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 6
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From mountain dell or stream, Not a fleeting zephyr springs ;
. Fearful lest the noontide beam Scorch its soft, Its silken wings.
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HISTORY OF TEXAS.
CHAPTER VI.
The city of Houston has grown to its present size with astonishing rapidity. Early in 1836, a gentleman (J. K Allen) from Western New-York purchased here one league of land (4 miles square) for about $400, which was then considered a fair price. With the adroitness peculiar to Northern men, no sooner had the battle of San Jacinto been fought and won, and the fame of the Texan Com- mander was spreading abroad, than the city of Houston was founded on a magnificent scale-the vanity of the successful conqueror was appealed to, many lots were granted to those who would immediately build on them; a splendid map of the city was carried on the wings of, the wind to distant places to catch in time the greedy speculator and allure the uninitiated; and in a few brief months the bait had been successfully offered to a sufficient majority of the members of Congress. The seat of Gov- ernment was temporarily located, and in less than three short years the solitary grove that skirted Buffalo Bayou, and the wild grandeur of the rising prairie have given place to the swarms of human beings that now prominade by day and by night the streets and commons of the city of Hous- ton; and Mr. Allen who fully availed himself of the advan- tages of embarking others in the same boat; or in other words, in the same enterprise, and who misfortune or
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something worse, had driven to Texas, lived just iong enough to see his city lots commanding prices equal to any city lots in America ; and was beginning to enjoy the blessing of a fortune, when his earthly career was stop- ped, and he was suddenly called to the bar of his God.
There is some thing deeply impressive in the short history of this man, although, perhaps, no more than a repetition of frequent occurrences which emphatically proclaim the mutability of all earthly possessions. I yet will- remem ber that this demise and the circumstances of mach of his life, as detailed to me on the spot, made an impression on my mind which will not soon be effaced ; and the following lines, which he is supposed to have addressed on his death bed to his wife, whatever may have been his faults, cer- tainly indicate any thing but an unfeeling heart.
Yes laly-you will think of me, When I am sol' frain the afar ; And your namn a talisinan shall be, To me in death, a ruling star.
I wan ler now d'e-our happy hours, I sigh indeed o'er our hours of grief : I grieve to leave you-but iny Maker calls me, Audirs . him we both must seek relief.
The public buildings in Houston, consist of a market house: an arsenal, court-house, jail, two sinall theatres, the president's house, and the capito! or state house. This last is a neat two story frame building, with a portico in front, and two wings in the rear; which are divided into i partments sufficient for the public officers ; to the occu- rants of which I would here beg leave to renew iny thanks for important documents obtained by their courtesy. The city contains twelve stores of assorted merchandise, six mechanics' shops, viz: one gun-smith one wheel-right, one silver-smith, one shos and boot maker, and two black-
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smiths ; there are also quite a number of carpenters, whose work is in great demand, and last, forty-seven places for selling intoxicating drinks, most of which are gaming dens. The City Hotel, Milam Hotel and Star Tavern, I believe are exceptions, unless for select parties. No wonder that the habits of the people are dissolute.
The traffic of this place is nevertheless considerable, and should a rail-road hereafter be constructed from this point to Washington, on the upper Brassos, and another to the three forks of the Trinity, the trade of an extensive country will centre here, and Houston will continue a principal depot for foreign and domestic commodities, and Galveston the seaport of the Republic. The proprietors of the two places are much the same, and will of course exert their united energies to prevent the trade, they now command, from passing into other channels; and also, to open new avenues of commerce far into the country penetrated by the Brassos and Trinity rivers. Great, then, as are the natural advantages of other locations, Galveston and Houston have taken the start of all of them, and the latter, apart from other interests, is a monument * arising in memory of a popular man which will not be abandoned until the present principal proprietors are no longer among the living, nor while the star of the capturer of Santa Anna is yet in the ascendant.
South and west of the city, stretching far in the distance, is an extensive prairie with here and there a grove of tim- -ber ; some of the soil rich, some as sterile as the broom sage fields in Virginia, and much of it low and marshy ; the poi- sonous vapours from whence assail the olfactory nerves creating unpleasant sensations, and is inhaled in the lungs, depositing there the seeds of disease and death. From the north and east an interminable forest of oak, pine,
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cedar, &c., approaches the city in a kind of half circle, terminating on the south bank of Buffalo Bayou, which both above and below winds its serpentine course to every point of the compass, until it is finally lost in the San Jacinto river.
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About two miles from Houston, within the forest above mentioned, is the spring and only supply of pure water, which is hauled to the city and sold to the inhabitants for 75 cents per barrel of 30 gallons. The discovery of this fountain was a singular affair : An old man by the name of Beanchamp, who some years ago figured in the caves and criminal courts in Kentucky, and is a near relative of a person of the same name who figured on the heights of Frankfort for the murder of Col. Sharp, ultimately made good his retreat to Texas, where a short career of folly and dissipation reduced him to abject poverty. In this situation he fell in with a small band of Bidee Indians who encamped at the spring and thus Beauchamp became possessed of a secret, important not only to himself but also to the inhabitants of the city, who had as yet been compelled to use the poisonous water of Buffalo Bayou. Beauchamp lost no time in representing to the owner of " the land that he shortly expected remittances from the United States, with which he was desirous to purchase the soil whereon he could earn a living and dig him a grave, and the kind hearted proprietor was good enough to exe- cute a title bond for 50 acres for a fec simple title on payment of the purchase money, which was a much larger sum than the supposed value of the land. Beauchamp was an old fox, and adopted the maxim of Sam Patch without delay : "Some things can be done as well as others," said he, and now I will have in imita- tion of my friend Allen, the City. of Beauchampville. Ac- cordingly, Beauchampville was forthwith laid out; the
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spring handsomely ornamented; lots sold by dozens, and when I last visited this place, the Kentuckian had paid for his land and had a pocket full of money, which he was circulating at no slow rate, while he was giving full scope to a long acquired habit, by indulging in large potations and renewal of his acquaintance with John Barley Corn, his early chum. Canvass tents, bush tents, board houses, carts, waggons, and horses, negroes, white men, women and children, were promiscuously scattered from Houston to the spring, and two straight rows of houses were built in the pine forest, before yet the timber had been cut from the main street-Beauchamp street.
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This property, though not acquired by a virtuous course of industry and economy, were it now in prudent hands, would make a fortune; but swarms of sharpers beset the proprietor, eat, drink and win out his substance; and while the discovery of the spring is a public blessing, such is the complextion of much of the society around it, and such perhaps the recollections of a misspent life, that he who brought it to view, like most other evil doers, is a mis- erable being; is dissipating the proceeds nearly as fast as received, and will at last sink into an unhonoured grave, if he does not die a beggar or something infinitely worse.
At Houston, I met with John W. Niles, a personage with whom it was my misfortune some years ago to become acquainted in Baltimore, where he done me every possible injury within the compass of his power; but I out liver him and he eventually failed and decamped for Texas On encountering Mr. Niles there, I dropped him a note requesting to be informed whether we were to be at peace or war, assuring him that however wrong his former conduct had been, I had already received ample revenge, and it only remained for him to frankly avow his present feelings and the light in which I was in future to view him.
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To this note I soon received a most flattering answer, commencing with, "Respected Sir," and ending with an expressed wish for all former differences to be forgot- ten, and a desire to meet me as a friend, a pretence more hy- pocritical perhaps than ever the son of so respectable and worthy a parent as Hezekiah Niles* was guilty of. He also visited me at the Eagle Tavern on the same day, and while assuming the guise of a friend, which was worn on all future occasions in my presence, he yet never so far deceived me as he expected; and indeed, his name is only mentioned in this work for the purpose of more fully ex- plaining some subsequent occurrences, as well as advise caution to those unskilled in the arts of old offenders. In fact this man despairing of success against me in any open and manly attack, sought to gratify the promptings of his base and malignant heart by stratagems, and he is welcome to the fruits of his labors, having only succeeded in exciting some prejudice in the minds of a few of the in- habitants of Baltimore and Houston, all of whom will pro- pably in due time properly estimate his character as well as mine.
I had business in the City which could not immedi- ately be brought to a close, but such as did not fully oc- cupy my time, and wishing to learn more particularly the character of those in authority as well as to continue my former habits of activity, I accepted from the Mayor an appointment, the nature and result of which will be suffi- ciently understood by a perusual of the following docu- ments which were written on the spot, and may serve to illustrate their mode of passing ordinances and dispensing justice, as well as to convey to the reader, a timely knowl- edge of a portion of the population which may prove use-
*Parmar Editor of Niles Register.
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ful to those who, like myself, may find themselves in the City of Houston without so disinterested a guide.
Houston, September 24, 1838.
Know all men by these presents, that
is duly authorized to act in the capacity of Police Officer in this city.
(Signed) FRANCIS MOORE, JR., Mayor.
About the same time, there was one of the heroes of San Jacinto, an ex-member of Congress, and some others attached to the Police, and I was encouraged to hope that a reformation could be effected. This illusion was how- ever soon dispelled, and after witnessing the total unworth- iness of the whole tribe, from the Mayor down to his pet- ty constables, my last attempt to awaken them to a sense of duty was embodied in the following memorial, and handed into the Mayor's office. It is proper here to remark that the duty of a Police officer is somewhat dif- ferent in Houston from the same service elsewhere ; other- wise there are expressions and suggestions in the follow- ing communication which would have been beyond my appropriate sphere.
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Houston, Oct. 25, 1838. To the Honorable Muyor and Board of Aldermen:
Your memorialist begs respectfully to represent, that in accepting the appointment of Police officer of this City, he was not unaware that the situation involved a high de- gree of responsibility ; and while feeling its proper weight he entered upon the discharge of his duties with a deter- mination to perform them with an eye single to the pub- lic good.
In pursuance of such determination I would once more
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call the attention of your honorable body to those intoler- able nuisances, the numerous grog shops and gaming dens in this city, which are spreading a most pernicious influ- ence far and wide ; the evil effects of which are sufficient- ly palpable to be seen by the most casual observer; but much as they are seen, their most hideous features are screened from the public gaze.
These are the source of frequent depredations commit ted upon the property of others, from the wretch who for a few bits is tempted to allure his victim into a sink of iniquity, to the wholesale robberies which are developed by the breaking of stores and the abstraction of trunks, etc. from Steam Boats and public houses; the purloining of my own trunk from a Hotel, and ritling of its most valuable contents, on the second night after my arrival here, being but one out of many that might be mentioned, but which is so generally known that it is deemed unnecessary to detail to your honorable body-to say nothing of the im- punity with which all order is set at defiance by disturbers of the peace, who frequently use bowie knives and other savage weapons with such effect, that if murder is not committed, the life of the victim is rendered a burden, and when such rioters are arrested, seem generally to be dealt with in such manner as to secure to the magistrate the greatest number of votes, regardless of every other consid- eration except alone that which may arise from an instinc- tive dread of reckless and intoxicated men.
It would seem that those charged with legislative and executive powers in this city might find some remedy for these growing evils; and the oft repeated pretext for the tol- eration of such abuses, so far from protecting those who are numerous and strong, furnishes the strongest reason for the suppression of disorderly houses and making examples of some of those who are notoriously profligate and lawless,
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and have been accustomed to trample upon all authority human or divine.
. Surely the paltry sums drawn in the shape of licenses and fines from the retailers of intoxicating drinks and their vic- tims, should not be weighed against the peace and perma- nent prosperity of the community; nor indeed is it easy to perceive how an upright man can call an act a crime. and treat it as such, which is the natural offspring of those poisons that he has on the receipt of money made it lawful to sell. True it is, that such practices originated eise- where, and have only been adopted here ; but it should be the pride as it is the duty, of officers of this new Repub- lic to discountenance every thing that experience has proved of pernicious tendency, and however much we may all love and venerate our native country, it is not the part of wisdom or patriotism, to blindly follow in the footsteps of others without an attempt to keep pace with the intelligence of the age. *
Among the causes that deprave the heart, none are per- haps more powerful than the contagion diffused by bad examples, and heightened by associates with those of loose principles and dissolute morals, when the most wicked and hardened take the lead, while the rest follow, making proficiency in proportion to the weakness of their minds and strength of their passions, until at length fortune is squandered, health is broken, and afflicted parents and friends sent mourning to the dust.
The undersigned is in possession of abundant evidence to convince the most sceptical that this is a grand rendez- vous for abandoned characters from the four quarters of the globe, and that scarcely a boat arrives that does not bear to your shores some of this stamp, who readily find friends and confederates in the dram shops here, and whose united villainy is brought to bear upon your most
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worthy settlers and that class of emigrants who under more favorable circumstances would become valuable citi- zens. But I deem it improper to detail the devices resort- ed to by these vultures to ensnare the unwary, or to at- tempt to describe the destitution and misery they pro- duce, but desire to impress your honorable body with the great importance a speedy modification of the licence law, believing its present provisions to be pregnant with a mul- titude of evils.
It has been said that no man can love his country or his species who lives in the habitual violation of morality, or countenances the same in others; but while I am bound to admit that such hypocritical pretensions are sometimes successfully played off, it is most commonly for a brief space of time; and whatever else such gamblers may be called, they have no legitimate pretension to the character of patriots. True patriotism does not evaporate in an empty noise about civil and religious liberty, but in place of filing in with time serving politicians, remembers that the happiness of any people depends upon their wisdom and virtue, and that the practice of vicious habits, like maladies in the natural body, will eventually reach the vitals, producing much pain and a premature death.
You memorialist deems it his duty to a call your atten- tion to the city ordinance which requires bar rooms to be closed at 10 o'clock, and respectfully requests that the same be either enforced throughout the city, or modified or repealed. It is rather too much to expect that a man worthy of any trust will swear to execute your laws. and then submit to verbal and private orders, which if obeyed would perjure him ; and it is highly improper that this or- dinance should be carried into effect in some parts of the corporation, and remain a dead letter, so far as favorites and partizans are concerned ; thus making invidious dis-
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inctions and inviting the police officers to disregard the solemn obligations of an oath.
Your memorialist will not suppress his feelings of regret that there should have been such a want of unity of opin- ion and concert of action among us ; his regret, however, is far above any personal consideration, for he has long been convinced that the path to promotion here was plain, and that he had only to become the supplicant coadjutor of a certain self constituted caste, and-wink at secret and open violations of law and order to enable him to enjoy their approving smiles and the fruits of their patronage. But well aware as I am, and have been of this, I was not, nor am I yet prepared for such degradation; and I feel a manly pride in thus frankly conveying to your honorable body, my fixed and unalterable resolution to cease to act in a capacity incompatible from its associa- tion with a proper self respect, a proper regard for the rights of others; much less to continue a part of a junto whose wishes are disclosed in the garb of reward or clothed in official menace.
Your memorialst deems it proper to refresh your memory touching his acceptance of this appointment. I did not as some of you know, intend to serve long, certainly only until such time as I should be in possession of intelligence from my family in the United States, for which I am yet most anxiously waiting ; but I was not the less willing on that account to perform the duties of an officer and citizen, thạn if I had intended to remain in the city, and would have felt a pleasure in co-operating until my departure with those who were desirous of wholesome reform. But unfortunately, experience has already proved that no salutary effects can be felt until a radical change shall have superseded the policy and views which are enter-
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tained by those who are now at the head of the city gov- ernment.
I am the more particular in these statements for the purpose of furnishing a final answer to the numerous en- quires touching my intended stay, as well as to those whose prying curiosity have discovered that I am taking notes of passing events, and the proffers of individuals whose intention was to indirectly bribe me to suppress truth, have been, and will always be, treated with supreme contempt, their contractory professions of friendship upon conditions and threats to brand me as a spy in Texas notwithstand- ing. Should I after seeing the whole country, believe that I can be of any service to those who are turning their thoughts towards the verdant plains in this sunny clime, I expect to publish the information collected; and if so, we may all obtain a greater notoriety than your honorable body expected at the period of my appointment, or per- haps desire now. But I will not sing my own praise or fill my pages with the portraits of other individuals further than is necessary to explain the customs of the country, and will endeavor to deal in a more useful commodity than many who are connected with the Government in the city of Houston.
It is however, my appropriate business at present to deal in articles of the above kind, and I would here sug- gest to your honorable body that the strongest bond of civil society is to be found in a reverence for the laws, and that this reverence is only due when by enactments of equal operation, and by a proper administration, the guilty, no matter who he may be, is detered by the certainty of pun- ishment from the violation of the laws, and the good citi- zen is taught to repose in security, and is stimulated to their observance by a conviction that laws are made to protect and not to oppress l'm.
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When, therefore, those clothed with authority so far nes- lect or forget their appropriate duties as to tolerate a species of conduct in one part of the community which is denied to another, the first and principal purpose of the social compact must fail ; and while some of those whom fortune has placed in circumstances favorable to the encour- agement of good morals, degrade themselves and escape the punishment due to their crimes, another and less culpable class are visited with the vengeance of authority, thus add- ing insult to injury, and trifling with things that ought to be held sacred. I have seen enough of this elsewhere ; I have seen the laws of my country tortured to screen the powerful and oppress the friendless, and although I would gladly believe that such monstrous injustice is of rare occurence, never while I can raise my voice will I omit on any use- ful occasion to resist such corruption, whether it is seen in the land of my birth or striking its enveno med roots into the luxurant soil of Texas.
Surely the poor and unfortunate who are thrown into this community, and who are seldom able to obtain con- stant employment, have more temptations to intemperance and its consequent vices ; and are therefore fitter objects of mercy than men surrounded with the comforts of life, with the road to usefulness and wealth before them, and who ought to devote their time to the regular prosecution of business, to ameliorating the condition of their less fortunate fellow creatures, and the quiet enjoyments of domestic life.
· Deeply impressed with the above truth, I have sedulous- ly cherished it, and while it shall always influence my actions, I have not encouraged or even countenanced any violation of the law further than to treat their misfortunes with humanity, and offer them my friendly advice, never desiring to become the tyrant while strutting my brief hour upon the stage, robed out in a little brief authority.
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I am however, not so vain to as suppose my conduct en- tirely free from error; all human efforts are necessarily imperfect and I claim nothing more than the reward due good intentions, and do believe that feeble as are my abili- ties, if we all had had the same view of our duties and as scrupulously performed them, the police of the city would have been more efficient, and whatever appro- brium we might have encountered, the respect and appro- bation of the lovers of of justice would have been secured, and in any event the satisfaction of knowing the duties undertaken, had been faithfully performed.
Your memorialist begs leave to allude here to a report that without his concurrence has obtained circulation, and which has influenced to my prejudice at least one of your honorable body: and I emphatically deny, that I am seeking popularity and aspiring to no less honor than the Mayoral- ty of this city. Proud as I shall always be to merit the con- fidence and esteem of a portion of my fellow citizens, I do not act with a view to secure their votes, and least of all, to obtain their aid in supplanting the gentleman who presides over the deliberations of your honorable body. While so- journing among you I have felt desirous to make myself use- ful, but have aspired to no office whatever; and not expect- ing to fix my abode in this city I have sought no less honor than should attatch to the character of an American citizen, an honor which I am proud to claim, and one which I will not cease here or elsewhere to strive to deserve.
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