Episode 42 – Texas Becomes a Nation
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Episode 42 – Texas becomes a Nation – well sort of and not a very successful one.
As soon as the provisional government heard about the victory at San Jacinto, government officials headed to the battlefield. Once there they began negotiating with Santa Anna to end the war. May 14 at Velasco, Santa Anna signed two treaties, one for public consumption and the other one was signed and kept secret.
The public treaty officially ended hostilities with Mexico and restored settlers private property. Prisoners on both sides were to be released, and the Mexican forces would move south of the Rio Grande. All very popular with everyone.
The secret treaty, which would have caused an uproar if the details were made public agreed that Santa Anna would be taken to Veracruz and released. In return, he agreed to have the Mexican government approve the two treaties and to negotiate a permanent treaty. That treaty was to acknowledge that Texas was to be independent of Mexico. It was to also recognize the national boundary as the Rio Grande. Even though the two treaties had been signed, things were not exactly peaceful. In fact, military activity continued along the Gulf Coast.
On June 2 Maj. Isaac W. Burton, who was in charge of a company of twenty mounted rangers, noticed the vessel Watchman at anchor in Copano Bay. He grew suspicious and had his men capture it. Once they boarded it they discovered that it carried supplies intended for the Mexican army. On the seventeenth of June, Burton then seized two more vessels, the Comanche and the Fannie Butler. They were also carrying supplies for the Mexican army which had a value of $25,000. Meanwhile the Mexican Congress renounced Santa Anna, refused to honor his treaties, and demanded that the war with Texas continue.
Once word of the Mexican government’s actions reached Texas, people began to demand that Santa Anna be put to death. Santa Anna, his secretary Ramón Martínez Caro, and Col. Juan N. Almonte had already been put aboard the Invincible to be returned to Veracruz, but the ship had not yet set sail. Gen. Thomas Jefferson Green, a recent arrival from the United States demanded that President Burnet remove the Mexicans from the vessel and put them into confinement.
Which he agreed to temporarily do. Santa Anna was not executed, instead he was sent to Washington D. C. where he met with President Andrew Jackson. Jackson did send him back to Mexico where Santa Anna discovered he had been deposed as President.
Meanwhile back in Texas, Thomas Jefferson Rusk who had been a general during the battle of San Jacinto and was appointed to the position of Secretary of War, asked President Burnet to relieve him of his command. To succeed Rusk on June 25 Burnet appointed Mirabeau B. Lamar to the post of secretary of war. BUT word arrived that Gen. José de Urrea was moving Mexican army troops towards Goliad, (remember the Goliad Massacre, which took place during the revolt? Texans were still very angry over the slaughter that took place) Rusk changed his mind about retiring. But since Lamar was now officially the Secretary of War, Burnet was hesitant to do so. At that point Thomas Jefferson Green and Felix Huston, who had come into Texas with a contingent of volunteers from Mississippi, began to agitate against Lamar. This caused the soldiers to turn against Lamar and Rusk returned to command.
Urrea failed to show up at Goliad so Rusk once again vacated his command and the army chose Huston to replace him. More unrest continued in the ranks of the Army as many of the officers openly defied the government. They even threatened to impose a military dictatorship.
Internal squabbles were not the only problems the government faced. On May 19th, a force of Comanche and Caddo Indians attacked Fort Parker, in what is known as the Fort Parker Massacre, and captured two women and three children. One of those children was a nine-year-old girl by the name of Cynthia Parker. She spent the majority of her life in the Comanche Nation where she married Chief Peta Nocona and gave birth to a son, Quanah Parker. He grew up to become a prominent leader of the Comanches and a war leader and gained much notoriety especially during the Red River War of 1874–75.
In addition to being unable to protect the settlers, the government didn’t have enough men and resources to retaliate or go and retrieve the captives. Communications across the frontier were poor, there were few passable roads, and the mail, if there was any, was very sporadic.
There was no money in the treasury, the new nation’s credit reputation was bad, and there was no hard currency available. There was also confusion over land titles and because of the war many families were poverty stricken. People had abandoned or lost almost everything they had during the Runaway Scrape. When they did return to their homesteads, they discovered that their property had been destroyed and any stock they originally owned had been consumed or scattered.
Needless to say, this forced the government to begin making changes and by July Burnet and his cabinet began shifting power around. He called an election for the first Monday in September to set up a formal government under the constitution. The voters were asked to decide on 4 major issues.
First approve the constitution, second authorize Congress to amend the constitution, elect a president, other officers, and members of Congress, and fourth to express their views on annexation to the United States. The results of the 1836 election put Sam Houston into office as President, and an overwhelming number of people in favor of being annexed by the United States. However, fear of war with Mexico prevented then U.S. President Martin Van Buren from pursuing the idea, so it was put on a back burner where it would stay for the next several years.
In the election of 1838 Mirabeau B. Lamar was elected President of the Republic and in his December 21st, inaugural message to the Texas Congress he spoke against the concept of annexation. Lamar said there was no value in becoming a part of the United States and he claimed that eventually Texas would extend to the shores of the Pacific Ocean.
Lamar was somewhat of a visionary and he believed in having multiple public programs. He wanted to establish a national bank, which would be owned and operated by the Republic. He also wanted to establish free public schools and a university. In what many consider a bit unusual, he also wanted the municipal code modified so that it incorporated both Mexican and United States law in the laws of the new republic.
Next what Lamar also proposed, frankly in my opinion, is a perfect example of the majority Anglo mindset of the time. Lamar wanted increased protection for the western frontier. While that in and of itself is not necessarily a bad thing, after all there were what we would call outlaws of all stripes roaming the area, his attitude towards others was. Lamar did not accept the idea of coexistence with Indian tribes within Texas. Instead of the position taken by Sam Houston that it was best to negotiate and show conciliation, Lamar proposed that the Indians should be driven out of areas where white settlers either had moved or wanted to move. He wanted to aggressively go after and attack the Comanches and other tribes. He stated that neither the native nor the immigrant tribes had any cause to complain. He denied that the Cherokees or others had legal claims to land.
Recognizing how dangerous the frontier could be he recommended that the government establish military posts, much like the Spanish did with the Presidios, along the frontier. He also wanted to form a permanent military that would be capable of protecting the nation’s borders.
He also said he would continue to prosecute the war against Mexico until the Mexican government recognized Texas independence. Lamar also wanted Texas to build up a navy in order to protect shipping. He thought congress should pass legislation that would reserve all minerals for government use and to create a program of some sort that would then use the minerals for the good of the nation.
The congress agreed to Lamar’s request for a military force, and authorized the creation of fifteen companies. These were to be stationed in what were described as military colonies at eight locations on the frontier. These were at the Red River, the Three Forks of the Trinity, the Brazos River, the Colorado River, and the Saint Marks (AKA the San Marcos) River. One was to be placed close to the headwaters of Cibolo Creek, another at the Frio River, and also one on the Nueces. Each site was to consist of, three leagues of land which was to be surveyed into 160-acre tracts. Each soldier who fulfilled his enlistment was to receive a tract upon completion of their service. Legitimate settlers who lived on the land for three years would also receive tracts.
In addition to the forts, the government also decided to build sixteen trading posts near what was known as the settlement line. On January 1, 1839, the Texas Congress authorized President Lamar to sign up eight companies of mounted volunteers who would serve for six months’. They also allocated $75,000 to cover the cost, they set aside an additional $5,000 to recruit and maintain a company of fifty-six rangers whose job was to patrol western Gonzales County for three months. The also authorized three more mounted companies for immediate service against the hostiles in Bastrop, Milam, and Robertson counties. They then formed an additional two companies whose duties included protecting San Patricio, Goliad, and Refugio counties. To pay for these expenses, Congress authorized a million dollars in promissory notes.
During the time that Texas was a republic, the population of Texas grew by approximately 7,000 per year, mostly from immigration from the United States. And just like many other frontier areas Texas began to develop a reputation as a land of lawlessness, rowdiness, and frauds. Fraud was especially prevalent in the numerous land deals that took place and law enforcement was almost nonexistent. While chaos seemed to rule the day, the early citizens of Texas seemed to develop an uncanny ability to not only handle but also adapt to the various challenges that presented themselves. Overall the people seemed to generally elect competent and somewhat able leaders.
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