USA > Texas > A pictorial history of Texas, from the earliest visits of European adventurers, to A.D. 1879. Embracing the periods of missions, colonization, the revolution the republic, and the state; also, a topographical description of the country together with its Indian tribes and their wars, and biographical sketches of hundreds of its leading historical characters. Also, a list of the countries, with historical and topical notes, and descriptions of the public institutions of the state > Part 23
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At the election held in the fall of 1853, Elisha M. Pease was elected Governor, and David C. Dickson. Lieutenant Governor .*
*Officers of Executive Department, during Bell's administration : James Webb and Thomas H. Duval, Secretaries of State; A. J. Hamilton and Ebe- nezer Allen, Attorneys-General ; J. B. Shaw, Comptroller; J. H. Raymond, Treasurer; George W. Smyth, Land Commissioner; C. L. Mason, John S. Gillett and Ben. Hill, Adjutants-General; and John M. Swisher, Aditor.
In the election in 1851, there were 28,300 votes cast for Governor, of which P. H. Bell received 13,595; M. T. Johnson, 5,262; J. A. Greer, 4,061; B. H. Epperson, 2,971; T. J. Chambers, 2,320; and there were 100 scattering. For Lieutenant-Governor, J. W. Henderson, 9,659 ; Matt Ward, 7,788 ; Dr. C. G. Keenan, 5,740; and John S. Gillet, 2,644. For a short period, Mr. Henderson filled the Executive Chair, just at the close of the term, Mr. Bell having gone to Washington to take his seat in Congress, to which he had been elected. At the election in 1853, 36,152 votes were cast for Governor, of which E. M. Pease received 13,091; Wm. B. Ochiltree, 9,178; George T. Wood, 5,983; Lemuel D. Evans, 4,677; T. J. Chambers, 2,449 ; John W. Dancy, 315; and 459 scattering. For Lieutenant-Governor, David C. Dickson, 14,215; Dr. J. B. Robertson, 6,868; Jared E. Kirby, 5,967; William C. Henry, 4,823; Richard A. Goode, 835.
CHAPTER II.
PEASE'S ADMINISTRATION-DEBT OF THE OLD REPUBLIC SCALED AND SETTLED- MEXICAN CART WAR-TAXES RELINQUISHED TO COUNTIES-POLITICAL PARTIES- RUNNELS' ADMINISTRATION-RAILROADS-INDIAN RESERVATIONS-CORTINA IN BROWNSVILLE-HOUSTON'S ADMINISTRATION-POLITICAL EXCITEMENT-CORTINA AGAIN-FRONTIER DEFENCE-HOUSTON'S MESSAGE TO THE LEGISLATURE-SECES- SION CONVENTION-ORDINANCE PASSED-TEXAS UNITES WITH THE NEWLY-FORMED CONFEDERACY-HOUSTON DEPOSED.
LISHA M. PEASE was inaugurated Governor on December 21st, 1851 ; was re-elected in 1853, and held the office for four years. In his first message to the Legis- lature, he recommended, as of the utmost importance, that suitable and permanent provision be made for the support of public schools ; and also for the establishment of a State University. He also advised the Legislature to make pro- vision for the establishment of asylums for lunatics, for orphans, for the education of the blind, and the deaf and dumb. And, except the orphan asylum, all went into operation during his official term.
In the debate in Congress in 1850, on the bill for the purchase of Santa Fe, Mr. Pearce, the author of the bill, opposed the reserve of five million bonds in the United States Treasury, as he said, " Because, 1st, I do not wish the United States to become a commissioner in bankruptcy for Texas ; and, 2d, I do not wish to place Texas in the condi- tion of appearing to be obliged to be placed in the hands of a commissioner in bankruptcy."
In the progress of events during the settlement, precisely that state of things occurred. The creditors of Texas demanded better terms than the State law gave them ; and the United States intervened. and in a bill known as the
370
HISTORY OF TEXAS.
Texas Debt Bill, fixed a different scale for graduating that debt and settling with the creditors of the old Republic .*
The scale fixed for paying the creditors of Texas, by the law of February, 1845, was seventy-six and nine-tenths cents on the dollar. Three classes of debts, as scaled by Texas, amounted to more than that while the others were less.
By an old law, the United States were under obligation to restrain their Indians from committing depredations on Spanish subjects in Spanish territory. Under this law Texas presented quite a bill for protecting herself against the incursions of Indians from the United States. This new
* The following table exhibits the sliding scale adopted under the State law :
IN BONDS, TREASURY NOTES, &C.
Face Value. Scaled Value prin & int. to July 1, 1855
Ten per cent. Bonds under Act June 7, 1837.
$1,657,803
70 cents.
Ten per cent. Bonds, Swartout .
29,291
1.00
Ten per cent. Bonds for naval vessels, Dawson Debt
1,211,000
50
Ten per cent. Bonds for naval vessels, Holford Debt
411 404
50
Ten per cent. Bonds for loan of U. S. Bank.
960,498
87 45-100
Ten per cent. Bonds, Funding Act, February, 1840.
1,627,784
30 cents.
Eight per cent. Bonds, Funding Act, February, 1840.
46,596
30
. .
Eight per cent Treasury Bonds, Act February 5, 1940
1,417,650
20
. .
Ten per cent. Treasury Notes, Act June 7, 1837
65,208
1.00
. .
Ten per cent Treasury Notes, Act June 7, 1827
451,708
50
. .
Treasury Notes without interest, Act June, 1830
2,199,728
25
by the l'ex- as Law, per dollar.
The facetious Gouge, on the fiscal affairs of Texas, pronounced this law an act of repudiation ; but adds: " Far be it from us to doubt or deny the sovereign right of a sovereign State to cheat its creditors. This is an attri- bute of sovereignty which the States have never surrendered." If scaling a public debt to its equitable value is repudiation, Texas followed the illus- trious example of some of her elder sisters. The same funny writer pro- posed to have a pig carved in marble and placed over the entrance to the Texas Treasury, because, forsooth, a pig saved Texas from a financial measure in which millions would have been sunk. It happened, says this astute writer, in this wise: "Mr. Bullock's pig ate the corn fed to Mr. Saligny's horses. Mr. Saligny's servant killed the pig; Mr. Bullock chas- tised the servant, and the honorable French Minister made it a matter of complaint to the Government. The matter not being satisfactorily adjusted Mr. Saligny complained to his brother-in-law, Mr. Humann, the French Minister of Finance; and the result was, the contemplated sale of Texas bonds to Messrs. Lafitte & Co., of Paris, failed." But we have had enough of Mr. Gouge and his Financial History of Texas.
371
THE DEBT SCALED AND SETTLED.
Texas debt bill required the State to relinquish all claims on the United States for Indian depredations during the Repub- lic, if the bill was accepted. In a speech of Senator Rusk, made in the Senate July 12th, 1854, he introduced a certified statement from Mr. Shaw, the Comptroller of Texas, show- ing that Texas had expended for protection of the frontier against Indians during the Republic: $3,815,011; in the new Texas debt bill, the United States proposed to add to the previous price paid for Santa Fe, two million seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars. It was estimated that this sum, in addition to the five million bonds still in the treasury, would pay all the debts for which the United States had become responsible; paying each one, as per agreement, seventy-six and nine-tenths cents on the dollar on their respective claims. In addition to which the State must relinquish its claim of nearly four millions of dollars, for protection of the frontier. This bill was very objectiona- ble to the Texans; so much so that at the election when, by proclamation of the Governor, the people were requested to vote on it, of the 45,000 who voted, 11,609 were for accepting the bill ; 13,818 against it, and the others did not vote on it at all. Governor Pease, in his message to the Legislature, says :
"The amount of this debt, on the 1st of July, 1850, as acknowledged by our laws, was $4,435,638.78. If we were to pay it with interest from the 1st. of July, 1850, to the time of payment, (and I presume no one will contend that, if the United States and the creditors were to consent to its payment according to our own laws, we would be justified in refusing to pay the same rate of interest that the stock is drawing), we would have left out of the five millions the sum of $705,452.32.
" If we accede to this Act, we shall receive out of the five millions, the sum of $179,163.93, after paying the creditors according to its provisions, and also paying to those creditors whose pro rata will be less than we owe them, the difference between what we admit to be due them and their pro rata, so that in a pecuniary view we lose but $526,288.39 by accepting this Act, instead of paying the debt in accordance with our own laws."
The Legislature finally passed the bill; and under its provisions, every creditor of the old Republic filed a receipt
372
HISTORY OF TEXAS.
in full in the Treasury Department of the United States, and received his pay. Texas was then out of debt; and, as shown by the report of the Comptroller, there was in the State treasury, exclusive of the school fund, $1,592,742.
The extensive frontier of Texas, almost entirely destitute of population, afforded slaves an opportunity to make their escape into Mexico; and it was supposed that the lower class of Mexicans aided them in their flight. While Texas was at peace, Mexico was convulsed with perpetually recur- ring revolutions, and not a few of the citizens of the former Republic sought a home in Texas. Many of this class had been Peons-indentured servants-at home, and readily associated with the servile population of Texas ; some inter- marrying with negro women. It was thought this imper- rilled the institution of slavery, and public meetings were held at Austin, Gonzales and other towns in Western Texas, and resolutions adopted protesting against the employment of Mexican laborers. But South-western Texas was largely represented by Mexican citizens; and their countrymen from the other side of the Rio Grande contin- ued to seek employment in Texas. Many of them engaged in transporting goods from the western seaports to the interior ; and as they lived very cheaply, and drove ox- carts, they could carry freight at lower prices than regular American freighters. The latter determined to break up the ox-cart business. Bands of armed men collected in Karnes and Goliad and some other counties, and assailed the Mexican trains, in some instances killing the drivers and driving off their oxen. Governor Pease, when informed of this state of things, visited San Antonio, and after inquir- into the facts connected with "The Cart War," called out a company of seventy-five men, and put a stop to the unlaw- ful interference with the cart-men.
In Governor Pease's message to the Legislature, at its session in the fall of 1855, he says :
E M. PEASE.
375
EXTRACTS FROM MESSAGE ON FINANCE.
" It gives me no ordinary pleasure to welcome you to the Capital, and to congratulate you upon the present condition of the State. We are receiv- ing large accessions to our wealth and population; our citizens are in the enjoyment of a healthful season and an abundant harvest; every branch of industry receives its liberal reward, and our inhabitants are prosperous and happy in a degree unexampled in our former history."
We copy other paragraphs from the same message, on the subject of finance :
" For the last four years, as you are aware, the State taxes have been re- linquished to the counties, and the expenses of the government have been paid from the bonds received from the United States government in the set- tlement of our Northwest boundary.
"The amount of these bonds now remaining in the Treasury is $1,575,- 000, and if we continue to rely upon them to meet the expenses of the gov- ernment, they will, with the interest accruing on them, pay these expenses for about eight years.
"But these bonds having been received as the consideration for our relin- quishment of the right of soil and jurisdiction over a portion of the terri- tory acquired by our revolution, ought not to be expended for temporary purposes ; they ought rather to be husbanded and used for objects of public utility, permanent in their character.
"The main reason assigned for relinquishing the State tax to the counties, was to enable them to build court-houses and jails. Those counties which have made a judicious use of this tax are now supplied with these buildings, and this reason can no longer be urged.
"I am opposed to any future relinquishment of the State tax to the coun- ties, and think that it should be relied on to meet the ordinary expenses of the government; this course will probably tend to economy in these ex- penses, for where the means for the support of a government are derived from a direct tax upon the people, it will be found that they are more watch- ful to prevent lavish and improvident appropriations, and hold their officers to a more rigid accountability .
"If we act upon these suggestions, we will still have to use a portion of these bonds to meet the outstanding appropriations for the years 1854 and 1855, and also for the appropriations for the year 1856, as the taxes assessed for that year will not be collected until 1857."*
* During Pease's administration, the principal offices in the executive department were filled as follows : Edward Clark, Secretary of State ; James B. Shaw, Comptroller; James H. Raymond, Treasurer; Thomas J. Jen. nings and James Willey, Attorneys-General; Stephen Crosby, Land Com- missioner.
At the election in 1855, there were 46,339 votes cast for Governor; of which E. H. Pease received 26,336; David C. Dickson, 17,968; scattering, 1,036. For Lieutenant-Governor, Hardin R. Runnels received 21,073; W.
22
376
HISTORY OF TEXAS.
Hardin R. Runnels was inaugurated Governor, December 21st, 1857. During that year a very severe drouth pre- vailed in a considerable portion of the State; but popula- tion and wealth continued to flow in from the older States, and his administration includes a prosperous era in our history.
The Governor, in his message, complains of the slow progress of railroads, notwithstanding the immense land donations, and the loan of $6,000 per mile from the school fund, for every mile of completed road. He advised the Legislature to grant no more charters, and to hold the companies already chartered to a rigid accountability.
G. W. Jowers, 17,817, and Andrew Neill, 4,300. At the election in 1857 there were 56,180 votes polled; of which Hardin R. Runnels received 32,- 552, and Sam Houston 23,628. For Lieutenant-Governor, F. R. Lubbock, 33, 379 ; Jesse Grimes, 20,818, and F. Smith, 878.
It was during Pease's administration that political parties were organ- ized in Texas. The State had been introduced into the Union under the auspices of the Democrats, and the great mass of the people were of that party. The Constitution of 1845 was in accordance with the principles of the Democracy. Banks and banking were prohibited, and the State was prohibited from taking stock in any corporation. At the election in 1853, Pease had five or six competitors for the office. Any one who chose to do so, announced himself a candidate for any elective office; and men were elected on personal considerations. Sometimes an apparently frivolous circumstance affected the election. General Houston often remarked, in a
In jesting manner, that in a parenthesis he had made Lamar President. his first draft of his official report of the battle of San Jacinto, he did not mention Lamar's name; but when he came to revise it, he threw in a par- enthetical sentence, mentioning the heroic feat of Lamar, on the afternoon of April 20th. On the contrary, Henderson said that by the omission of Wood's name, in an official report of one of the battles of Mexico, he had made him his successor. Wood had behaved with distinguished gallantry, and his men felt that he had been slighted in the report, and to compen- sate him, elected him Governor on his return from Mexico. In 1854, the Know-Nothing party was organized, and that party for a time had a large number of lodges in Texas; in some counties electing local officers; and in 1855, returning L. D. Evans to Congress from the eastern district. Dr. Dickson, the Know-Nothing candidate against Pease, received some 4,000 more votes than had ever before been given for Governor. But he lacked still several thousand of an election. After that campaign, the Know- Nothing party ceased to be a factor in Texas politics.
377
LOCAL DISTURBANCES.
While there was general peace throughout the State, there were some local disturbances. The Indians who had been collected upon the reservation in Young county, proved a source of irritation. They had stocks of horses and cattle ; and the frontier settlers had similar stocks. The Indians were accused of committing depredations upon the property of the whites ; quarrels followed, in which a number of the Indians were killed. The result was they had to be re- moved from Texas. There was also trouble on the Rio Grande. It was during this administration that Juan N. Cortina commenced his depredations on that frontier. He, on the 1st of October, took military possession of Browns- ville ; but was soon driven back into Mexico .*
* The Know-Nothing party had but a brief career in Texas. It was a secret society, and secret political societies are contrary to the genius of our institutions. It was said to have had tests of a religious character ; and that is contrary to the American Constitution. Again, it was said to array one race against another; and that, in Texas, which invited inhabitants of all nationalities to become citizens, was unwise and impolitic. For the infor- mation of those not familiar with the political controversies of our country, it may be proper to remark, that for the admission of Missouri into the Union, Mr. Clay introduced one of his compromise measures, which declared that hereafter all States formed north of the line of thirty-six degrees, thirty minutes, should exclude the institution of domestic slavery, but that south of that degree slavery might be adopted or excluded. The compro- mise measure introduced by Mr. Clay in 1850, provided that California should be admitted as a free State; and that the Territories of Utah and New Mexico should be formed without any provision concerning slavery ; that the slave trade should be prohibited in the District of Columbia; and that a fugitive slave law should be enacted, providing for the return to their owners of slaves escaping to a free State.
What was called the Squatter Sovereignty doctrine, incorporated by Sen- ator Douglas into the Kansas-Nebraska bill, introduced into the United States Senate in December, 1854, virtually repealed the Missouri Compro- mise. It declared that that compromise, "being inconsistent with the principles of non-intervention by Congress with slavery in the States and Territories, as recognized by the legislation of 1850, commonly called the Compromise measures, is hereby declared inoperative and void, it being the true intent and meaning of this act, not to legislate slavery into any Terri- tory or State, nor to exclude it therefrom, but to leave the people thereof perfectly free to form and regulate their domestic institutions in their own way, subject only to the Constitution of the United States."
378
HISTORY OF TEXAS.
The operation of the "Kansas-Nebraska " bill, was not as favorable to the South as its friends had anticipated. In the intense sectional excitement of the period, it became apparent that unless some action was taken by the united South, Kansas would become a free State. Governor Runnels called the attention of the Legislature to this subject. In accordance with the Governor's suggestion, the Legislature, in February, 1858, passed a joint resolution on the subject. The preamble announced that a portion of the population of Kansas were determined by force to exclude the citizens of the slaveholding States from a just and peaceful participation in the use and enjoyment of the common property and territory, &c., and passed the follow- ing resolution :
Resolved, &c., That the Governor of the State is hereby authorized to order an election for seven delegates, to meet delegates appointed by the other Southern States in convention, whenever the Executives of a major- ity of the slaveholding States shall express the opinion that such convention is necessary to preserve the equal rights of such States in the Union, and advise the Governor of this State that measures have been taken to meet those of Texas.
The Governor was further authorized to call an extra session of the Legislature, if he deemed it necessary, to
Under the Missouri Compromise, Nebraska and Kansas would have been free States. This bill gave the people of the South permission, if they chose to do so, to enter them with their slaves, and was generally acceptable to the South. Senator Houston voted against it, predicting that it would practically exclude slavery, even from Kansas. That vote was condemned, and he was left out of the Senatorial delegation.
When Texas was admitted into the Union, there were but two political parties in the United States: the Democrats and the Whigs. At the election in 1848 a new party, opposed to any more slave territory, put Mr. Van Buren in the field as a candidate for the Presidency. General Taylor, the Whig candidate, was elected, though Texas voted for Mr. Cass. By the time of the Presidential election in 1856, the Whig party had ceased to exist ; having, in the North, been generally absorbed by the Republican party, which chose John C. Fremont for its Presidential candidate. Millard Fillmore was the candidate of the Whigs. Mr. Buchanan, the Democratic candidate, was elected.
379
HOUSTON ELECTED GOVERNOR
consider this subject, and even to make arrangements for a convention of the people, representing the sovereignty of the State.
At the election held in the fall of 1859, Mr. Runnels was the regular Democratic nominee, and Sam Houston again ran as an Independent candidate .* Houston was elected.+
Sam Houston was inaugurated Governor, December 21st, 1859. It was a period of intense political excitement. The great canvass was just opening which resulted the next year in the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States. Houston had been elected over Mr. Runnels, the regular nominee of the Democratic party in Texas; but he found himself not in harmony with the Legislature. Fires, supposed to be incendiary, were of frequent occurrence. The Indians, after their removal from the reservation, had been more hostile and barbarous than ever. On the Rio Grande frontier, Cortina was committing frequent depredations, sometimes crossing to the Texas side and committing murders and thefts. After sending two commissioners to the Rio Grande to obtain accurate infor- mation, the Governor dispatched Major Forbes Britton to Washington, to secure protection on that border. The result was an order from the War Department to Colonel Robert E. Lee, then in command in Texas, to cross the river, if necessary, and break up Cortina's band. The Governor acted with equal promptness in his efforts to protect the frontier. Five days after his inauguration, he ordered Capt. W. C. Dalrymple to raise a company of sixty men for frontier protection. This was followed in a few days by similar orders to Captains Ed. Burleson, and John
*Executive officers during Runnels' administration : T. S. Anderson, Secretary of State; Clement R. Johns, Comptroller; C. H. Randolph, Treasurer; F. M. White, Commissioner of Land Office; M. D. Graham, Attorney-General.
+At the election, 64,027 votes were cast; for Houston, 36,257; for Runnels 27,500.
380
HISTORY OF TEXAS.
C. Connor. In February, three other companies of twenty- five men each were called out, under Lieutenants White, Salmon and Walker
The frontier being still harassed, on the 9th of March, the Governor authorized the Chief Justice of each of the frontier counties to call out, at any time necessary, a com- pany of fifteen men; and Captain Peter Tomlinson was authorized to raise a company of forty-eight men to range between the Frio and Rio Grande. Colonel M. T. Johnson organized an expedition to pursue the Indians into their own country. Later in the year, Captain L. S. Ross pur- sued a party of savages that had been committing serious depredations in Palo Ponto and Jack counties, and severely punished them; recovering Cynthia Ann Parker, taken prisoner at the Parker's Fort massacre in 1836.
These disturbances did not, could not, divert attention from the exciting scenes of the Presidential election of 1860. Houston had addressed letters to the Governors of other Southern States, suggesting concerted action. He met with no favorable response. On the 17th of December he issued a proclamation, convening the Legislature in extra session, January 21st, 1861. In his message, referring to the subject. he says :
"The Executive feels as deeply as any of your honorable body, the neces- sity for such action on the part of the slaveholding States as will secure to the fullest extent every right they possess. Self-preservation, if not a man- ly love of liberty inspired by our past history, prompts this determination. But he cannot feel that these dictate hasty and unconcerted action, nor can he reconcile to his mind the idea that our safety demands an immediate separation from the Government, ere we have stated our grievances or de- manded redress. A high resolve to maintain our constitutional rights, and failing to obtain them, to risk the perils of revolution, even as our fathers risked it, should, in my opinion, actuate every citizen of Texas; but we should remember that we owe duties and obligations to States having rights in common with us, and whose institutions are the same as ours. No aggression can come upon us which will not be visited upon them, and whatever our action may be, it should be of that character which will bear us blameless to posterity, should the step be fatal to the interests of those States.
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