TEXAS, ITS SETTLEMENT AND POLITICAL HISTORY. CHAPTER I. SPANISH GRANT TO MOSES AUSTIN-SETTLEMENT COMMENCED BY MEXICAN GRANTS-AGGRESSIONS OF BUSTAMENTE-FIRST SENT INTO TEXAS-COMMENCEMENT OF HOSTILITIES. So long as Mexico continued a dependency of Spain, the province of Texas remained almost entirely neglected. With natural facilities of communication, in its numerous navigable rivers and extended sea-coast, and with a soil and climate offering every inducement to the enterprising agriculturist, it was left in the undisturbed occupation of roving native tribes. The few settlers, of Spanish descent, who inhabited the towns of Nacogdoches and San Antonio, and the district adjacent, with true Mexican apathy, lived in an isolated and unprogressive condition. The energy and activity of the AngloSaxon race was requisite to develop the immense resources of the country, and make known to the world its beauty and fertility. Emigration to Texas from the United States commenced about the period of the Mexican revolution. On the 17th of January, 1821, Moses Austin, of Connecticut, obtained from the Spanish government, in Mexico, a grant of a tract extending not far from one hundred miles along the coast of the Gulf, and a still greater distance into the interior. Austin stipulated to induce the immigration to this tract of three hundred families, each of which was to receive a title to a square Spanish league of land, to be exempted from taxation for a term of years, and to be allowed the importation of goods, stock, &c., to the amount of two thousand dollars, free of duty. The contractor was to be rewarded by the absolute conveyance of five square leagues of land for every hundred families which should settle in accordance with these provisions. The privilege and distinction of carrying out this important undertaking devolved upon Stephen F. Austin, a son of the original grantee. After many unsuccessful attempts to induce the embarkation of eastern capital in the new settlement, he proceeded to Texas, accompanied by such adventurers, with their families, as he could persuade to try their fortunes in the new country. Others had engaged to follow at a convenient opportunity. The emigrants reached the Brazos river in the month of December (1821). From various causes, their condition was trying and precarious: two vessels, freighted with provisions and supplies, had been sent out from New Orleans, but one of these was lost, and the cargo of the other was plundered by the Carancahuas, or Coast Indians. In addition to their sufferings from destitution and from savage depredations, a new source of anxiety arose in the uncertainty of the tenure by which they held their lands; as the Spanish yoke had now been thrown off by Mexico. In order to obtain a confirmation of the former grant, from the existing government, Austin proceeded in person to the city of Mexico, and presented the claims of his colony to the authorities. Such delays were experienced from the unsettled state of affairs in the new republic, that it was more than a year from the time of his departure before he returned to relieve the apprehension of his associates, by the intelligence that the old contract was ratified by the Mexican congress. Meanwhile, numbers of the colonists had returned to the States, and others, who had intended to locate in Austin's settlement, had been deterred by the uncertainty of his title, and had established themselves between the Trinity and Sabine rivers. Encouraged by the return and success of their enterprising and indefatigable leader, the disheartened settlers were roused to new exertions, and the report of their growing prosperity soon induced that steady immigration which has ever since continued, and must still continue, until the whole country is brought under cultivation. One of the first steps taken for their security by the settlers, after the return of Austin, was an expedition against the Carancahuas, upon whom terrible retribution was visited for former treachery and depredations. The power of the tribe was so completely broken, and their numbers were so reduced, in this campaign, that they ceased to be formidable. As the value of Texan lands become more generally known, a spirit of speculation in Mexican grants was extensively excited in Europe and the United States. Contracts, similar to those obtained by Austin, with the condition that they should be void if not fulfilled by the contractor within six years, were made by the government with numberless companies and individuals, until the various grants spread over the whole territory of Texas. As might have been expected, these contracts almost universally fell through. Those who had settled upon Austin's territory and in the neighboring country, numbered, in 1830, over twenty thou sand, constituting, as is said, more than two-thirds of the entire American population of Texas. They enjoyed extended liberties, and were apparently well contented with the system of government under which they lived. This quiet and prosperity was broken in upon by the tyranny of the military despot, Bustamente. His first aggression was by obtaining a repeal of the laws for the protection of immigrants from the United States, who were thereby "forbidden to hold lands in Mexican territories." His subsequent proceedings were more directly insulting and oppressive: troops were stationed at various posts to keep the colonists in subjection, and forts were built at Nacogdoches, Anahuac, and Velasco, "where military tribunals, organized for mock trials, could sit in safety, surrounded and protected by the garrison. Citizens were arrested and confined, in several instances, upon vague charges of disaffection to the existing government; the civil authority in several of the municipalities was declared to be superseded, and in all totally disregarded; in short, the inhabitants of Texas found themselves, in the midst of peace, suddenly subjected to martial law, administered by officers who appeared to have been sent there for no other purpose than to make war upon the rights secured to them by the constitution of the country."* It was hardly to be expected that a population of the character of the Texan pioneers should passively endure such indignities and injuries. A small but resolute body of volunteers, under John Austin, commenced operations on the 25th of June, 1832, by an attack upon the fort of Velasco, at the mouth of the Brazos, garrisoned by more than double their number of Mexicans. The attempt was successful, and the garrison was evicted and disarmed. The same fate attended the posts at Anahuac and Nacogdoches, and in a few days from the time of the first demonstration, the colonists were in undisturbed possession of the whole country. The speedy overthrow of Bustamente, and the elevation of Santa Anna to the presidency of the republic, averted, for the time, the vengeance of the Mexican authorities, and the prospects of the settlers continued to brighten. The provinces of Texas and Coahuila had been thus far united as a single state, but the population of the former, consisting so largely of United States' emigrants, had become anxious for a separation, and, in 1833, Austin was commissioned to present a petition to this effect before the Mexican congress. No attention was paid to the question by the national assembly, and the bearer of the petition was held in suspicion by the officers of government. After several months of fruitless attempts at negotiation, Austin started on his return to Texas, having previously written to the authorities * Historical View of Texas, by the Hon. John M. Niles. at San Antonio, "advising the call of a convention to organize a state government in Texas, and expressing a belief that such a step on their part might tend to advance, rather than prejudice, their claim before the national congress.”* The contents of this letter becoming known to the Mexican authorities, he was thrown into prison at Saltillo, in Coahuila, on a charge of treason. In the following year Santa Anna's coup d'etat reduced Mexico to a slavish submission to the will of an ambitious military dictator, and Texas was the only prov ince to oppose any long-continued resistance to his assumption of authority. Zacatecas having taken up arms in opposition to the new government, was crushed by an irresistible force, and the population were disarmed and subjected to military discipline and control. A strong force was then sent into Texas to overawe the colonists and check the growing spirit of independence. The consequence was a general determination to throw off the authority of Mexico, but it was judged the wiser course to wait until some direct attack upon the liberties of the province should afford a convenient occasion for a universal effort for independence. A meeting of delegates to consult upon the proper measures of resistance was called to meet upon the 15th of October. Meantime, General Cos, having arrived at Goliad with fresh troops, issued orders for a surrender of all collections of arms. The demand, as might be expected, excited a storm of indignation. The first attempt to enforce it was at the little town of Gonzales, upon the north-western frontier of the American settlements. A single cannon, which had been procured for defence against the Indians, was in the possession of the inhabitants of this place, and they refused to deliver it up upon the requisition of the Mexican commandant at San Antonio de Bexar. One hundred and fifty mounted men were accordingly dispatched to inflict summary vengeance upon the Americans, and to bring away the disputed piece of artillery. Arriving upon the bank of the Guadaloupe, opposite * Historical View of Texas, by the Hon. John M. Niles. |