual settlers, or those who have according to law received titles from the gov- ernment of Texas.
It may, perhaps, prove useful to some to repeat here the quantity of lands which were granted both to Em- prasarios and individuals, inasmuch as a person who now becomes a citizen of Texas can purchase and obtain a le- gal title to such claims in a large extent of country, em- bracing the whole of Stephen F. Austin's first grant of the Brassos River. Each head of a family was entitled to one Spanish league and labore, (about 1700 English acres) and each child over 16 years, one quarter of a league, and each Emprasario for the introduction of every hundred families, possesed a fee simple title to five leagues and five labores. With the exception, however of Aus- tin's grant, these titles were never perfected. De Witt having died with but one hundread and fifty-four families located on his grant out of two hundred contracted for 'and this like all the remaining grants, expired by its limi- tation, to the great injury of the individual settles then, and will be a fruitful source of litigation hereafter, not only on account of the first miscarrage, but also by sub- sequent laws of Texas, which declare all property confis- cated, the owners of which did not participate in the war.
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The next description of titles, which are unquestiona- bly good, is the land serip, sold by the government of Tex- as, and the bounty lands to volunteers, during the revolution. The scrip sold by the government may be distinguished from all other evidences of title, purporting as it does, to owe to the bearer a giving quantity of land, and this may be located or transferred by and to alians as well as citizens, in precisely the same manner as the boun- ty lands of volunteers from the United States. Their head rights, however, are on a different footing, being granted for the usual purpose of obtaining permanent settlers in the country ; and it is encumbent on such claimant to prove that he has resided in the county threa years, embracing the time of former hostilities with Mexi- co ; and when this proof is satisfactory to the board of land commissioners, a title is issued which may be loca- ted or conveyed to any citizen of Texas, but is entirely worthless to all others who do not become citizens before the expiration of the year 1841.
During the session. of 1838-39, Congress passed a law allowing a bounty of six hundred and forty acres of land to ever head of a family, and three hundred and twen- ty to every single man who becomes an actual settler, and continues in the country as such. This law embraces the claims of all emigrants between 1336 and 41, and a clause expressly provides for a double quantity when the single men have the good fortune to get wives, while the law is in force ; thus clearly showing, that while they are alive to the present comparatively weak state of the na tion. they are willing to give a home to citizens of any kind, and a double one to those who are likely to increase the population.
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