History of Texas, from its discovery and settlement, with a description of its principal cities and counties, and the agricultural, mineral, and material resources of the state

Dedication

To the people of Texas and the United States, this work is respectfully inscxibed, with the fervent hope that it may, in some degree, lead to a better understanding of the past, and tend somewhat to the diminution of all unpleasant feelings engendered in their hearts by their mutual sufferings and calamities during the late contest betw-een the Northern and Southern States.

In a history of Texas, it is impossible to omit the four long weary years of war, yet the writer has not treated these at any length, nor attempted a description of a single one of the many bloody engagements of the war, hoping that they may be remembered alone to prevent their recurrence.

The cettlement of Anglo-Americans in Texas, and the causes which led to the Texas Revolution, and the establishment of the Kepublic of Texas, with a narrative of the principal events which occurred during its existence, constitute the main part of this volume, and vindicate the citizens of Texas as well as those of the United States from the unjust charge of Mexicans, that by might, not right, Texas was wrested from Mexico, and made one of the United States.

Preface

His object has been to amuse and interest, if not to instruct, and he closes the preface to his book with the presumptuous quotation from the poet :

" My thoughts * are with the dead ; anon

My place with them will be, And I with them shall travel on

Through all futurity.

Yet leaving here a name, I trust, That will not perish in the dust.

* Occasionally.

HISTORY OF TEXAS.

Chapter 1

The Discovery of Texas claimed by France and Spain. — ^Its Settlement by the Spanish. — Origin of the Name. — Letters of Generals Jackson and Houston. — Mexican Troops expelled from Texas.

nnHE early history of Texas, like that of Greece, -■- Rome, or the Oriental nations of the Old World, is somewhat involved in obscurity. For while distinguished French writers claim that La Salle took possession of the whole country from the Mississippi river to the Rio Grande in the year 1685, and made settlements therein for the glory and renown of their grand monarque Louis XIV., Spanish historians affirm that De Soto, so far back as 1544, took possession of all the country lying west, as well as east of the Father of Waters^ in the name of his most Catholic majesty, the King of Spain.

But as the names given to all the principal rivers in Texas, such as Trinidad, Angelina, Brazos de Dios,

Colorado, Neches, Nueces, Guadalupe, Salado, San 1

Marcos, Frio, Pecos and Rio Grande, are Spanish, we may reasonably conclude tliat Spain, rather than France, first settled Texas.

And yet even the name, Texas, is of doubtful origin, for while some say that it was the name of the capital village of the Nassonite Indians, others assert that it is derived from the S23anish word tejer, to weave, and applied to weaving the grass over and around their cottages ; and others that it is from tejas^ tiles, coverings, or cobwebs.

The latter say that at an early day some Spaniards travelling the Camino del Rey, between San Antonio and the Hondo, camped on the Neches, and their commander, in the morning, beholding many spider-webs between himself and the rising sun, all spangled witli dew drops and glittering like diamonds, joyfully exclaimed : " Mira las tejas I " — that is to say, " Look at the spider webs ! "• — and named the land Texas.

The records of the famous mission of the Alamo show that it was founded in 1703 by the order of St. Francis.

Before that time, in 1691, the Spaniards had made small settlements on the Hondo, Neches, and Guadalupe, but on account of Indian hostilities they were abandoned.

Not until 1715 were missions permanently established and maintained at the Alamo, Concepcion,- San

HISTORY OF TEXAS. \l

Jose, and among tlie Aes and Nacogdoclies Indians, near tlie present cities of San Augnstine and Nacogdoches.

From civil strife, troubles witli the Indians, and other causes, the Spanish settlements did not flourish, for in 1765 the whole population of the province of Texas was estimated at 1,500 — one-half European, the other half domiciliated Indians ; while the sum total of its exports and imports were estimated at only ninety thousand dollars per annum.

Under Spanish despotism and priestcraft, immigration from other countries than Spain was prohibited, and Texas continued to languish until 1821, when Moses Austin, the father of S. F. Austin, was empowered to introduce colonists, who were to receive 640 acres of land each, provided they were Koman Catholics, of good character and habits, and would be faithful subjects of his Catholic majesty.

Moses Austin died in 1821, but his grant to found a colony in Texas was confirmed to his son, S. F. Austin on the 18th of February, 1823, by Iturbide, Emperor of Mexico, who, on the nineteenth of Marcii thereafter, abdicated, and gave way for the Republic of Mexico, under which Austin's grant was confirmed on the fourteenth of April following, when he proceeded to locate and settle San Filipe, as the capital of his colony.

Soon after, Hayden, Edwards, Sterling C. Robertson, Martin de Leon, Green De Witt, James Powels, M'Mullen, and Gloine, were also made empresarios, as the leaders of colonies were called, and authorized to introduce immigrants ; and made settlements at Gonzales, Victoria, Goliad, Refugio, Liberty, and at Nacogdoches.

Besides those introduced by the emjpresarios^ many immigrants came on their own account, and after looking round, exercised the divine right of Popes, Kings, and American citizens, squatter sovereignty ^ they pitched their tents in the forest on streams of running water, built their rude houses, fenced in rich land, ploughed, planted, and — although often annoyed by Indians and thieves — made bountiful crops and happy homes.

In December, 1832, when General Sam Houston, an ex-member of Congress, and ex-governor of Tennessee, from his voluntary exile among savages — with whom

" Wrought upon, perplex'd in the extreme,"

he had sought relief — first came to Texas, he found but two houses between Jonesborough and Nacogdoches.

After visiting San Filipe, San Antonio, and Natchitoches, Louisiana, fascinated with the country, he settled in Nacogdoches.

His name fills the brightest pages of Texan history, and he is called the Father of Texas. '^ Yoakum says of him :

" Among the new-comers into Texas in the year 1832 was Sam Houston, late governor of the State of Tennessee, a man of extraordinary fortunes. By birth a Virginian, but brought up in Blount County, among the mountains of East Tennessee, he volunteered at an early age as a soldier in the army ; was promoted to the rank of lieutenant; fought at the battle of the Horseshoe ^ in which he was severely wounded ; returned to Tennessee, where he attracted the attention of General Jackson, and was taken into his military family ; was appointed Indian agent for the Cherokees ; he afterward studied law, was elected attorney-general for Tennessee, and major-general of the state militia; represented the Nashville district in Congress, and was elected governor of the state. He was appointed second lieutenant in the 39 th regiment of infantry, by President Madison, on the 20th of April, 1815, " to rank as such from the 20th of May, 1814; " and first lieutenant in the 1st regiment of infantry, by President Monroe, on the 5th of March, 1818, "to rank as such from the 1st of May, 1817." In November, 1817, he was appointed sub-agent of the Cherokee Indians. On the 14th of December, 1821, he was elected major-general of the middle division of Tennessee

14, EI8T0B7 OF TEXAS,

militia. In August of the years 1823 and 1825 lie was elected a representative to Congress; and in August, 1827, lie was chosen governor of the State of Tennessee ; married — which soon proving unfortunate, he resigned his office of governor, and in April, 1829, went into voluntary exile among those Cherokee Indians, for whom he had been agent twelve years before. But they had been removed, and in 1829 were living on the Indian lands near Cantonment Gibson. He had been adopted by the chief, Oolooteka, and on the 21st of October of the above-mentioned year was. admitted to the rights of citizenship by an official act of the authorities of the nation. Among these people he subsisted by trade, making an occasional trip to the older states.

In June 1829, President Jackson thus wrote to him about his exile and misfortunes:

"My afSictioD. was great, and as much as I well could bear, when I parted with you on the 18th of January last. I then viewed you as on the brink of happiness, and rejoiced. About to be united in marriage to a beautiful young lady, of accomplished manners and of respectable connections, and of your own selection — you the governor of the state, and holding the aifections of the people: these were your prospects when I shook you by the hand and Tyade you farewell! You can well judge of my astonishment and grief in receiving a letter from you, dated at Little Rock, A. T., 11th of May, conveying the sad intelligence that you were then a private citizen, ' an exile from your country ! ' What reverse of fortune ! How unstable are all human affairs ! "

What a sad commentary on the emptiness of all earthly things?

The vanity of fame, ambition gratified, the possession of wealth, beauty, and power !

Gov. Houston had them all, and yet, being unhappy, resigned them and went into voluntary exile among savages !

But:

" There's a divinity that shapes our ends, Rough-hew them how we will."

Soon becoming weary of his life with the Indians, he quit them and returned again to his people, after which, with his majestic person and excellent mind, he became a Samson in the field and a Solomon in counsel.

As an evidence of his masterly genius, which seemed then to foresee the glorious results of the Texas rcA^olution, as it did later, the disastrous end of our late unhappy civil war, and in order to inform the reader what Texas then was under Mexican domination, and the brilliant future awaiting her, I here insert a genuine, verhatira et literatim, letter, which speaks for itself, from the beloved " Father of Texas," to his life-long friend, the illustrious hero of Chalmette :

IQ , BISTORT OF TEXAS.

NACHITOCE8, La., Feb. 13, 1833.

To Peesideft Jacksoi^- :

Dear Sir — Having been as far as Bexar, in tlie province of Texas, where I had an interview with the Comanche Indians, I am in possession of some information that will doubtless be interesting to you, and may be calculated to forward your views, if you should entertain any, touching the acquisition of Texas by the United States. That such a measure is desirable by nineteen-twentieths of the population of the province, I cannot doubt. They are now without laws to govern or protect them. Mexico is involved in civil war. The Federal Constitution has never been in operation. The government is essentially despotic, and must be so for years to come. The rulers have not honesty, and the people have not intelligence.

The people of Texas are determined to form a State government, and to separate from Coahuila; and unless Mexico is soon restored to order, and the Constitution revived and re-enacted, the Province of Texas will remain separate from the confederacy of Mexico. She has already beaten and expelled all the troops of Mexico from her soil, nor will she permit them to return. She can defend herself against the whole power of Mexico ; for really Mexico is powerless and penniless to all intents and purposes. Her niSTOBT OF TEXAS. |7

want of money, taken in connection with the course which Texas must and ivill adopt, will render a transfer of Texas inevitable to some power ; and if the United States does not press for it, England will most assuredly obtain it by some means. Now is a very important crisis for Texas, as relates to her future prosperity and safety, as well as the relation it is to bear toward the United States. If Texas is desirable to the United States, it is now in the most favorable attitude, perhaps, that it can be, to obtain it on fair terms. England is pressing her suit for it, but its citizens will resist if any transfer should be made of them to any other power but the United States.

I have travelled nearly five hundred miles across Texas, and am now enabled to judge pretty correctly of the soil and the resources of the country. And I have no hesitation in pronouncing it the finest country, to its extent, upon the globe; for the greater portion of it is richer and more healthy, in my opinion, than West Tennessee. There can be no doubt but the country east of the Kio Grande would sustain a population of ten millions of souls. My opinion is, that Texas will, by her members in convention, on the first of April, declare all that country as Texas proper, and form a State Constitution. I expect to be present at the convention, and will apprise you of the course adopted so soon -as its members have taken a final action. It is probable I may make Texas my abiding place ; in adopting this course, I will never forget tlie country of my birth.

From this point I will notify the commissioners of the Indians at Fort Gibson of my success, which will reach you through the War Department.

I have with much pride and inexpressible satisfaction seen your messages and proclamation touching the nuUifiers of the South, and their " Peaceable remedies." God grant that you may save the Union ! It does seem to me that it is reserved for you, and you alone, to render millions so great a blessing. I hear all voices commend your course, even in Texas — • where is felt the liveliest interest for the preservation of the Republic.

Permit me to tender you my sincere felicitations, and most earnest solicitude for your health and hapness — and your future glory, connected with the prosperity of the Union.

Your friend and obedient servant,

Sam Houston.

Gen. Houston did make this rich^er and 'more healtJiy country than West Tennessee his ahiding plaos, and was chairman of the committee on the Constitution in the convention which met at San Filipe on the first of April, 1833, but wlien lie said in Ms letter to President Jackson :

" She has already beaten and expelled all the troops of Mexico from her soil, nor will she permit them to return "—he spoke of the past, which I will explain.

In June, 1832, Wm. B. Travis, and P. C. Jack, with other Texans, were arrested and imprisoned by Col. Bradburn, the commanding officer of Anahuac.

Bradburn was a tyrannical and an overbearing man, but Travis and Jack were popular, so their friends endeavored to release them.

They came on Bradburn unexpectedly, and he promised to release them, but asked time, in order to prepare for defence.

In the meantime, he prepared, mounted his cannon, and caused his assaulters to retire.

They demanded cannon of the commander of Fort Yelasco, which he refused, and they took the cannon by force.

The commander, Capt. John Austin, the Alcalde of the 2d department of Austin colony, in reply to an official letter of Col. Mexia, who came with a fleet of five vessels and 400 men to the mouth of the Brazos, in order to find out and punish the offenders — thus briefly gives this portion of the history of Texas :

" We are farmers, and not soldiers ; therefore desire that the military commandants shall not interfere with

US at all. Since 1830, we liave been pretty mucL. governed militarily, and in such a despotic manner tliat we were finally driven to arms, to resist within their limits the military subalterns of the General Government. We have not insulted the flag of our adopted country, as had been surmised from our first movements; but, on the contrary, we have sustained its true dignity, and attacked those who had outraged it, by using it as a pretext for their encroachments upon the constitution and sovereignty of the State of Coahuila and Texas, and as a cover for their baseness and personal crimes.

" The commandant of Fort Velasco acted under the orders of the commandant of Anahuac, Col. Juan Davis Bradburn. An investigation of the conduct of that officer will inform you fully of the details of many despotic and arbitary acts. He was sustained by the commandant of Nacogdoches, Col. Piedras, and by that of Fort Velasco, Lieut.-Col. Ugartechea, and, consequently, we were comjpelled to oppose them all.

" Therefore we attacked Fort Velasco on the 26th of last month, Tvdth one hundred and twelve farmers, hastily collected, without discipline, and badly armed ; and, after an obstinate and bloody engagement of eleven hours, it surrendered, on the terms expressed in the enclosed copy of the capitulation — every article of which has been strictly complied with on our part, besides furnishing the provisions needed for the troops."

Col. Mexia was received kindly by the Texans, and after professing himself satisfied with their explanations, returned with his fleet and the garrison of the dismantled fort at Velasco to Mexico, in order to aid Santa Anna in establishing the Plan of Vera Cruz.

The odious Bradburn after being forced to release his prisoners, escaped from the fort at Anahuac and fled to New Orleans.

Among the persons who took part in the release of Travis and Jack, were the venerable Edwin Waller, Wm. J. Russell, Frank W. Johnson, Judge Munson, Andrew Mills, Wm. H. Wharton, Henry Brown, the father of John Plenry Brown, and T. Bennett.

The capture of Velasco took place on the 26th June, and was followed by that of Nacogdoches on the 2d August, 1832, which Kennedy thus describes:

Piedras, the commandant at Nacogdoches, declined Mexia's invitation to join the "Liberating Army" in Mexico, which afforded the inhabitants of that place a pretext for expelling him. Declaring in favor of the Vera Cruz Plan, the Nacogdoches settlers attacked the garrison in their '"'' quartelj'' and after protracted skirmishing, in which three Texans were killed and seven wounded, and eighteen Mexicans killed and twenty- two wounded, the latter evacuated their quarters during the night and retreated towards the river Angelina. Pursued by a party of mounted men, who killed two of their number and wounded several, their leader, Piedi'as, proposed a temporary cessation of hostilities ; as it was late in the evening, he was -allowed to occupy the house of an Anglo- American without molestation from the Texans. The next morning, the Mexicans, terrified by a deceptive report of the approach of a large hostile force, surrendered at discretion, and, after being disarmed, were permitted to continue their route to San Antonio de Bexar. Other garrisons withdrew into the interior about the same time. The citizens of Bexar and the governor of the State openly declared for the Plan of Vera Cruz ; political unanimity generally prevailed, and in August, 1832, Texas was free from military domination and internal strife.

Chapter II

The Convention of 1833, its members and action.— The Constitution and Memorial prepared by it.— Austin takes the Constitution and Memorial of the Convention of 1833 to Mexico.— His Arrest and Imprisonment.— Col. Almonte sent to Texas.— His Report on Texas.

rn HE convention of 1833, at San Filipe, was com- -^ posed of tlie representative men of Texas, and its action will ever command the respect of all true lovers of liberty and self-government.

Yoakum says of it :

A body of more distinguished men had not met in Texas. Among them were Branch T. Archer, Stephen F. Austin, David G. Burnet, Sam Houston (one of the five delegates from Nacogdoches), X B. Miller, and "William H. Wharton. The latter was chosen President of the convention. The members entered upon their labors in earnest. The requisite committees were appointed : among them were the important committees on the constitution and on a memorial to the supreme government of Mexico. Sam Houston was appointed chairman of the first, and David G. Burnet of the second named committee. The constitution framed was a model of republicanism, with now and then an indication, however, that some clauses were inserted and some principles retained to please .the Mexican ear. The right of trial by jury, the writ of habeas corpus, the right of petition, freedom of the press, direct and universal suffrage, and all those clauses usual in a bill of rights, were inserted. On the subject of religious liberty, however, they were silent. The memorial throws so much light on the situation of Texas in 1833, explains so clearly the causes which led to the revolution, and is itself such a rare and excellent document, that it is here inserted :

'^ Texan Memokial.'*

Memorial of the Texan Convention of April, 1833, to the General Congress of the United Memican States.

The inhabitants of Texas, by their representatives elect in convention assembled, would respectfully approach the national Congress, and present this their memorial, praying that the union which was established between Coahuila and Texas, whereby the two ancient provinces were incorporated into one free and independent state, under the name of "Coahuila ain^d Texas," may be dissolved, abrogated, and perpetually cease; and that the inhabitants of Texas may be authorized to institute and establish a separate state government, which will be in accordance with the federal constitution and the constitutive act ; and that tlie state so constituted shall be received and incorporated into the great confederation of Mexico, on terms of equality with the other states of the Union.

To explain the grounds of this application, your memorialists would respectfully invite the attention of the general Congress to the following considerations : —

The consolidation of the late provinces of Coahuila and Texas was, in its nature, provisional, and, in its intention, temporary. The decree of the sovereign constituent Congress, bearing date the 7th of May, 1824, contemplates a separation, and guarantees to Texas the right of ha^^ng a state government whenever she may be in a condition to ask for the same. That decree provides that, " so soon as Texas shall be in a condition to figure as a state of itself, it shall inform Congress thereof, for its resolution." The implication conveyed by this clause is plain and imperative ; and vests in Texas as perfect a right as language can convey, unless it can be presumed that the sovereign constituent Congress, composed of the venerable fathers of the republic, designed to amuse the good people of Texas by an illusory and disingenuous promise, clothed in all the solemnity of a legislative enactment. Your memorialists have too high a veneration for the memory of that illustrious body to entertain any apprehensions that such a construction will be given to their acts by their

patriotic successors, the present Congress of Mexico. 2

The decree is dated anterior to the adoption of the federal constitution, and therefore, by a clear and fundamental principle of law and justice, it obviates the necessity of recurring to the correspondent provision in the fiftieth article of that instrument, which requires "the ratification of three-fourths of the other states" in order " to form a new state out of the limits of those that already exist." And it assures to Texas — by all the sanctity of a legislative promise, in which the good faith of the Mexican nation is pledged — an exemption from the delays and uncertainties that must result from such multiplied legislative discussion and resolution. To give to the federal constitution, which is the paramount law of the land, a retrospective operation, would establish a precedent that might prove disastrous to the whole system of the nation's jurisprudence, and subversive of the very foundations of the government.

The authority of precedents is decidedly in favor of the position which your memorialists would respectfully sustain before the general Congress. By the Constitutive Act, adopted on the 31st of January, 1824, Coahuila, New Leon, and Texas were joined together, and denominated the inteenal easteeis" state. By a law passed by the constituent Congress on the 7th of May, 1824, that union was dissolved, and the province of New Leon was admitted into the confederacy as an independent state. It is on the second article of this law that the people of Texas now predicate their right to a similar admission. The constitutive act, above mentioned, consolidated the late provinces of Chihnahna, Diirango, and New Mexico, under tlie style of " the internal northern state;" and on the 22d of May, 1824, a summary law decreed that "Durango should form a state of the Mexican Confederation," and she was admitted accordingly. The same privilege was extended to Chihuahua by a decree of the 6th of July of the same year. These conjunct provinces stood, at the period of their separation, in precisely the same relation to the federal government that Texas and Coahuila now occupy. They have been separated and erected into free and independent states in a summary manner ; and the same right was guaranteed " whenever she should be in a condition to accept it." The other case, of Sonora and Sinaloa, is materially variant in matter of fact. Those provinces were originally incorporated into the confederation as one state, without any antecedent condition or guarantee ; and, at the adoption of the present constitution, they justly became liable to all the forms and restrictions prescribed in that national pact.

We would further suggest to the honorable Congress that the present juncture is peculiarly felicitous for dispensing with interminable and vexatious forms.

The federal government is wisely employed in adopting important organic improvements, and aiming at a salutary renovation of the political system. The disasters of an eventful civil convulsion are yielding to the reffeneratiuff influences of domestic concord and improved experience; and every department of the confederacy is open to such needful modifications as the wisdom of the renewed Congress may designate. Texas solicits, as her portion in the general reformation, to be disenthralled from her unhappy connection with Coahuila; and she avails herself of this opportunity, by means of her chosen delegates, who are the authorized organs of the people, to communicate "to the general Congress" that she is now "in a situation to figure as a state by herself ," „and is profoundly solicitous that she may be permitted to do so.

The general Congress may possibly consider the mode of this communication as informal. To this suggestion we would, with great deference, reply, that the events of the past year have not only violated the established forms and etiquette of the government, but have suspended, at least, its vital functions; and it would appear exceedingly rigorous to exact from the inhabitants of Texas, living on a remote frontier of the republic, a minute conformity to unimportant punctilios. The ardent desire of the people is made known to tlie Congress throngli tlieir select representatives, tlie most direct and unequivocal medium by wliicli they can possibly be conveyed ; and surely the enlightened Congress v^ill readily concur v^ith us in the sentiment that the wishes and wants of the people form the best rule for legislative guidance. The people of Texas consider it not only an absolute right, but a most sacred and imperative duty to themselves, and to the Mexican nation, to represent their wants in a respectful manner to the general government, and to solicit the best remedy of which the nature of their grievances will admit. Should they utterly fail in this duty, and great and irremediable evils ensue, the people would have reason to reproach themselves alone ; and the general Congress, in whom the remedial power resides, would also have reason to censure their supineness and want of fidelity to the nation. Under this view, we trust the Congress will not regard with excessive severity any slight departure which the good people of Texas may in this instance have made from. the ordinary formalities of the government.

And we would further suggest to the equitable consideration of the federal Congress that, independent of and anterior to the express gua,rantee contained in the decree of the 'Tth of May, 1824, the right of having a separate state government was vested in and belonged to Texas, by the fact that she participated as a distinct province in tlie toils and sufferings by wMcli tlie glorious emancipation of Mexico was achieved, and tlie present happy form of government was established. The subsequent union with Coahuila was a temporary compact, induced by a supposed expediency, arising from an inadequate population on the part of Texas " to figure as a state of itself." This inducement was transient in its nature ; and the compact, like all similar agreements, is subject to abrogation, at the will of either party, whenever the design of its creation is accomplished, or is ascertained to be impracticable. The obvious design of the union between Coahuila and Texas was, on the one part, at least, the more effectually to secure the peace, safety and happiness of Texas. That design has not been accomplished, and facts piled upon facts afford a melancholy evidence that it is utterly impracticable. Texas never has and never can derive from the connection benefits in any wise commensurate with the evils she has sustained, and which are daily increasing in number and in magnitude.

But our reasons for the proposed separation are more explicitly set forth in the subjoined remarks.