A twentieth century history and biographical record of north and west Texas, Volume I, Part 10

Author: Paddock, B. B. (Buckley B.), 1844-1922; Lewis Publishing Co., Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1906
Publisher: Chicago, New York, The Lewis publishing co.
Number of Pages: 968

USA > Texas > A twentieth century history and biographical record of north and west Texas, Volume I > Part 10

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On May 5th President Jones issued a call for the election of delegates to a general con- vention to consider the proposition passed by the United States Congress. The convention met at Austin on July 4th, and approved the ordinance of annexation with only one dis- senting voice,-that of Richard Bache, a grandson of Benjamin Franklin. This ordi- nance and a new constitution, adopted by the convention, were submitted to the people and almost unanimously ratified in October. In December following President Polk signed the bill extending the authority of the United States over Texas, and on February 19, 1846, the new system went into effect and President Jones surrendered his office to the newly elect- ed state governor, J. Pinckney Henderson. "The lone star of Texas sank below the horizon to rise again amidst a constellation of unapproachable splendor."

CHAPTER XIII.

THE STATE OF TEXAS FROM 1845 TO 1861.

For fifteen years after annexation Texas re- mained under the stars and stripes of the United States of America, and these were years of plenty, progress, and broad increase for the commonwealth. Texas gained much by surrendering her sovereignty, for henceforth vexatious foreign affairs form no part of her history, and domestic welfare and prosperity are the highest ideals for which her people strive.

The population of Texas at the time of in - corporation into the Union was about one hundred thousand Americans, with a compara- tively small number of Mexicans, and exclu- sive of the Indian tribes. Agriculture, cotton culture, and the raising of cattle and sheep were the principal industries, and, notwith- standing that the inhabitants were, during the first few years, mainly engaged in provid- ing for their immediate necessities, by the time Texas became a state the exports almost equaled in value the imports, and the country had already assumed great importance in the markets of the world. The character of the people presented greatest diversity in manners and customs, in intelligence and tastes, and their freedom from conventionality and bluff frankness and open-heartedness made them, as a people, much misunderstood and caused their manners to be construed as rough and uncivilized. The people of other states came to regard Texas as a refuge and nursery for criminals, and this reputation, however un- justly as to its grounds, clung to the state for many years. It is a characteristic of the general mind to estimate both persons

and communities by their most sensational or attractive actions, especially when distance precludes more intimate knowledge. The re- ports that crossed to the east of the Mississippi concerning the Lone Star state naturally dealt mainly with the harrowing events of the war with Mexico, or with the raids of the Indians, or the disturbances on the Neutral Ground-a repertory of warlike occurrences, indeed greater than was the lot of most states, a reci- tal of which would not tend otherwise than to exaggeration by the popular mind and a picturing of Texas as a land of rampant crime and ruffianism where the man of peace had no place. But the truth seems to be that Texas had only the usual quota of frontier des- perados and criminals, and in this regard would bear comparison with any western state of the period.

By the new state constitution the governor was elected for a term of two years, and was re-eligible. J. Pinckney Henderson, the first governor, was inaugurated in February, 1846. It was during his administration that the war between the United States and Mexico was fought. It will be remembered that Mexico had never ceased to claim Texas, by all the legal and logical devices of which her astute statesmen were capable, although she had never succeeded in putting a sufficient force into the field to carry out her demands. Therefore, when the government at Washing- ton passed the annexation ordinance, Mexico was forced to show her hand then or never. Diplomatic relations were accordingly severed, and a state of hostilities existed between the

HISTORY OF TEXAS.

two countries. General Taylor was ordered from the Sabine to the Nueces, and in May, 1846, the battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma were fought, in which the Mexicans were routed. The scene of war was then transferred mainly to Mexican territory. The Americans were victorious on all occasions, no, matter how small their number might be in comparison with the enemy, and in a short time General Taylor was conqueror of all northern Mexico; Kearney was in possession of New Mexico; Fremont occupied California ; and General Scott completed the campaign by fighting his way from Vera Cruz to the City of Mexico, which was captured in Septem- ber, 1847.

In this war Governor Henderson took com- mand of the Texan contingent, and altogether about eight thousand men responded for serv- ice in this conflict. The Texans displayed un- exampled bravery wherever there was a diffi- cult position to be stormed or the brunt of assault to be sustained, and the Texan rangers especially won lasting renown and respect for their dashing bravery. "The efficiency of these mounted troopers was marked wherever the army advanced. Serving equally as well on foot as on horseback, they would storm a height or charge the enemy's cavalry with the same indifference, intrepidity and suc- cess. On the road they were the terror of the guerrilla bands, and in the town objects of dread to antagonists, and of awe to non- combatants. Their uncouth, wild and fierce appearance, their strange garb, and their repu- tation for contempt of every form of danger, gained for them in Mexico the belief that they were more than human-that they were be- ings intermediate between man and devil."

The second governor of Texas, who took office in December, 1847, was George T. Wood, with Lieutenant-Governor John A. Greer. In 1849 P. Hansborough Bell was elected gover- nor, and received re-election in 1851. In 1853 Elisha M. Pease was chosen governor, with his running mate David C. Dickson, and by re-election Pease served till 185%. The prin- cipal matters of historical importance during

these administrations, besides the general prosperity and progress of the state along all lines of her industrial, commercial, edu- cational and civic affairs, were those relating to the settlement of the western boundaries, to the state debt, and to the Indians.

The boundary dispute and the settlement of the state indebtedness went together in their eventual settlement. As has been made clear on previous pages, the government of Texas claimed a large part of what is now New Mex- ico, and even went to the extent of sanction- · ing an expedition to occupy Santa Fe. It seems, however, that these claims were based more on assertion and theoretical construc- tion than on specific grounds that would have weight in international law. By the treaty of 1848 between Mexico and the United States, New Mexico was a part of the vast territory ceded to the latter government. In the same year the Texas legislature passed an act ex- tending its jurisdiction over New Mexico, but when a Texas judge endeavored to hold court in the territory he came into direct conflict with the federal authorities, and for a time it looked as if resort might be had to arms. This deadlock of claims continued into the administration of Governor Bell.

When Texas surrendered her nationality she likewise gave over the customs and revenues which a sovereign nation enjoys. But all the loans of the republic had been based upon these receipts as security, and of course the bondholders at once applied to the United States for satisfaction. The question whether the general government should be responsible for these claims was discussed in both houses of Congress, and in the end became combined with the boundary matter, and the two were pushed toward settlement by compromise. Henry Clay brought in a compromise measure for the adjudication of the several claims, by which the claims to New Mexico were to be traded off for a payment of the state debt. The Texas legislature, in the meantime, was showing increased determination to hold on to her boundaries, and a militant attitude characterized the people from the government

HISTORY OF TEXAS.

down whenever the matter was discussed. Fin- ally, in August, 1850, a definite proposition was brought before the senate in a bill by Senator Pearce of, Maryland, and this meas- ure, known as the Boundary Act, in the fol- lowing month passed the two houses and was signed by the president, after which it was submitted to the Texas government. Violent opposition was shown to its propositions, but toward the end of November the measure was accepted.

The provision of this act settled-with a recent exception to be noted hereafter-the permanent boundaries of Texas as we know them today. The eastern. and northern boundaries were fixed by the treaty of 1819, as described in an earlier chapter, and now the remaining sides of this great common- wealth assumed the forms seen on the maps. By this act of 1850 the present northernmost limit of the state-the top of the Panhandle- was to run along the parallel of thirty-six de- grees and thirty minutes north, from the hun- dredth to the one-hundred and third meridian west. From the latter point of intersection the boundary should run due south to the thir- ty-second degree of north latitude, and thence should run west on that parallel until it met the course of the Rio Grande, which, thence to its mouth, should form the southern and southwestern boundary of the state. These demarcations form the present western con- tour of the state, and it will be seen that Texas has a long tongue of land extending out along the Rio Grande, which forms, ap- proximately, the base of the large territory claimed from New Mexico. Outside of these limits, according to the enactment, Texas was to surrender all her claims to territory, and also to relinquish her claims upon the United States for settlement of the outstanding debts of the old republic. The United States, on the other hand and in return for this relin- quishment, was to pay Texas ten million dol- lars in five per cent bonds, but no more than five million dollars of the stock to be issued until the creditors of the state had filed at the United States treasury releases for all

claims against the latter nation on account of Texas bonds-a provision for insuring prop- er use of the money which was not at all willingly accepted by the Texans. This first payment of five million dollars was accord- ingly made to Texas in February, 1852.

But with the boundary question settled, the settlement of the debt still continued to vex the government for several years. As has been indicated, the bonds of the old Texas re- public were by no means realized on at their par value, and therefore action was taken by the various state legislatures to classify the liabilities and to scale down the payment of the same according to the actual amount re- ceived from the bond issues by the state. The entire list of claims as calculated in 1851 amounted to more than twelve million dol- lars, but by the scaling process this amount was reduced to about seven millions. Over the governor's veto, the legislature finally deter- mined to settle the debt on this basis, prac- tically repudiating half the par value of the bonds which had been issued by the republic. This state law, as passed in January, 1852, did not offer terms satisfactory to the bondholders, and few of the claims had been liquidated up to 1855. During the administration of Gover- nor Pease the matter was finally adjusted.

In the meantime Texas had raised another claim against the general government, on the ground that she had expended more than half of the original payment of five million dollars for protection against the incursions of Indians from Mexico, which, it was claimed, the federal authorities were under obligation to prevent, and which should no longer be a matter of ex- pense to the state. Also, the bondholders con- tinued their appeals to the United States in- stead of to the Texas government for satisfac- tion of their claims. Under these circumstances Congress interfered, set aside the scale of re- ductions as adopted by the legislature, and, adding $2,750,000 to the five millions retained in the treasury, apportioned the entire sum, pro rata, among the creditors; refunding, however, to Texas all claims previously paid by the state, and providing that Texas should finally relin-

HISTORY OF TEXAS.

quish all claims upon the federal government, Against much opposition this arrangement was acceded to by Texas, and the matter perma- nently adjusted. The first payment of five mil- lion dollars from the United States was a god- send to the young state government, and was the foreign obligations of the state, but by pay- ing the immediate running expenses of the state machinery so that taxes were for several years remitted to the respective communities to be used for erection of court houses and jails, etc. though this atrocity was denounced by the gov- ernor, prejudice and race hatred were so strong in the affected communities that the removal or extermination of the red men was the only solution. The inhabitants were assembling in armed bands, and agents and United States advantageously employed not only in fulfilling , troops were unable to afford protection to the natives. Accordingly removal seemed neces- sary, and in August, without even being al- lowed to remain long enough to gather their crops or collect their cattle, the Indian exiles, to the number of about fifteen hundred, were con- ducted, under guard of United States regulars, across the Red river, to a place not yet the ob- ject of covet to the white man.

Indian affairs were also alluded to as once more intruding themselves into historical prominence during this period. The Comanches were the main aggressors, as a rule making in- cursions and depredations upon the Texans while on an extended raid into Mexican terri- tory, which was their favorite field of opera- tions. Some of the tribes across the Red river in Indian Territory were likewise addicted to hostile and predatory attacks upon the settlers. The Texan Indians were in fact being crowded more and more from their former haunts, and were hardly able to exist except by stealing from their white neighbors. A remedy was ap- plied to this state of affairs by colonizing the red men. Two reservations were set apart in Young county near Fort Belknap, and in a short time the colonies were in a highly pros- perous condition, agriculture flourishing, the people being marked by good behavior and sobriety, and the plan seemed to be destined to a successful outcome. But in two or three years the white settlements had reached out and em- braced the reservations, and conflicts between the two races-in which white greed played no small part-were inevitable. A number of white ruffians leagued themselves with the renegades among the Indians, and horse-steal- ing and killing stock became so frequent as to be highly exasperating to the whites. The brunt of the blame was of course placed upon the red men, and the innocent and guilty alike were compelled to suffer the expatriation if not annihilation which has been the doom of their kind. In December, 1858, a massacre of a num- ber of Indians took place on the Brazos, and, al-

During the period covered by this chapter also occurred what is designated in Texas an- nals as the Cart war. As may be supposed, the feelings of the Americans toward the Mexicans in Texas were not yet freed from the animosity of revolutionary days, although it is character- istic of our people to forgive and forget, and it was inevitable that the Mexican race should suffer discrimination if not actual outrage in their competition for the ordinary occupations of life. Moreover, the Mexicans in Texas were mainly of the lower orders, many of them peons, who felt no compunctions in associating on the plane of social equality with the black slaves of the Texans. In 1856 a conspiracy was discovered in Colorado county by which was contemplated a general insurrection of the negroes, and a massacre of the whites. This was of course put down with great severity, and, on the ground that all the Mexican popu- lation were also privy to if not actually impli- cated in the affair, the Mexicans were ordered to leave the country on pain of death. This was the first open rupture between the two races, but the antagonism increased. The Mexican cartmen, in those days when all goods had to be transported across the country by team and wagon, sold their services at a rate far below that demanded by the American wagoners, and were, it is claimed, much more reliable and trustworthy than the latter. But Americans are not accustomed to surrender to cheap labor if laws of discrimination, or public opinion or

HISTORY OF TEXAS.

force provide any wall of protection, and the Texan wagoners at once took advantage of the animosity against the Mexican race and de- clared open war on their competitors. All kinds of outrages were perpetrated upon the cartmen, property was destroyed and murders com- mitted, until the Mexican minister at Washing- ton laid complaints before the government and also Governor Pease made recommendations to the legislature to deal drastically with the of- fenders. A volunteer company of soldiers was inadequate to stop the lawlessness, and com- merce in the vicinity of San Antonio came al- most to a standstill. When the supply of Mexi- can cartmen failed, the wagonmen turned their depredations upon other forms of property. This was the end, for when touched upon their own possessions the citizens took the matter in hand and made short work of the outlaws, lynching many and soon breaking up the or- ganization.

Indian troubles continued unabated after the removal of the tribes from their reservations into Indian Territory, and the United States regulars and the rangers had all they could do to protect the wide extent of frontier territory. The attacks were so sudden and unexpected, were made by such small bands and in such widely separated localities, that there seemed little likelihood of permanent relief from the scourge until the entire country should be settled up and society become.so compact that law could search out offenders against all degrees of justice.

Somewhat later, beginning with 1859, the Rio Grande border became a scene of conflict between the settled communities and an army of desperados which assumed considerable im- portance. Cortina was a Mexican who, while confining himself to civilized pursuits, was a stockman, but, finding that occupation desul- tory and insufficiently gainful, he turned cattle thief and bandit, gathered a crowd of similarly minded ruffians about him, and, later under the guise of carrying on a war for the liberty and welfare of his Mexican kindred oppressed by American aggression, led his cohorts against the armed soldiery and set order and law at

defiance. Cortina found it to his advantage to assume the role of protector and champion of the Mexican population so outraged in the Cart war and by the various acts of hostility between the two races.

In July, 1859, Cortina and some of his fol- lowers got into trouble in Brownsville, and in the month of September he led a body of mounted men against the town, took posses- sion, killed one or two men, terrorized the place, and then retired. He issued a proclama- tion setting forth his purpose in engaging in hostilities against the Americans, and threat- ened to relieve the country of all enemies of the Mexican inhabitants of the state. A little later his lieutenant was captured by the Texans and hanged, an act that roused the bandit leader to vengeance. Towards the latter part of October the American troops, reinforced by a Mexican company from Matamoras, attacked Cortina, but were discomfited and had to retreat. This was followed by an ambuscade of an American troop, and for a time the Mexican seemed to be master of the situation. . In the latter part of November another ill-organized attack of the Americans failed, and Cortina's forces were rapidly increasing. But in December a com- pany of United States regulars and a troop of Texas rangers captured one of Cortina's camps, and ther rapidly followed him up on his course of devastation and completely defeated him near Rio Grande City, finally driving the bor- der ruffian out of Texas. This was not ac- complished, however, until a large area of country had been ruined and many lives lost.

One phase of the political life of early Texas deserves passing mention. Strict party lines were not drawn in Texas politics until during Pease's administration. Up to that time per- sonal popularity had as a rule been the pre- dominating factor in the election of the officers of government and prominent men had pulled the votes according to the impression they had made upon the popular mind. And it was some time after Texas joined the Union before the party alignment so closely observed in the na- tion spread over and became a feature of the political life of the new state. Texas being

HISTORY OF TEXAS.

holding office. This fundamental doctrine was now enlarged into a proscription of Roman Catholics, and the entire movement became a cult rather than a political faction, having many mysterious rites and promulgating principles, it was claimed, abhorrent to the Constitution of

admitted under Democratic rule, it was natural that her first political sentiments should be in line with that party, but it was some years be- fore these feelings were intensified into con- victions and she was called upon to adopt one system of governmental policy in preference to another. About 1854, after the wreck of the , the United States. Its lodges became numerous Whig party and while the elements of the Re- and its influence in elections for a time was seriously large. In 1855 this party succeeded in electing a congressman, but failed to elect the governor, and after this defeat their or- ganization and power rapidly waned and they passed from Texas history. publican party were slowly coalescing, a wave of Know-nothingism passed over Texas. It was a political excrescence having at its root the old "native" party, whose one definite prin- ciple was to keep naturalized foreigners from

CHAPTER XIV. 1

THE CIVIL WAR PERIOD-POLITICAL EVENTS LEADING UP TO SECESSION- THE PART OF TEXAS IN THE WAR.

It was the happy lot of Texas that she lay outside the main path of destruction wrought by the havoc-making storm of civil war. Thousands of her sons offered lives, strength or material resources to the southern cause, but few and unimportant are the battlefields in the state marking where the brothers of the north and the south fought sincerely for divergent beliefs. For this reason Texas recuperated more rapidly than the states which were the main theater of war, and after the period of civil war and reconstruction was finally past the in- dustries, commerce, arts and social and political progress once more flourished upon her broad bosom, and by the dawn of the twentieth cen- tury the state had become one of the leaders in several departments of production and enter- prise. But the Civil war period was a time of stagnation if not of retrogression, and the ter- rible scourge of the war, in direct and indirect relations, forms one more chapter of large events in Texas history.

It transcends the limitations of this work to inquire fully into the manifold causes and ex- ternal influences which in combination brought about the Civil war. Indeed, the entire right and wrong on each side has not yet been en- tirely sifted out from the mass of facts; we are not yet far enough away to get the true his- torical perspective. But in this brief chapter may be given the general facts concerning Texas' connection with this great tragedy of the Union.

As has been indicated heretofore, Texas was a logical slave state. Her geographical latitude,

her climate, her industrial opportunities aligned her among those divisions of the world who were the last to break away from an institution which had been fastened upon both barbarism and civilization from time unrecorded. The in- stitution had its roots in the past, tradition sanctioned it; to the southern people, from the viewpoint of their past and their then present, it was not simply a matter of sentiment, it was an absolute material necessity, and to outlaw it seemed arbitrary, an infringement on the cardinal points of liberty, and was not to be tolerated.

But slavery per se was the ultimate, not the immediate cause of the Civil war. It was a contest between unionism and disunionism ; whether or not the individual state could with- draw the national power once conferred upon the federal government, and whether or not the collective will of the majority of the whole people should prevail over any minority, was the question which was decided most em- phatically by this internecine strife. It was the old and the new and the ever present issue betweenspecialand universal interests, whether the powers of a government shall be deflected for the nurture of one class to the detriment of another, whether capital shall be preferred be- fore labor or vice versa, and all the other dom- inant issues which have confronted the Ameri- can people since their republic began, and which at various times have ranged the same people on opposite political principles.

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A twentieth century history and biographical record of north and west Texas, Volume I, Part 10

Author: Paddock, B. B. (Buckley B.), 1844-1922; Lewis Publishing Co., Chicago, pub Publication date: 1906 Publisher: Chicago, New York, The Lewis publishing co. Number of Pages: 968

Author: Paddock, B. B. (Buckley B.), 1844-1922; Lewis Publishing Co., Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1906
Publisher: Chicago, New York, The Lewis publishing co.
Number of Pages: 968