A twentieth century history and biographical record of north and west Texas, Volume I, Part 8

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 8

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HISTORY OF TEXAS.

objects of prime importance to maintain a na- tional existence. The citizen army naturally dissolved after the invasion was repelled, and had it not been for the many American volun- teers coming into the country a military or- ganization would have been impossible, and as it was there was not means to equip and main- tain this soldiery. The navy was a matter of much solicitude on the part of the infant re- public, and for two years there was practically no navy, after which a few vessels were main- tained which were finally consolidated with the navy of the United States.

One of the first acts of congress was to issue bonds, with the public domain as security, and commissioners were sent abroad to negotiate them to the amount of two million dollars. The public land question was one of the most important which came up before the various changes of administration, and policies both wise and unwise were from time to time adopted until the matter was systematized. The first congress of the republic had many tasks, and it was some time before the new machinery moved harmoniously.

A national seal and a standard were also adopted. The former was much like the present state seal in general design, while the first flag was an azure ground upon the center of which was a golden star. This was later changed to a tricolor, with a blue vertical field next to the staff on which was the Lone Star, and two horizontal stripes, the white above the red. The boundary between Mexico and Texas as claimed by this first congress was declared to extend from the mouth of the Rio Grande to its source, thus including a large part of what is now New Mexico. The first session of con- gress, which was held at Columbia, lasted about two months, and its work was in the main harmonious and beneficial to the repub- lic.

In the year of Texan independence and only a few weeks after the government was con- stituted there passed from the ranks of the true and noble patriots Lorenzo de Zavala and Stephen Austin. The latter will always be revered as the founder of modern Texas and

the most powerful of the steadying influences which wrought out the salvation of the state during its most trying crises.

There were two sessions of congress in 1837. The most important work undertaken by it was the settlement of the land question. No country ever presented a worse tangle of titles than Texas, over which in less than half a century three successive national gov- ernments had held sway, with consequent overlapping of claims. As has been shown, the government was very generous in its bounties to volunteers during the war for in- dependence as also in its inducements to col- onists later. This gave opportunity for ex- tensive land frauds, and speculators reaped rich harvests from the confusion. Claims were brought to light without the least cover of justification, forgeries were frequent, head- rights were bought and sold indiscriminately, and all kinds of land-steals were devised. Another thing; the constitution provided that the public domain should be sectionized ac- cording to American usage, but the old settlers held to the divisions of leagues and labors, and this latter custom in the end prevailed. Toward the end of this year a general land law was finally passed, which, though defective and not preventing all the frauds, provided the best system available at the time which, while dealing justly with past claims, would also give generous opportunities to the new claim- ants. Proper arrangements were made for surveying the domains, and new county divis- ions were also effected during this year (the old municipalities having been converted into counties).

During this time the Indians were giving no little trouble to the settlers as they pushed out toward the frontier and aggressed on the hunting grounds of the red men. Treaties were from time to time entered into between the Indians and the whites, but Indian depre- dation and warfare were destined to character- ize Texan history during the greater part of the nineteenth century. President Houston's dealings with the red men were throughout marked with a spirit of conciliation and justice

HISTORY OF TEXAS.

on a par with the relations between civilized men, but his successor and the people in gen- eral did not emulate his example.

The financial outlook during Houston's ad- ministration was most depressing. The Tex- ans inaugurated their national housekeeping with greater sumptuousness and liberality than their conditions would warrant, and they were compelled to suffer the usual penalty for extravagance. Despite Houston's economy the public debt at the end of 1838 was nearly two million dollars, and the republic's credit was nearly exhausted. The various efforts to raise money had met with only partial success, and Texas paper was below.par on all foreign exchanges and the decline still continuing. The commerce of the country was not yet large, and the industrial machinery was not so well organized and effectively working as to pro- duce much beyond home consumption. At this time therefore the prosperity of Texas was more in prospect than in actuality, and despite the encouraging signs there were many prob- lems for the inexperienced government to solve.

The constitution provided that the first president was to hold office two years, and thereafter the term was to be three years; and that the incumbent was not eligible for a suc- cessive term. Therefore Houston's first term as president of the Republic of Texas expired in December, 1838, and on the preceding Sep- tember Mirabeau B. Lamar was almost unani- mously chosen president, with David G. Bur- net vice president.

Lamar's administration, which lasted from December, 1838, to the corresponding month in 1841, was in many respects a reversal of Houston's, and the republic suffered more from change in presidential policies than from any other one cause. Lamar's line of action as set forth in his message to congress is in- dicated in his aversion to annexation to the United States, his advocacy of a definite and progressive educational system, a retaliatory and exterminative warfare against the Indians,

in contrast with the previous merciful treat- ment of them, and a progressive building up and strengthening of the national bulwarks and powers.

Problems of finance offered the greatest dif- ficulty, and that they were not well solved is shown by the fact that during this administra- tion the public debt increased from two million to seven and one half million dollars, while the public credit became exhausted, and Texas securities were worth only a few cents on the dollar and scarcely negotiable anywhere. The land tax and the various tariff laws were of necessity continued, although free trade was the goal to be early sought. Lamar proposed the founding of a national bank, which, however, was never done. The establishment and pur- .chase of a navy also drew heavily upon the credit of the government, as also an adequate system of frontier defense. The bond issues during this period, although backed up by the strongest pledges of the republic and secured by the public domain and offered at high rates of interest, went begging in the United States because of the wariness of the financiers who had lately passed through a "hard times" period and looked with suspicion on the paper of Texas; while a quarrel between a hotel- keeper and the French minister to Texas caused a breaking off of diplomatic relations between the republic and France and at the same time put an end to the bond sale already nearly arranged for between French bankers and the Texas commissioner. Similar negotia- tions in England also failed. The treasury notes of the republic were unredeemed and therefore had to be accepted on pure faith. During this period the excess of imports over exports was in the ratio of seven to one. In fact, the financial bad management in connec- tion with other ill-advised and unsuccessful ventures of the administration made Lamar so unpopular that he retired from the active duties of the presidency and during the last year of his term Vice President Burnet was acting president.

But, admitting a lack of the necessary ex- ecutive ability for the crises then confronting

HISTORY OF TEXAS.

Texas and that Lamar was visionary and in- temperate in many of his acts, it remains to be said that the exigencies from within and the troubles threatening from without were most trying and probably could not have been satis- factorily dealt with by any man.

It is doubtful if any state in the Union has suffered more continuously and severely from the Indians than has Texas. From the days of La Salle until their last depredations only a few years ago they were a constant menace to all efforts at civilization and permanent habitation. The name Apache and Comanche have become synonyms for ferocity, blood- thirstiness and the worst traits of savagery, and for years the tribes of that race harried the frontier and carried their warfare even to the heart of the settlements. The history of Indian warfare and outrage in Texas would fill volumes, and of course only a meager out- line of facts can be given here.

It was during Lamar's administration that the famous organization known as the Texas Rangers had its origin. For hardihood, reck- less daring, ability to undergo hardships, and intelligence and individual shiftiness and skill, these men have never been surpassed. Their deeds have often risen to the highest consum- mation of personal courage, and yet rough as they were and accustomed to the hardest side of life they were as big-hearted and tender to those in trouble and generous on all occasions as the most chivalrous of men under any clime in the world. This splendid body of men has been a permanent feature of the military de- fense of Texas from the days of the republic to the present time, and while in some degree resembling the militia of other states, their al- most constant service and their effectiveness at all times and places make them unique and peerless among the armed protectors of the civil welfare. They could live in the saddle, and while, for the most part, pursuing the or- dinary occupations of their neighbors, they were ready at a moment's notice to fly to the danger point and ward off an Indian raid or hurry in revenge for murderous outrage or depredation committed by Indian or outlaw.

During the early part of Lamar's term several large appropriations were voted to support some twelve hundred of these mounted volun- teers, who were to protect the line of frontier settlements, the period of service to be six months.

These rangers as well as the private citizens had their hands full during these years. Im- migration was pouring in rapidly after the ces- sation of hostilities between Texas and Mexico, and the hardy pioneers were not particular where or on whose land they settled provided the soil was rich and they could gain a title thereto and defend it. It is not the place here to raise the question whether the Anglo-Saxon race is justified in seizing every country on which it can put its hands and ousting the in- ferior population and making way for civiliza- tion, but it is certain that such was the course of history in the United States as between the white and the red men. The Indians in Texas naturally claimed certain tracts as their own hunting grounds, and like any sentient crea- tures they would protest more or less em- phatically against expulsion from their do- mains. So fearless and resolute, however, was the Texan pioneer that he cared not a whit about the dangers incident to settling on Indian ground or any prior claims of the red men thereto. Consequently encroachments on the part of the whites brought on retalia- tory raids from the natives, and as the border gradually expanded it was the scene of bloody and relentless warfare, in which homes were desolated and women and children cut down or carried into the horrors of Indian captivity, followed by a like expiation for the crimes on the part of the red population.

As has been mentioned, the Mexican govern- ment, impotent itself to prosecute an active war against Texas, resorted to underhanded methods in fostering rebellion and discontent among the inhabitants, and stirring up the natives wherever possible. In 1838 there oc- curred what is known as the Nacogdoches re- bellion, in which the Mexican population about Nacogdoches and a force of Indians dis- claimed allegiance to Texas, but before the

HISTORY OF TEXAS.

army of the republic could reach them the mal- contents had dispersed. This was probably part of the movement by which Mexico hoped to arouse the natives to ceaseless hostility against the Texans, and shortly afterward one Manuel Flores was sent across the country bearing dispatches to the northeastern Indians outlining the methods of warfare, but this com- missioner and his followers, having committed several murders, were pursued and attacked by a number of Texans, Flores was killed, and the dispatches thus fell into the hands of the Texan government.

The authorities were aroused by this threatened danger from their Cherokee neigh- bors on the north, and it was determined to remove the tribe beyond reach of the settle- ments-the Cherokee lands, moreover, being most rich and more than any other coveted by the land-grabbers. When negotiations for peaceable removal of the tribe failed, General Douglass moved against them with some five hundred men, in two engagements killed over a hundred of them, and drove them from their abodes.

The fiercest and most troublesome Indians of this period were the Comanches, to the north and west of San Antonio. Matters came to a crisis with them in 1840. Showing a dis- position to make peace, twelve of their chiefs came to San Antonio and met in council the Texan commissioners. Demand was made upon the chiefs to return some captives which it was known they held, and on their refusal to comply soldiers were brought into the council chamber and the chieftains were told they would be held as captives until the white prisoners were produced. Then ensued a des- perate fight, in which the twelve Indians were killed, and the struggle was continued by the redskins in the town until all were either killed or captured. For this deed, which the Indians considered an act of treachery, a war of re- taliation was carried on. Two attacks were made on Victoria, and the town of Linnville was burned, and after killing a number of persons and raiding the stock the Comanches set out for home. The Texans rapidly gathered,

and at some distance from Gonzales a con- flict took place, in which the Comanches were completely routed and most of the stock and booty recovered. A little later Colonel Moore, with a force of about a hundred Tex- ans and Lipan Indians, followed the trail of the Comanches to their village, where he at- tacked and nearly exterminated the entire population, men, women and children.

During Lamar's term the Mexican federal- ists were active in endeavoring to secure the co-operation of the Texans in a revolution against the central government, proposing to set up a separate federation among some of the northern states. These proposals met with no favor among the Texan authorities, but they attracted a number of restless spirits seeking adventure and military glory. The "Republic of the Rio Grande" was short-lived mainly be- cause of the fickleness and treachery of the Mexicans who tried to set it up. The Ameri- cans who took part in the movement displayed their characteristic bravery and defiance of Mexican force, and when deserted by their federalist allies they on several occasions scat- tered the overwhelming forces opposed to them and succeeded in reaching Texas in safety.

One other military expedition of this period is worthy of note, although ending in a com- plete fiasco. The Texas congress of 1836 claimed as its southwestern boundary line the Rio Grande to its source. Within this territory lies Santa Fe and a large part of New Mexico, and it was proposed to open up commercial re- lations with this rich city and if possible es- tablish Texan authority over that country. This movement failed to obtain the sanction of the congress, and was therefore mainly a pri- vate enterprise, although President Lamar gave his support to it and gave official instruc- tions as to its course. The expedition, con- sisting of about three hundred soldiers, set out from Austin in June, 1841, the distance from there to Santa Fe being about a thousand miles and the way beset with difficulties and dangers and privations. There was an insuffi- cient supply of provisions, the desert regions

HISTORY OF TEXAS.

offered little water or grass, and if a straggler got away from the main force he at once fell prey to the watchful Indians. When they finally arrived in the vicinity of their goal they were so worn and nearly famished that General McLeod, the leader, divided the force into two detachments, the stronger to go in advance and, the weaker party to follow more slowly. Gov- ernor Armijo of Santa Fe had already been in- formed of the expedition, and because of his own unpopularity as a tyrannical ruler he feared that his subjects would seize the op- portunity to revolt and set up an independent . government with the aid of the Texans. He therefore sent out a force to intercept the Tex- ans, which, falling in with the advance band, by treacherous misrepresentation induced them to surrender. A little later the second division of Texans, weakened by hardships and in no condition to resist, also surrendered on promise of good treatment, and all were then sent under strong guard to the capital at Mexico, and there confined in dungeons. Some, onthe ground of their citizenship in the United States or other countries, procured their re- lease, and in June, 1842, Santa Anna, now once more in power, set the rest of them at liberty, with the exception of the unfortunate com- missioner, Navarro, who was an object of especial hatred to Santa Anna and who lan- guished in prison for several years before making his escape. Thus ended an expedition which was little better than a wild goose chase anyway, and its absolute failure added no little discredit to the already suffering repu- tation of President Lamar.

During this administration Texas became recognized by various nations as an independ- ent and sovereign state. Recognition had been accorded by the United States in 1837. Texas' inclination to a free-trade policy gained her favor with England, and a commercial treaty was negotiated between them in 1838, and recognition as an independent government was extended in 1842, although not without much opposition from the anti-slavery element in England. In 1839 a treaty was signed between France and Texas, although diplomatic rela-

tions were later severed for a time, as above mentioned. And in 1840 Holland and Belgium held out the hand of fellowship to the infant republic across the seas.

One very important act of the administra- tion was the permanent location of the capi- tal. We have seen that the first congress met at Columbia on the Brazos. The next capi- tal was Houston, which was chosen by the first congress and was laid out in time for the sec- ond session, this continuing the seat of gov- ernment until 1840. In January, 1839, a bill was passed by which five commissioners were to locate a permanent capital, and it is evidence of the foresight of those early legislators that they provided the capital town should be be- tween the Trinity and Colorado rivers and above the old San Antonio road. Nearly all the settlements were at this time south of that famous highway-which had been the route between Louisiana and Mexico ever since the days of French and Spanish occupation,-but it was seen that in a few years this line would be southeast of the center of population as it was of the geographical center. The commis- sioners laid out the seat of government on the north bank of the Colorado river, and most fit- ly gave it the name of Austin, where the gov- ernment buildings were soon erected, the first sessions of congress being held practically on the outskirts of the wilderness.

In September, 1841, the second general election of the republic was held, and once more General Houston was the favorite of the people, he receiving twice as many votes as his opponent, David G. Burnet. Edward Burleson was elected vice-president.

In 1842, when a Spanish invasion was threatened, President Houston decided that Austin was too unprotected a place for the meeting of the government, and a special ses- sion convened in June of that year at Hous- ton, and the regular session of December met at Washington. The citizens of Austin were very much exasperated at this action, and de- termined that wherever the government might go the archives should remain at the place officially designated as the capital. This gave

HISTORY OF TEXAS.

rise to what was known as the Archive war. In December Houston sent a company of sol- diers to bring the most necessary state papers to Washington, and the captain succeeded in loading up three wagons with documents and in getting out of town, but on the follow- ing morning he found a loaded cannon bar- ring his progress, and he had to treat with the resolute citizens of Austin and return the archives to their proper home. During the rest of the republic's existence the congress met at Washington without the archives,- but the convention to consider annexation to the United States was held in Austin, which thenceforth remained the permanent capital.

Upon his entrance to the presidential office Houston at once showed a disposition to ad- minister the affairs of the Republic radically different from his predecessor. His policy throughout in dealing with the Indians was to make treaties with them which should be strictly observed by the whites, and to estab- lish trading posts all along the frontier, each with a small garrison, to prevent encroach- ment on the territory of the settlers and to maintain strict neutrality.

But the most important result of his term was the severe economy introduced in the management of the republic's affairs. As Houston remarked in his first message, the nation was "not only without money, but with- out credit, and, for want of punctuality, with- out character." One of the first acts of his ad- ministration was an issue of exchequer bills, which, as flat money, had in the course of a year depreciated to twenty-five cents on the dollar, just as had been the case with the previous deluges of treasury notes. Borrow- ing was hardly any longer possible, credit paper was not acceptable, therefore the only resource left was to cut the government gar- ment according to the size of the cloth. Re- trenchment was, accordingly, not only the policy but also the necessity of Houston's ad- ministration. The first blow was at govern- ment officialdom itself. With a white popu-

lation in the republic of something like one hundred thousand, the salaries paid in 1840 to the officers at the seat of government amounted to $174,000, nearly two dollars per capita in a country whose resources were just beginning to be developed, already taxed to the utmost by revolution and Indian wars. What a scal- ing down of salaries and elimination of figure- head offices were effected during Houston's term may be imagined when the amount paid to government officers in 1842 shows less than $33,000. While Lamar's administration cost five million dollars, Houston's three years showed a total of barely half a million.

During this administration the Republic of Texas was embarrassed somewhat by her navy. This adjunct of the national govern- ment was not delivered until 1839, before which time the republic had managed to sur- vive without sea-hounds tied before her door- way, and after the Lone Star did float over the squadron of some half dozen vessels, the government had much ado to find employment for them. The Mexican fleet had already been put out of commission by the French, the Tex- an ships were monarchs of the gulf coast and, in view of the still-existing hostilities be- tween Mexico and Texas, a blockade was de- clared against the ports of the former, which not sufficing to employ the navy, some of the ships were loaned to Yucatan to assist in a revolution. A little later insubordination on tne part of one of the ship commanders to President Houston gave occasion to alterca- tions of no little heat, and the exasperation in- creasing, congress finally passed a secret res- olution to sell the navy. The popular out- burst against this act was so strong that the sale was not attempted, and the navy con- tinued as a source of national glory and ex- pense until its final amalgamation with the ships of Uncle Sam.

In this period Texas had her war of the Regulators and Moderators, which began in 1842. The scene of this was in the old Neutral Ground, which figured so prominently in the first two decades of Texas history and still continued the seat of some ill-assorted char-

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A twentieth century history and biographical record of north and west Texas, Volume I, Part 8

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