' «aiii;>aa>i»» i i mi i lu ii i ii i i i F 386 Bm"^"^" ""'™™''^ '-'""'■y ^'''''JlTllllllilllSli^llNlll'll^^''^*""''-— 9""^ '^^ ^^ lllillii oljn 3 1924 028 798 399 || Cornell University J Library The original of tiiis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924028798399 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF TEXAS EUGENE C. BARKER ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF HISTOKY, THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS CHARLES SHIRLEY POTTS ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF GOVERNMENT, THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS (fORMF.RLY ADJUNCT PROFESSOR OF HISTORY AND ECONOMICS IN THE A. AND M. COLLEGE OF TEXAS) CHARLES W. RAMSDELL INSTRUCTOR IN HISTORY, THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS CHICAGO ROW, PETERSON & COMPANY -r r O* ^ .'^ < -.< ^r-^r^/-' \ - 7.- 7 7 7' 7 COPYKIGHT, 1912, BY EUGENE C. BAEKEE, CHAELES SHIELEY POTTS, AND CHAELES W. EAMSDELL. PREFACE This book aims to present in form sufficiently sim- ple for young readers the essential facts of the his- tory of Texas. To bring it within the grasp of fifth and sixth grade pupils and to make it a thoroughly useful tool in the hands of the teacher, we have steadily sought to give it the qualities of accuracy, directness, and fairness. We believe that our sym- pathetic reverence for the history of our native state, our knowledge of the subject, and our ex- perience as teachers in the public schools and col- leges of Texas have enabled us to accomplish this end with measurable success. We have written only what is important to an understanding of the making of Texas, and we have shown at each step why it is important, so that the pupil should be in no doubt at any time of the significance of what he reads. The illustrations have been phosen with a view to instruct as well as to entertain children; geographical questions are illustrated by numerous maps; and at the end of each chapter are a list of questions, designed to emphasize the principal points of the chapter, and a list of simple and inter- esting reading which may be used to supplement the text. vi PEEFACE It is hoped that teachers will be helped by the material in the appendices. Appendix II offers sug- gestions for the teaching of each chapter, with a list of additional reading for those teachers who have the time and the opportunity to pursue it. Appendix III is a detailed outline of the book, which should be followed in the class, and which should be used especially in reviews. The teacher will observe that the Table of Contents forms a brief general out- line. Appendix IV gives a list of the presidents and governors of Texas with the dates of their adminis- trations. Chapters XI and XII may, if necessary, be omitted without detriment to the narrative. We are indebted to Mr. E. W. "Winkler, of the Texas State Library, for reading the greater part of the manuscript and offering many helpful sug- gestions. We are also indebted to numerous friends for photographs and other illustrative material. THE AUTHORS. CONTENTS Preface „ V List of Dates XIII Chaptee. I. The Background of Texas History (1492- 1689) 1 1. The Spanish Claim to Texas 1 2. The French Claim to Texas 5 3. The English in America 10 II. Spain Begins to Occupy Texas (1690-171-4) ... 13 ■ III. Spain Takes Possession of Texas (1714- 1800 31 1. The French in Louisiana Stir the Spanish to Occupy Texas 31 3. The Spanish Settlement of Texas 37 3. Life in the Spanish Settlements 34 4. Trouble With the French 39 IV. The Americans Become Acquainted With Texas (1798-1820) 47 1. Spain Gets a New Neighbor, the United States 47 3. Americans Begin to Invade Texas 51 a. Nolan's Expedition 51 b. The Gutierrez and Magee Expedition. 53 c. Long's Expedition 56 V. Colonization: The Americans Settle Texas (1821-1835) 61 1. Texas Gets a New Owner, Mexico 61 3. The American Colonies in Texas 66 3. Life in the Colonies 73 VI. The Texas Eevolution : The Americans Take Texas (1821-1836) 83 1. The General Causes of the Revolution.... 83 3. The Immediate Causes of the Eevolution. . 97 vii VIA CONTENTS 3. The Campaign of 1835 100 4. The Government of Texas During the Revolution 108 5. The campaign of 1836 114 a. The Fall of the Alamo 115 b. The Goliad Massacre 133 c. The Battle of San Jacinto 133 VII. The Eepublic of Texas: The Americans in Possession (1836-1846) 143 1. Home Affairs 143 a. The Eestoration of Order 145 b. The Eegular Government of the Ee- public 150 c. The Financial Affairs of the Eepublic. 157 d. Indian Troubles 160 e. The Growth of Population and "Wealth 164 2. Foreign Affairs 169 a. Eelations With European Countries. . 169 b. Eelations With Mexico 171 c. Eelations With the United States ISO VIII. Early Statehood: From Annexation to Se- cession (1846-1861) 188 1. The Establishment of a State Government. 188 3. The War Between the United States and Mexico 188 3. The Boundary Dispute With the United States 193 4. The Settlement of the Public Debt 196 5. Expansion of Population and Industries. . . 199 6. The Approach of Civil War 203 IX. Civil War AND Eeconsteuction (1861-1874).. 310 1. The Civil War 210 a. Texas Secedes and Joins the Confed- eracy 210 b. The War in Texas 213 c. Conditions in Texas During the War. . 219 2. Eeconstruction. 3. Eestoration of Civil Government by President Johnson. 224 CONTENTS ix b. Military Eule and Eadical Reconstruc- tion Established by Congress 237 c. The Problem of the Negroes 230 d. Eeadmission to the Union; Eadical Eule Under Governor Davis 234 e. The Close of Eeconstruction 236 X. The State Since Eeconsteuction : Forty Years of Progress (1874-1912) 243 1. Financial Conditions in 1876 245 2. The Establishment of Law and Order 247 3. The Capitol 249 4. Eailroad and Trust Eegulation 253 5. Texas in the Spanish War 259 6. The Brazos Floods and the Galveston Storm 261 7. Political Parties 265 8. The Terrell Election Law 268 XL Material Development Since 1870 276 1. Increase in Population and Wealth 276 2. Development of Agriculture 283 3. The Live Stock Industry 289 4. Development of Means of Communication. 293 5. Mining and Manufacturing 300 XII. Education and Public Charity 308 Appendix I. Declaration of Independence, March 2, 1836 : 329 Appendix 11. Suggestions to Teachers, Arranged by Chapters 334 Appendix III. Outline 355 Appendix IV. List of the Presidents and Governors of Texas 377 Index 379 LIST OP MAPS Page Possessions of European Nations, 1700 9 The Eoute from Cuba to Santa Fe 13 The Old San Antonio Eoad 28 English and Spanish Possessions, 1763 48 English and Spanish Possessions, 1803 50 Spanish Settlements in Texas to 1800 63 Some Early Colonial Grants 70 General Houston 's March to Sau Jacinto 133 Disputed Territory at Outbreak of the Mexican War 190 Territory Claimed by Texas and Sold to the United States in 1850 195 Eailroads in Texas Before the Civil War 201 Federal Plan of Invading Texas Through Sabine Pass 216 Greer County 251 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Page. The Capitol Frontispiece Horse and Soldier in Armor 2 An Indian Pueblo 4 La Salle 7 An Old Spanish Picture 14 A Missionary Father 17 Indian Arrow Heads 22 Indian Basliet Malier 24 Peace Pipe 29 Entrance to the Alamo 31 Carved Doorway, Mission San Jos j 33 Mission San Josa 35 Spanish Irrigation Ditch, San Antonio 38 An Indian Spoon 43 Indian Pottery 44 An Old Spanish Spur 52 Stephen F. Austin 62 The Cathedral, City of Mexico 65 A Comfortable Pioneer Home 73 Me-ta-tes, Used by the Indians and Mexicans for Mashing Corn. 77 Old Spectacles 79 Cld Fort at Nacogdoches 93 Austin 's Pistols and Hatchet 96 Cannon Used in the Eevolutiou 101 Mission Concepcion 104i Hear of Cathedral San Fernando, San Antonio 107 The Alamo 113 The Alamo Monument 119 Santa Anna 125 Mission La Bahia at Goliad 129 The Capture of Santa Anna 135 Sam Houston 144 Tomb of Stephen F. Austin 154 A Comanche Cradle 162 San Antonio About 1846 176 The Palace of Chapultepec, City of Mexico 179 President Anson Jones 182 The Bishop 's Palace, Monterey 191 Guadalupe Hidalgo 193 Governor E. M. Pease 202 President Jefferson Davis 206 Galveston About 1860 ■. 211 Cotton-clads ''14: Dick Dowling ; . • 217 xi xii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS An Old-Time Negro 221 General Eobert E. Lee 222 Governor A. J. Hamilton 224 Governor J. W. Throckmorton . , 226 The Governor 's Mansion at Austin 228 Governor E. J. Davis 235 Governor Richard Coke 237 Governor James Stephen Hogg 244 Four Distinguished Governors 252 Judge John H. Reagan 256 Governor G. A. Culberson 259 Levee Work Near Brenham 261 Governor J. D. Sayers 262 The Galveston Sea Wall 263 The Galveston Causeway 264 Governor S. W. T. Lanham 269 Governor T. M. Campbell 271 Governor O. B. Colquitt 272 The Dallas-Oak Cliff Viaduct 278 Group of Five High Schools 281 A Boll Weevil 284 Rice Irrigation in .South Texas 286 Boys' Corn Club, Tyler 288 Successors of the ' ' Longhorn " 291 A Stage Coach 294 Early Passenger Train 29S Forty Years Ago and To-day 297 Turning Basin, Houston Ship Canal 299 How Good Roads are Made 300 An Oil Gusher, Beaumont 301 Pine Forest in East Texas . . . 303 Class in Agriculture, Bonham High School.- 309 Consolidated Rural School 315 The University of Texas, Main Building 316 Engineering Building, A. and M. College 318 College of Industrial Arts for Girls 319 Group of Four State Normal Schools 820 IMPORTANT DATES IN TEXAS HISTORY 1493. Discovery of America. 1519-21. Spain's conquest of Mexico. 1528-34. Cabeza de Vaca in Texas. 1685-87. La Salle in Texas. 1690. The first Spanish settlement in Texas (Mission San Francisco de los Tejas). 1716. The settlement of East Texas. 1718. The founding of San Antonio. 1749. The founding of Goliad. 1762. France cedes Western Louisiana to Spain. 1779. The founding of Nacogdoches. 1800-01. Nolan's expedition. f-1803. The United States buys Louisiana. 1812-13. The Gutierrez and Magee Expedition. 1819. . Settlement of the boundary between Texas and Louisiana. Long's expedition. 1821. The beginning of Austin's Colony. Mexico gains independence from Spain. 1824. Mexico adopts a republican constitution, somewhat like that of the United States. 1826. The Fredonian Eebellion. 1830. Law of April 6, prohibiting further immigration of Americans into Texas. 1832. Fighting between Mexicans and Texans at Anahuac and Velasco. Soldiers expelled from Texas. xiv IMPORTANT DATES IN TEXAS HISTORY 1833. The Convention at San Felipe petitions for separa- tion from Coahuila. 1834. Imprisonment of Stephen F. Austin in Mexico. 1835. October 2, battle of Gonzales. November 3, meeting of the Consultation at San Felipe. December 9, capture of San Antonio, and sur- render of General Cos. ■ 1836. March 2, declaration of independence. March 6, fall of the Alamo. March 17, formation of the constitution. March 27, the Goliad massacre. April 21, battle of San Jacinto. May 14, treaty of Velasco signed. October 22, General Houston begins first term as president. December 27, death of Stephen F. Austin. 1837. The United States recognizes the independence of Texas. 1838. December, General Lamar inaugurated as president of Texas. 1839. Expulsion of Cherokees from East Texas. Eecognition of Texan independence by France. 1840. Eecognition of Texan independence by Great Britain. War with Comanches. 1841. Santa Fe expedition. Second election of General Houston to the Pres- idency. 1842. Failure of Santa Fe expedition. Mexican invasion of Texas in March and September. The Mier expedition. 1843. Suspension of hostilities between Mexico and Texas. IMPORTANT DATES IN TEXAS HISTORY XV 1844. President Tyler tries to annex Texas to the United States. Dr. Anson Jones elected president of Texas. U 1845. Texas accepts annexation to the United States. i 1846. February IC, annexation completed. May 12^ the outbreak of war between the United States and Mexico. 1848. Peace of Guadalupe Hidalgo: the Eio Grande rec- ognized as the southern boundary of Texas. 1850. The settlement of the Texas-New Mexico boundary. The beginning of the first railroad in Texas. 1854. The beginning of the public school system. 1861. February 1, passage of the Ordinance of Secession. April 13, war begins between the new Confederate States and the United States. 1863. January 1, recapture of Galveston by Magruder. September 8, battle of Sabine Pass. 1865. April 9, surrender of General Lee at Appomattox, Virginia. June 2, surrender of Confederate forces in Texas. June 19, all slaves in Texas declared free. A. J. Hamilton appointed provisional governor. 1866. Constitutional convention. Throckmorton elected governor. 1867. March 2, Congress places the Southern States under militarj' government. July 30, Throckmorton removed by Sheridan. Negroes given the right to vote. 1868. June 1, meeting of the reconstruction convention. 1869. Election of E. J. Davis as governor. 1870. March 30, Texas restored to the Union. 1872. Democrats gain control of the legislatura 1874. January 15, Coke inaugurated as governoiv ~j 1876. New (present) constitution adopted. xvi IMPORTANT DATES IN TEXA.8 HISTOEY Agricultural and Mechanical College opened. 1879. Sam Houston Normal Institute and the Prairie View Normal and Industrial College established. 1881. Capitol at Austin burned. 1883. The University of Texas established. 1887. State-wide prohibition election. 1888. New capitol completed and dedicated. 1891. Railroad Commission established. 1898. The Spanish-American war. 1899. Destructive overflows on the Brazos and other Texas rivers. 1900. The Galveston storm. 1901. North Texas State Normal College at Denton opened. 1903. Girls' Industrial College and the Southwest Texas State Normal opened. 1905. Terrell Election law passed. 1910. Establishment of "West Texas State Normal College at Canyon. 1911. The second state-wide prohibition election. A SCHOOL HISTOEY OF TEXAS ^CHAPTER I THE BACKGROUND OF TEXAS HISTOEY 1. THE SPANISH CLAIM TO TEXAS The discovery of America. — Four hundred years ago in poverty and distress a great man died in Spain. His name was Christopher Columhus, and our history begins with a wonderful discovery that he made in 1492. This was the discovery of America. At that time he was an officer in the service of the king of Spain, and this gave Spain a right to claim the country that he discovered. Spain takes possession of the New World. — ^But the king knew that unless something was done to show that the ^country belonged to Spain one of his neighbors, the king of France or the king of Eng- land, might step in and take it. So he sent some of his men across the ocean to live in the new land and hold it for him. They first settled in what we call the West India Islands, that is, in San Domingo, Porto Rico, and Cuba, but very soon they went also to South America and to Mexico. ^' A SCHOOL HISTORY OF TEXAS The conquest of Mexico. — It is important for us to know something of their doings in Mexico, because it was from there that men were finally sent to settle Texas. Mexico was at that time inhab- ited by many tribes of Indians, and the most pow- erful of them all was the Aztecs (Az'teks), who lived around the present City of Mexico. In 1519, a little army of four hun- dred and fifty Spaniards sailed from Cuba and landed at Vera Cruz, on the coast of Mexico. Pro- tected by their armor from the spears and ar- rows of the natives, they were in little danger, while with their guns, a few small cannon, and fifteen horses,^ they killed thousands of the Indians, and frightened the others into submis- sion. In the treasure-rooms of the Aztec chiefs the Spaniards found large stores of gold and silver, whijCli they seized. They also discovered the mines from which this treasure had been taken, and com- ^ These were the first horses ever seen in Mexico, and the Indians were more afraid of them than of the Spaniards' guns. Horse and. Soldiek in Akmob THE BACKGROUND OF TEXAS HI8T0EY 3 pelled the Indians to work them for the king of Spain. To govern the country for him the king appointed an officer whom he called the viceroy.^ The first Spaniards in Texas. — Soon after Spain had taken possession of Mexico, a large .party of Spaniards sailing through the Gulf were ship- wrecked on an island off the coast of Texas. It may have been Galveston Island or Saint Joseph's or some other; the exact place is not known. Most of the unfortunate men were drowned, and others were so mistreated by the Indians that they soon died, but among those who survived was a shrewd young fellow named Cabeza de Vaca (Ka-ba'sa da Va'ka). At first the Indians made a slave of him, but after a time he became a great favorite with them, and they allowed him to go from tribe to tribe peddling arrow heads, skins, and paint, and shells, which the Indians used for knives. After six years of this life, he at last escaped with three of his ship- wrecked companions and made his way to friends in Mexico. It was from him that the king later on first heard of Texas. Captain Coronado visits Texas. — ^When Cabeza de Vaca rea,ched Mexico he found the Spaniards there greatly excited over rumors which they had heard of some wonderful cities in the country that we now call New Mexico. It was said that the houses ^The word simply means vice-king, that is, one wlio rules in place of tlie king. A SCHOOL HISTOET OF TEXAS there were built of precious stones. Cabeza declared that these reports were true, that he had passed near the cities and had seen the houses sparkling in the distance. The viceroy was anxious to get such rich prizes for his master, the king, so he ordered Captain Coronado (Ko-ro-na'do) to go with an army and take them. For many weary months Coronado searched for the fab- ulous cities, but found only the poor- est of Indian vil- lages. At last he re- turned to the viceroy in despair, and ac- knowledged that he had failed. During his search he marched through western Texas, and that is the important thing about his expedition for us. It strengthened Spain's claim to Texas. Spain neglects Texas. — During the next hundred and fifty years Spaniards now and then^wandered into Texas, but they made no effort to settle, and before following their story further it will be well to learn something about two other peoples who play a prominent part in the history of our state. These are the French and the English. HfflP t^-^r f // An Indian Pueblo THE BACKGROUND OF TEXAS HISTORY 5 2. THE FRENCH CLAIM TO TEXAS The French settle in the north. — When other nations saw the quantities of gold and silver that were brought to Spain every year from the mines of Mexico and South America they also became anxious for a portion of the New "World. But the Spaniards already held all the south, so that these tardy nations had to settle elsewhere. The French people, therefore, made their first settlements in Canada, very far from Texas. They found no gold, but the forests were full of beautiful animals for whose fur the fashionable men and women of Europe were willing to pay large sums, so from the beginning the French devoted themselves to hunting and trapping these animals, and to bar- tering trinkets to the Indians for their skins. As soon as they hunted most of the animals out of a place they would move into a new territory, where game was plentiful. In this way the French moved rapidly westward as far as the present states of Wisconsin and Minnesota. La Salle explores the Mississippi River. — ^At last they reached the upper branches of the Mississippi Eiver, and a bold explorer with a small band of Indians and traders floated down to its mouth in the Gulf of Mexico. This was in the year 1682, and the man was the ill-fated La Salle.^ Setting up a rude ^ His full name was Eene Eobert Cavalier de la Salle. He was born in Eouen, France, in 1643. His parents were 6 A SCHOOL HISTOEY OF TEXAS cross and -unfurling the French, flag, he solemnly took possession in the name of his country of all the vast region drained by the Mississippi. In honor of the king of France, the dazzling Louis XIV, he named this territory Louisiana. But he knew that somewhere to the south of him the Spanish were settled, and that unless France did something to hold this land the Spanish would finally get it. He resolved, therefore, to return to France by the way that he had come and beg the king to let him come back with men enough to keep it. The king permits La Salle to establish a colony on the Mississippi. — When he arrived in Paris La Salle learned that the kings of France and Spain were threatening each other with war. Louis XIV was glad to do anything to increase his own possessions, or harm his enemy, and as La Salle declared that Louisiana might be used as a base of operations from which to drive the Spanish out of Mexico, he readily granted his request. So La Salle set sail with four ships *to establish a colony at the mouth of the Mississippi. He had on board a hundred soldiers, some carpenters and blacksmiths and other mechanics, and a number of farmers. Some of the men had their families with them, and intended to ■wealthy, and he received a good education. At the age of twenty-three he went to Canada, and spent most of the rest of his life in exploring the Few World. In 1687 he was treacherously murdered by some of his men in Texas. THE BACKGROUND OF TEXAS HISTORY make their homes in the new land. In passing the "West Indies one of the ships was captured by the Spaniards, which was very unfortunate, because, in the first place, it .contained many of the tools for the colony, and in the second place, it caused the Span- ish to suspect the intentions of the French, and to take steps to check them. La Salle loses his way and lands in Texas. — But this was only the beginning of La Salle's misfortunes. With the remaining vessels he could not find the Missis- sippi. He sailed too far west, and toward the end of February, 1685, landed on the shore of Lavaca Bay, near the mouth of the Lavaca Eiver. Here one of his vessels was wrecked, and one sailed back to France. He had but one remaining, and later it, too, was wrecked. For protection from the Indians, a fort was built some distance up the river, which La Salle named Fort Saint Louis. His fruitless search for the Mississippi. — La Salle now began a long and fruitless search for the Mis- sissippi. His supplies ran down, the Indians became La Salle 8 A SCHOOL HISTOEY OF TEXAS hostile, and his people died in great numbers. Some of tliem were killed by the Indians, some were drowned, and one was bitten by a snake, but more of them died of a sickness wMcb was strange to them, and which they palled "the disease of the country." It was probably malaria. The whole party were soon reduced to despair, and were angry with La Salle for getting them into such a plight. In return he treated them harshly, and this caused some to hate him. Finally, in March of 1687, one of his men basely shot him in the back. He had spent most of the two years since landing in Texas in trying to find the Mississippi, for he knew that only by finding it could he ever return to Canada and get relief. In his wanderings he traversed a great part of central and eastern Texas. The fate of his party. — After La Salle's death some of his party succeeded in reaching the Mis- sissippi, and eventually found their way to their countrymen in Canada. Others, however, preferred to stay in Texas, and the fate of these was sad, indeed. An epidemic of smallpox reduced their number to about twenty, some of these quarreled and killed each other in duels, and finally the Indians set upon those who remained and finished the work. When the Spaniards ,came in search of them in the spring of 1689 scarcely half a dozen were left, scattered among various tribes of friendly Indians. THE BACKGROUND OF TEXAS HISTORT 9 The importance of La Salle's settlement in Texas. — ^La Salle's settlement in Texas was due to an acci- dent, to tlie fact that he missed the mouth of the Mississippi. But it gave the king of France an excuse to claim the country, and thus became the cause of a struggle between France and Spain for Possessions of Eokopean Nations, 1700 (Note the distance of the English from Texas.) its possession. More important still, it frightened the Spaniards into settling Texas sooner than they otherwise would have done. The French settle in Louisiana. — Twelve years after La Salle died in the wilderness of Texas another Frenchman planted a colony on the Gulf of Mexico near the present city of Mobile, and 10 A SCHOOL mSTOEY OP TEXAS later a colony was established, where New Orleans now stands. This enabled France, with the forts that it already had on the upper branches of the Mississippi, to hold all the land drained by the "Father of "Waters." In this way La Salle's great plan was carried out, and Spain was prevented from advancing farther to the north. 3. THE ENGLISH IN AMEEICA The English on the Atlantic coast. — Another people with whom we must get acquainted are the English. They came to the New World at about the same time as the French. But instead of hunt- ing for gold mines and jeweled cities, like the Span- iards, or for furs, like the French, they soberly set- tled down to farming. Their first colony was p] anted in Virginia and their nest in Massa- chusetts. At first they took the land only when they needed it, and for that reason they spread slowly. They were a long time in getting to Texas, hut when they came they took it, and what they took they kept. It is the descendants of these peo- ple who hold Texas to-day. Summary. — Through Columbus's dis,covery of America Spain gained the first claim to the New "World. Then in order to hold it, the king estab- lished colonies in the "West Indies, in Mexico, and in South America. Finally the Spaniards learned of Texas, and claimed that. The French came to SPAIN BEGINS TO OCCUPY TEXAS H America a hundred years later than the Spaniards, and settled far away in the north, but they spread rapidly. By accident they were the first to plant a colony in Texas, and this gave France a claim to the country; but the failure of the colony left it vacant again for Spain. At last the English came to America, and settled nearly as far from Texas as the Fren,ch. Because of their thorough method of using the land they spread slowly, but for that very reason they were able to hold what they took. QUESTIONS 1. By what right did Spain claim America? What was necessary to make this claim good? 2. What interest have we in Spain's conquest of Mexico? 3. By what right did Spain claim Texas? 4. Why did the French spread so rapidly in America ? 5. What motives influenced Louis XIV to authorize a settlement at the mouth of the Mississippi ? 6. Point out on the map the location of La Salle's colony in Texas. What is the chief importance of this colony ? 7. What is the importance for our subject of the French settlement of Louisiana? 8. Point out the principal differences between the Spanish, the French, and the English methods of colonization. 9. Why did the English spread slowly ? ADDITIONAL HEADING Caboza de Vaca: Bolton and Barker, With the Makers of Texas, 1-13 (American Book Company) ; Littlejohn, Texas History Stories, 1-22 (B. F. Johnson Publishing Company). La Salle: Bolton and Barker, 21-33: Littlejohn, 25-56; Davis, Under Six Flags, 1-8 (Ginn and Company). CHAPTER II SPAIN BEGINS TO OCCUPY TEXAS The king wants a short route to New Mexico. — After Coronado 's failure to find the wonderful cities of New Mexico, the Spaniards continued to feel an interest in that country and finally took possession of it and founded its present capital, Santa Fe. But at best it was very far away from Spain, and to make matters worse travelers and merchants who had to go there from Spain or the "West Indies could not go the nearest way. They had first to take ship to Vera Cruz, on the eastern coast of Mexico, and then make the tiresome journey up through Mexico and by El Paso. If you will study the map, you will see that it would have been much nearer for them to land at Matagorda, and travel through Texas. The king saw this, too, and ordered the viceroy of Mexico to establish a settlement on Mata- gorda Bay, which the Spaniards called the Bay of the Holy Spirit. But the viceroy knew nothing of any such bay, and was busy with other important things, so that he simply neglected the king's command. The missionaries take the first step. — ^Next the 12 SPAIN BEGINS TO OCCUPY TEXAS 13 governor of New Mexico heard that the Indians of Texas were begging for some one to come and teach them the Christian religion. He immediately dis- patched an expedition under Captain Mendoza (Men-do'sii) and Father Lopez (Lo'pas), which marched for several hundred miles through Texas and then returned without making a settlement. Both the captain and the priest, however, were greatly pleased with the country through which they had passed, and hastening to Mexico they urged the viceroy to take measures to possess it. The viceroy hears of La Salle's expedition.' — ^At first the viceroy did not pay much attention to them, and in fact seemed to care very little about Texas. 14 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF TEXAS But a little later lie learned tliat La Salle liad started from France in 1684, intending to establish a colony somewliere on tlie Gulf of Mexico. This put a different face upon the matter. Even if Spain had no use for Texas, it would never do to let France get it. Besides, another command came from the king about this time saying that he must An Old Spanish Picture find Matagorda Bay. So the viceroy ordered Cap- tain Alonso de Leon (La-6n') to march along the coast with a company of soldiers and drive away any Frenchmen that he might find. Though he did not know it, the French were settled near the bay that the king was so anxious to have found. The search for the French. — Twice, in 1686 and again in 1687, Captain de Leon pushed far to the north, and returned to Mexico each time without hearing anything of the men whom he sought. He began to doubt whether they had ever reached the SPAIN BEGINS TO OCCUPY TEXAS 15 country. But at this very time La Salle was desper- ately hunting for the Mississippi, and hope was slowly dying in the hearts of the homesick French- men at Fort Saint Louis. How glad they would have been to see De Leon, for through him they could have returned to their beloved France ! The finding of Fort Saint Louis. — ^Eumors of a French settlement next began to reach Mexico through the Indians. At last an old Frenchman who had deserted La Salle was brought to Captain de Leon. He wore no clothes, and was painted like the Indians, among whom he had been living. He told of the settlement near Lavaca Bay, and De Leon determined to find it. This time he was suc- cessful. Setting out toward the end of March, 1689, with eighty soldiers and a Franciscan priest,^ Father Massanet (Mas-sa-nef), and guided by an Indian who knew the way, he arrived at Fort Saint Louis on April 22. It was deserted, and a scene of devas- tation met his view. Less than three months before, the Indians had surprised the settlement and miy- dered every soul except four young .children and a ^ The Franciscan brotherliood of priests was organized in the thirteenth century by little Saint Francis of Assisi (As- see-ze), in Italy, to preach to the poor and ignorant. They were very devout missionaries, and after the discovery of America devoted themselves unselfishly to teaching the In- dians of Mexico and the southwestern part of the present United States. 16 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF TEXAS boy of eighteen. Around the houses in every direc- tion the ground was covered with broken swords and guns, torn books, and pieces of boxes and bar- rels, which the Indians had broken up ; while out on the prairie lay the skeletons of two men and a woman. Captain de Leon's work was already done; the French settlement in Texas was destroyed. The Tejas Indians. — Captain de Leon learned that four Frenchmen who had left the fort before the massacre were living among a friendly tribe of Indians to the northeast, and he now went to get them. Only two of them would go back to Mexico with him; the others preferred to stay with the Indians. These Indians were the Tejas (Ta'has), and it is from them that the name of our state is derived. The head chief of the Tejas came to see Captain de Leon, and told him that his people would be glad to have some one preach the Gospel to them. This so delighted Father Massanet that he gave the chief two horses and his own blanket, and promised to. come back to Texas the next year, build a church, and preach to the Tejas. The .chief then said good bye, and on the same day Captain de Leon set out on his return to Mexico. Father Massanet keeps his promise. — Just a year later Captain de Leon and Father Massanet found themselves again in Texas. This time they had with them a hundred and ten soldiers and three priests. They first went by La Salle's old fort and SPAIN BEGINS TO OCCUPY TEXAS 17 burned it, for fear that other Frenchmen might come and occupy it, and then marched on toward the Tejas Indians. The chief came to meet them, and after embracing Father Massanet and offering him snuff and a little parched corn, invited the Span- iards to his village. Father Massanet and the other priests were happy to learn that the Tejas were still anxious to be taught the Christian faith, and to show their apprecia- tion of the chief they gave him a suit of clothes. The next day the whole party solemn- ly marched into the vil- lage. These Tejas In- dians were partly civi- lized. They lived in comfortable houses, and cultivated small fields of corn, beans, and a kind of squash, besides tobacco. At a dinner which the chief gave the priests he served them with tamales, nuts, parched corn, and a dish of succotash. The first church in Texas is built. — The chief very politely asked the priests to make their home with him, but this they thought would be unwise. So, in a little while the soldiers began to cut down irees and build a church and a log house for the A Missionary Fathek 18 A SCHOOL HISTOEY OF TEXAS fathers. In three days the first churcli ever erected in Texas was completed, and Father Massanet cele- brated a joyful mass in it, while the soldiers outside fired salute after salute from their clumsy guns. The church wa s situated about twenty-five miles Bortbeagt~Qf-_the ^ prese nt town o"f Crockett^_and a shor t distance w est of the Hec hes Bia er. The fathers .called it Mission San Francisco of the Tejas. This was a very long name for such a small churchy but they gave it in honor of the founder of their brotherhood, Little Saint Fran,cis, and of the Indians among whom it was built. Three priests and three soldiers remained here, but Father Massanet and Captain de Leon with the rest of the soldiers- returned to Mexico. The failure of the mission. — ^But the little chapel in this lonely wilderness did not last very long. A few Indians were baptized and tried to become Christians, but the next year the whole tribe became sick of a strange disease, and the medicine men said that it was caused by the priests. This turned the Indians against the missionaries, and put a stop to their good work. Father Massanet returned, and tried to regain the friendship of the Indians, but failed; and in less than four years after it was founded tlie church among the Tejas was sadly abandoned. The importance of the mission. — The important thing about the history of this little church is that SPAIN TAKES POSSESSION 19 its failure lielped teach the Spaniards how to suc- ceed the next time. Through their visits to it the country became familiar to them. They named the rivers, and learned the fords. Dim trails began to be trampled out, and good camping places were observed and parefully marked on the map, later to become flourishing towns. Above all, the mission- aries learned to speak the Indian language. They learned also something of the character of the Indian and how to manage him. When they came again they brought larger numbers, more priests, with more soldiers to protect them and keep the Indians peaceful; and, most important of all, they brought families of men and women and little children to make homes in Texas. Summary. — Three things called the attention of the viceroy to Texas at about the same time. These were: (1) the king's command that a settlement be started at Matagorda Bay, (2) the desire of the missionaries to teach the Indians, and (3) the fear that the French were about to seize the country. While hunting for the French the Spaniards became acquainted with the friendly Tejas chief, and Father Massanet resolved to Christianize him and his peo- ple. The mission of San Francisco was founded the next year (1690) in East Texas. Its failure bitterly disappointed the missionaries, but from their experi- en,ce with it they were better able to succeed when they next attempted a settlement. 20 A SCHOOL HISTOET OP TEXAS QUESTIONS 1. What causes turned the attention of the Spaniards toward Texas at the end of the 17th century? Which of these was the strongest? 2. How many expeditions did Captain de Leon make in search of the French? 3. While De Leon was looking for them, how were the French employed? 4. What was the condition of the French settlement when De Leon found it ? To what do you mainly attribute the mis- fortunes of the French colony ? 5. How did the Spaniards learn of the Tejas Indians ? In what state of civilization were these Indians ? 6. What motives led the Spaniards to establish a mission among these Indians? 7. Point out on the map the location of this mission. Why did it fail? What was its chief importance? ADDITIONAL BEADING The search for the French: Bolton and Barker, With the Makers of Texas, 34-42 ; Davis, Under Six Flags, 9-12. The founding of the First Texas Mission : Bolton and Barker, 43-49. CHAPTEE III SPAIN TAKES POSSESSION OF TEXAS 1. HOW THE FEENCH IN LOUISIANA CAUSED THE SPANISH TO SETTLE TEXAS Twenty years of neglect. — When the missionaries left East Texas in 1694 they hoped that they could soon return and establish a permanent settlement, for they believed that in that way they could regain the friendship of the Indians and teach them the Gospel. They had learned, though, that there could never be a permanent settlement until married men brought their wives and children and made their homes in the country. They also knew that until the Indians became friendly again soldiers would be needed for protection. Only the viceroy of Mexico, however, or the king, his master, had the power to establish a settlement of this sort, and time after time they begged the viceroy to do it, but he always refused. He knew that it would be very expensive, because in addition to paying the wages of the sol- diers he would also have to furnish the food and clothing of the settlers until they could raise a crop and support themselves. If there had been a gold mine in Texas, he would have sent men quickly 21 22 A SCHOOL HISTOEY OF TEXAS enough to make the Indians work it for the king; but he did not want to spend the king's money with- out getting something in return. There was no mine, and it did not seem to him worth while to spend very much in making the Indians Christians. For this reason Texas remained neglected by the Span- iards for more than twenty years. The French in Louisiana. — ^We must now learn how the viceroy was made to change his mind. There was one thing be- sides a gold mine .that could make him take an interest in Texas, and that was the fear that his country might lose it. When the missionaries first left Texas there seemed to be no danger of this, because no other nation was near it. A few years later, however, the French began to settle in the southeastern part of that enormous territory which La Salle had named Louisiana. This gave the viceroy some uneasiness, because, as you can see if you will look at the map, Louisiana was joined on the west by Texas, and he feared that the French might try to cross the bound- ary and take it. Still, they were very far away at first, and he took no steps to guard against them. The French wish to trade in Texas.— But you have Indian Arrow Heads SPAIN TAKES POSSESSION 23 already learned how rapidly French hunters and traders could spread over a new country, and you will easily understand that the vi,ceroy was not left long in peace. In fact, Father Hidalgo (E-dal'go), one of those very missionaries who had so often begged the viceroy to establish a colony in East Texas in order that he might teach the Indians, now appealed to the governor of Louisiana for help in founding a mission. To arouse his interest, he told the governor that the Indians there were well-to-do, and that a profitable trade could be carried on with them. He also hinted that the Spaniards of north- ern Mexico, although it was strictly against the laws of Spain, might welcome trade with the French. As it happened that this was exactly what the governor of Louisiana wanted to do, he did not lose a moment in taking advantage of Father Hidalgo 's invitation. Saint-Denis appointed to open trade with Texas. — In all Louisiana the man best fitted to win the con- fidence of the Indians and persuade the Spaniards to break the law was a smooth-tongued captain named Saint-Denis^ (San Den-ee'). He was now thirty- eight years of age, and much of his life had been spent among various tribes of Indians, whose nature he thoroughly understood and whom he had learned to manage with great skill. Moreover he was well ^ His full name was Louis Juchereau de Saint-Denis. He was born in Quebec in 1676. The time and place of his death are not known. He was still livina; in 1744. 24 'A SCHOOL HISTORY OF TEXAS acquainted with tlie Spanisli character, and spoke the Spanish language. This was the man that the governor appointed to open .commerce with Texas. The governor ordered him first to establish trade with the Indians, and then to find Father Hidalgo and get his opinion upon the best way of dealing with Mexico. Saint-Denis among the Hasinai Indians. — Saint - Denis car- ried out the first part of his instructions to the letter. "With two dozen Frenchmen, a number of Indians, and five canoes full of goods he paddled up the Mississippi to the mouth of the Red River and then up the Red to the present town of Natchitoches (Nack'e-tosh). There he built store- houses for his goods, and, leaving some of his men to guard them, crossed the Sabine River and marched into the country of the Hasinai (Ha-see'ny) Indians. These Indians were kin to the Tejas, among whom the Spaniards had established their first mission, and for years they had been missing and longing for the presents that it was the custom of the Spaniards to give. When Saint-Denis arrived, therefore, they Indian Basket Maker SPAIN TAKES POSSESSION 35 greeted him -with joy, hoping that he, too, would dis- tribute gifts. He did not disappoint them. But after pleasure came business, and for six months he remained there buying horses and cattle and buffalo skins and paying for them with guns and knives and axes and cheap little trinkets such as beads and mir- rors and gayly colored cloths. Saint-Denis goes to Mexico. — When Saint-Denis turned to the second part of his instructions, that is, the establishment of trade with Mexico, he could not find Father Hidalgo to get his advice. Nevertheless, he decided to go boldly to the nearest Spanish offi- cial and propose the opening of commerce between Mexico and Louisiana. It happened at this time that the king of Spain was the grandson of Louis XIV, the great king of France, and at home the two countries were on very friendly terms. For this rea- son Saint-Denis believed that the Spaniards would jump at his proposal. However, when he presented himself in the early part of 1715 to Captain Diego Eamon (De-a'go Ea-mon'), who commanded the fort of San Juan (San Whaun'), near the present town of Eagle Pass, he found that he was mistaken. For Captain Eamon, instead of trading, made a prisoner of him and then sent a messenger to the viceroy to ask what to do with him. Saint-Denis goes to see the viceroy. — When the messenger returned he brought a command for Saint- Denis to proceed to the City of Mexico to see the viceroy, and this he accordingly did. When the 26 A SCHOOL HISTORY OP TEXAS viceroy asked liim -why he had entered Spanish territory he replied that his governor had sent him to huy horses and to deliver a message to Father Hidalgo, but concerning the plan of establishing trade between Louisiana and northern Mexico he said very little. On the contrary, he told the viceroy how anxious the Tejas Indians were for the Span- iards to come back to them, and urged him to re-es- tablish the missions in East Texas. The viceroy had already half decided to do this, because he thought it the surest way to keep Frenchmen out of Texas. Saint-Denis must have secretly chuckled at the idea, for he knew perfectly well that if the Spaniards once settled m East Texas, the trading would take care of itself. The importance of Saint-Denis's journey. — The viceroy was much disturbed by Saint-Denis's account of his long march across Texas with not a Spaniard to dispute his way, because it made him see how easy it would be for the French to seize the whole province. To remove all future danger of this, he resolved to take the step which the mis- sionaries had so long been urging, and which Saint- Denis had recently advised; that is, to make a set- tlement in East Texas. The most important thing to remember about the journey of Saint-Denis is that it brought the viceroy to this decision, because the colonies which he now sent out form the real begin- ning of the continuous history of Texas. SPAIN TAKES POSSESSION 27 2. THE SPANISH SETTLEMENT OF TEXAS Preparation for a colony. — Having made up his mind, the viceroy hurried on the preparations for the settlement. Presents for the Indians had to be thought of and arrangements made with the priests to send missionaries; men and women had to be found who were willing to go into the distant wilder- ness, and supplies must be collected for the support of the party while on the march and after they arrived. After mxich bustle and confusion all was ready and a little band set out, commanded by Cap- tain Domingo Eamon. There were half a dozen priests, some soldiers and young men, and seven married' men with their families. They carried with them plows and hoes and axes and nearly a thousand head of cattle and goats. This time the Spaniards were going to stay. The old San Antonio Road. — On account of his knowledge of the country, Saint-Denis was appointed by the viceroy to guide the expedition. Although we cannot trace his exact steps, it is not unlikely that the march lay near the route that later came to be called the Old San Antonio Eoad. Start- ing from the fort on the Eio Grande near the pres- ent town of Eagle Pass, this old road extended across Texas to modern Nacogdoches. For many years it was the principal highway between Texas and Mexico, and it became a noted landmark. In our day the important towns of San Antonio, Bastrop, and 28 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF TEXAS Crockett are to be found along its route. It was the spring of the year, and the members of Captain Eamon's party were charmed with the country. The clear skies, the green plains covered with wild flow- ers and game, the sparkling rivers alive with fish all combined to convince them that they had entered a paradise of beauty and abundance. ^-^ V-^^^_^ \ \ \ ^'acogdoche x -x.^ — — i-^ \ Croci \"V7v:^ "ii s^ ^ — ^ hi A;^^. \^ti Ahtonio dc Bexarj/ XJ^ ■^jiC^oaatrop to) ( i SaQ Juan Baut \ the, Holy Spirit ayoTda Buy) The Old San Antonio Road The Tejas welcome the return of the Spaniards. — The friendly Indians helped to confirm the good opinion which the Spaniards had already formed of the land. When they drew near East Texas Saint- Denis went on ahead to tell the Tejas that they were coming, and many of the Indians rode out to meet them. The pipe of peace was smoked, spee,ches were made, and then Captain Ramon distributed some of SPAIN TAKES POSSESSION 29 the presents that he had brought. No doubt the Indians really were, at the moment, glad to have the Spaniards back, but it is likely that they were sometimes more polite than truthful in telling the Spaniards how well they liked them. For example, an eloquent old chief once told the Marquis de Aguayo (Mar'kwis da A-gwa'yo) that the four things which he loved best in the world were God, the sun, the moon, and the Spaniards. The establishment of the missions. — It was now the summer of 1716. Before the year closed the Spaniards, assisted by the Indians, had built four missions.^ One of them, the mission of Guadalupe (Gwa-da-loop'y) stood exactly where Nacogdoches now is, and the others were from fifteen to twenty-five miles west and northwest of it. In the spring of the next year two others were built near where San Augustine is now located.^ With each mission were left a priest or two, a few soldiers, and some of the colonists. These little settlements ^ They were San Francisco of the Neches, the Immaculate Conception, Our Lady of Guadalupe, and San Joseph of the Nazones (Na-s6'nas). These names may be shortened to San Francisco, Conception, Guadalupe, and San Joseph. ^ They were San Miguel (San Me-gel) and Dolores (Do- lo'ras"). 30 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF TEXAS were too weak, of course, to drive the Frencli back if they tried to come in, but they served as a sort of sign-board that Texas belonged to the Spanish and that other nations must keep out. Besides, they could watch the French in Louisiana and warn the viceroy if any threat were made against them. The missionaries were delighted, and about a year after they began their work wrote gleefully that they had baptized a hundred Indians. Why San Antonio was founded. — But there were many dangers surrounding these early colonists. They were five hundred miles from the nearest Spanish settlement in Mexico; around them were five thousand Indians who might at any moment become unfriendly, as they had been after the first missions were established; and at their very doors were the French, who might come any day and drive them away. Captain Eamon and the good fathers felt very uneasy and begged the viceroy to send them reinforcements. At the same time Father Olivares (0-le-va'ras), who was anxious to go to Texas but who had been left out of Eamon 's party, was plead- ing with the viceroy to let him establish a mission in another part of the province. In addition to all this, the viceroy now began to fear that the French might come by sea and take possession of the region which La Salle had occupied thirty years before. The best way to prevent this was for the Spaniards to go there first. So for these three reasons the vice- SPAIN TAKES POSSESSION 31 roy decided to make another settlement in Texas: (1) he wanted to reinforce the East Texas settle- ments, (2) he wanted to satisfy the prayers of Father Olivares for a new mission, and, above all, (3) he wanted to get ahead of the French on Lavaca Bay. The Founding of San Antonio. — The viceroy expected this settlement to be located near the coast, Entkance to the Alamo but it was established near the head of the San Antonio Eiver. First the mission was built and named San Antonio de Valero (Va-la'ro). The building that we now know as the Alamo is believed to have been a part of it. Next, and across the river, a fort was built for the soldiers. This was named San Antonio de Bexar (Ba'har). Later a town grew 32 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF TEXAS up around tlie mission and the fort, and this was called San Fernando de Bexar. This was the begin- ning, nearly two hundred years ago, of the charm- ing city that we to-day call San Antonio. You will notice that its old name has not been entirely for- gotten, for it is still in Bexar county, and it has an interesting old church that is called the cathedral of San Fernando. The importance of San Antonio. — San Antonio grew very slowly and it was very poor. One old Spanish historian, complains that after seventy years it had but a hundred and forty houses and that all of them were one-storied and most of them one- roomed. But we ,care nothing for that. (The impor- tantjtMng is thatit_was^a permanent settlement, and that from the day of its foundation there was always one place in Texas to which, in case of need, civilized men could fly for protection. Besides this, it became the headquarters from which settlers went out to other parts of Texas. \ The missions near San Antonio. — Soon four other missions were founded near San Antonio. The first was San Jose (Ho-sa'), begun in 1720, and the oth- ers were Concepcion (Kon-sep-se-on') , San Juan (San Whaun'), and San Francisco.^ The missions in East Texas were built of logs and soon decayed, so ^ The last three missions named above had first been estab- lished in East Texas, but in i^SS their priests abandoned that region and, falling back to £an Antonio, founded new SPAIN TAKES POSSESSION 33 that to-day no trace of them remains; but around San Antonio they were built of stone, and though they are nearly two hundred years old, portions of them are still in good condi- tion. San Jose was beauti- fully decorated with carving and sculpture. In the next section we shall learn some- thing about the life that went on around these inter- esting old buildings. Other Spanish settlements. — During the next seventy- five years the Spaniards es- tablished many other mis- sions and settlements in Texas, but some they were forced to abandon and others the Indians de- stroyed. Every time they tried to settle north of the Old San Antonio Eoad the Apaches drove them back, and the fierce Karankawa (Ka-rank'a-way) war- riors kept them away from the coast. So, at the 'J /j|iBir ^m :F^m.# 1 CAiivED Doorway, Mission San Josh missions. They brought with them the records of the older missions, and we say, therefore, that Concepcion, San Juan, and San Francisco were removed from East Texas. 34 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF TEXAS 'beginning of the nineteenth century there were only three Spanish towns in Texas worth mentioning. These were San Antonio, La Bahia (La Ba-he'a), or as we call it Goliad, and Nacogdoches. 3. LIFE IN THE SPANISH SETTLEMENTS The three parts of a Spanish settlement. — We must now try to picture to ourselves the daily life of the people in these early Spanish settlements. You have already noticed, that a settlement was always composed of a priest or two, some soldiers, and a few families. The aim of the priests was to teach and Christianize the Indians. The place where they and their Indian converts lived was called a mission. The duty of the soldiers was to protect the mission and the settlers, though they sometimes did a mission more harm than good. They lived in the fort, or as the Spaniards called it, the presidio (pra- se'de-o). Finally there was the village, which grew up around the mission and the fort and in which lived the settlers and the families of the married soldiers. Description of a mission. — ^If you could have visited one of the missions near San Antonio a cen- tury and a half ago your attention would first have been attracted by the fine church. Connected with this in the rear were the living rooms of the priests. And then, off to one side, enclosed by a high wall, you would have seen rows of little stone houses in SPAIN TAKES POSSESSION 35 wliicli the Indians lived. These were built close together, and at night the priests locked them np to keep the Indians from running away. They were furnished with beds and chests, and in the kitchens were a few pots, bowls, and kettles for cooking. On Mission San Josb all sides of the churph stretched small irrigated farms upon which the Indians, under the direction of the priests, cultivated crops of corn, beans, pump- kins, watermelons, and sugar ,cane. Further away were the pastures where grazed herds of horses, mules, and cattle, and flocks of sheep and goats. How the missionaries taught the Indians. — The missionaries would first win the friendship of the Indians by giving them presents, and then persuade 36 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF TEXAS them to live at the mission by promising them more presents. After getting them to the mission the fathers would begin to instruct them in religion. Every morning and every evening, with the old peo- ple in one class and the children in another, they were taught the catephism; and three or four times a week a service was held in the church. Many of the Indians allowed themselves to be baptized, but very few were intelligent enough to understand what Christianity really means. However, the fathers never lost the hope that they might learn, and in order to keep them in a good humor distributed fre- quent gifts. Every Sunday four or five beeves were killed for the Indians, mutton was sent to the sick, and now and then all were made happy by a little gift of sugar, of which they were extremely fond. How the Indians worked. — As a part of their training the Indians Avere compelled to work, for the fathers well knew how easy it is for idle hands to get into mischief. While some. of the men were put to herding cattle and attending to the ranches, oth- ers were taught farming, carpentering, blacksmith- ing, and masonry. The women learned to weave cotton and wool and to make coarse cloth, blankets, and shawls. But the men were so lazy that the fathers complained tliat it took four of them to do as much work as one Spaniard. To get out of work- ing, the Indians often pretended to be ill, and though tlie fathers easily saw through their pre- SPAIN TAKES POSSESSION 37 tenses they acted as if they were deceived, in order to keep the Indians from running away. The soldiers. — The life of the soldiers will not detain us long. They lived in the fort and in little houses near by, and most of them were men of very bad character. The government paid them high wages to protect the missions and the settlers, but they caused the good fathers a world of trouble by abusing and mistreating the Indians of the mission. They occasionally fought a battle with the Apaches or the Comanches, but, for the most part, they were so stupid and cowardly that the hostile Indians had little respect for them. In fact, it is said that the Indians held the soldiers in such contempt that they would sometimes sneak into town at night and steal all the horses, and then take them back the next day and compel the owners to pay them a reward for returning them. The settlers, — The early Spanish settlers were mostly poor and ignorant. Very few of them could read and write, and they did not have much ambition to learn. They did a little farming and a little stock raising, and hunted wild cattle and game. In the east they lived in terror of the French, and elsewhere they were exposed to the attacks of hostile Indians. Even in San Antonio they suffered from the raids of Apaches and Comanches. They lived in wretched one-roomed hovels, and for the most part did not care to improve their condition. Do you wonder that 38 A SCHOOL HISTOET OF TEXAS they did not prosper? Toward the end of the eight- eenth century a promise was given of better things in San Antonio, when Don Fraii,cisco de la Mata (da-la-ma'ta) established a private school in which to give the children simple instruction. This was . . t>^£^r.£tx''^^Pl '^""^^ psiahli shed in Texas. We do not know the exact date, but it was sev- eral years before 1789, when Washington be- came President of the United States. But the school did not succeed, and the promise of im- provement which it of- fered was not fulfilled. The settlement as a whole. — Can you not close your eyes for a moment and imagine that you see this old San Antonio as it was a hundred and fifty years ago, before the coming of the Americans? There is the mission with its busy, hopeful priests trying to teach the gospel of religion and work to the unwilling Indians who only consent to listen for the sake of a little gift. Here is the fort with its evil, quarrelsome soldiers, living at the king's expense, and hindering the efforts of the mis- Spaxish Iekigatiok Ditch, San Antonio SPAIN TAKES POSSESSION 39 sionaries to uplift the Indians. And clustered around the military plaza is the village with its idle, shift- less settlers, ignorant and wretched but contented. 4. TKOUBLB WITH THE FRENCH ' The threatening situation in East Texas.— You remember that when Saint-Denis was on his way to Mexico in 1714 he stored his goods at Natchitoches and left some of his men to guard them. During his absence in Mexico these men built a fort on the west bank of Red River. Then Saint-Denis led the Span- iards to East Texas, and they established their mis- sions and settlements around Nacogdoches and St. Augustine. One of the missions, called San Miguel (San Me-gel'), or Adaes (a-dy'as), was established on the east bank of the Sabine, only about thirty miles from the French fort at Natchitoches. This created a dangerous situation, because the two peo- ples were now close enough together to strike each other. For three years, however, all went well. These Frenchmen did not want to take Texas; they merely wanted to trade in it, and to this the Span- iards on the frontier did not seriously object. The French drive the Spaniards from East Texas. — But in 1719, while Fran,ce and Spain were warring with each other at home, the French advanced from Natchitoches upon the East Texas settlements, and the Spaniards fled to San Antonio. The Frenchmen then plundered the missions and the settlements, and what they spared the Indians destroyed. It was for- 40 A SCHOOL HISTOEY OF TEXAS tunate that the Spaniards had San Antonio to retire to, otherwise they might have been driven entirely out of Texas. The French attempt to settle on the coast. — A short time after this the French resolved to estab- lish a colony on the coast of Texas, near where La Salle had landed. But the men sent there did not stay very long. They said that the Indians were too hostile, but the truth of the matter is that France did not care to take Texas. Spain re-occupies East Texas and founds a settle- ment on the coast. — As soon as the viceroy of Mexico heard of the flight of his people from East Texas he sent a brave officer with five hundred sol- diers to restore them. This officer was the Marquis de Aguayo (A-gwa'yo). By this time, however, France and Spain had made peace at home, and the French had returned to Natchitoches, so that Aguayo had no trouble. He re-established the mis- sions and settlements and built a strong fort near Natchitoches, in which he left a hundred soldiers to watch the French. He then went down to the coast, and in what is now Jackson county built a fort, on the spot where La Salle 's settlement had been. The object of this was, of course, to prevent the French from making another settlement in that region as they had just tried to do. But tho, Spaniards, too, found the fierce Karankawa braves too much for them, and the settlement soon had to be moved. SPAIN TAKE3 POSSESSION 41 Finally, in 1749, it was moved a se,cond time and established on tlie site of modern Goliad. This is the beginning of Goliad. ^^ Other relations with the French. — After this the Spaniards had very little trouble with the French. Their greatest difficulty was in trying to prevent them from smuggling goods into Texas to trade with the Indians. They objected to this because they wanted to enjoy the profits of the trade themselves. But they could never succeed in keeping the French out. The Indians always liked the French better than they did the Spaniards, and an old missionary tells us the reason why. He says that while the Spanish soldiers annoy and abuse the Indians, "the Frenchman will take off his shirt to give to them," in order to keep them friendly. The end of trouble with the French.— In 1762 all trouble with the French came to an end, because at that date the king of France gave Spain all of the province of Louisiana which lay west of the Mis- sissippi Eivei-. The forts in East Texas were now no longer needed, and in 1773 the soldiers were moved to San Antonio and the settlers were ordered to go with them. Founding of Nacogdoches. — This order to move came at the end of June, and caused the settlers great distress. Many of them had been born in East Texas, and, having never known any other home, they loved it. All of them owned some property 42 A SCHOOL HISTOKY OF TEXAS there which they must now abandon. Even the crops would have to be left growing in the fields. But there was no way of evading the will of the government, and they sadly set out for San Antonio. Some grew ill and were allowed to drop out on the way, a few died, and those who reached San Antonio, after a journey of three months, were in a pitiful condition of poverty and exhaustion. Lands were given them near San Antonio, but they never learned to feel at home, because they longed for the land of the Tejas. Finally the most important man among them, Gil Ybarbo (Heel E-bar'bo), went to the City of Mexico and persuaded the viceroy to let them return as far as the Trinity Eiver. But this proved unsatisfactory, too ; the Indians were trouble- some, and the river overflowed year after year and destroyed their crops. They determined to move again, and this time, without asking permission, Ybarbo led them to the spot where the mission of Guadalupe had been founded in 1716 and estab- , lished a settlement. This was the beginning of JSTacogdoches in 1779. The importance of Nacogdoches. — It turned out to be a very fortunate thing for Spain that Ybarbo re-established a settlement in East Texas, because, as we shall see in the next .chapter, Spain lost Louis- iana about twenty years after this, and then it again needed a signboard on the frontier. Nacogdoches served this purpose. SPAIN TAKES POSSESSION 43 Summary. — We have now learned how the Span- iards took possession of Texas. The viceroy paid no attention to the pleading of the missionaries for strong settlements in East Texas, but Saint-Denis's march showed him how easy it would be for the French in Louisiana to take the country, and to pre- vent this he determined to found the settlements for which the missionaries had been begging for twenty years. The settlements were established in 1716 around the present towns of Nacogdo- ches and San Augus- tine. Two years later San Antonio was founded. For the most part the French and the Spanish got along well together on the frontier, but in 1719 while France and Spain were at war in Europe the Spaniards were driven back to San Antonio, and shortly afterwards some Frenchmen tried to found a colony on Matagorda Bay. This failed, however, ,and in 1721 'the Marquis de Aguayo restored the East Texas settlements, and founded a new one near the coast, on the spot where La Salle's fort had stood. After moving twice this settlement was finally located at Goliad in 1749. In 1762 France gave western Louisiana to Spain, and since the settlements in East Texas were then no longer An Indian Spoon 44 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF TEXaS needed to maintain Spain's claim, the goverjiment broke them up and moved the inhabitants to San Antonio. But the settlers loved their old homes, and in 1779 Gil Ybarbo led them back, and they founded Nacogdoches. This happened to be a for- tunate thing for Spain, because it soon lost Louis- INDIAN POII'SKY iana and an outpost was again needed on the fron- tier. At the end of the eighteenth'century the only settlements worth mentioning were San Antonio, Goliad, and Nacogdoches, and they were not in a prosperous condition. 1. 2. make? 3. ment? QUESTIONS When did the first missionaries leave East Texas? ■ What sort of a settlement did they want to return and Why did the viceroy at first refuse to establish a settle- Do you think that he was right in this refusal ? Why did he finally change his mind ? SPAIN TAKES POSSESSION 45 4. Who was Father Hidalgo? Why did he wish the French to come to Texas? 5. What qualifications had Saint-Denis for the task of establishing trade with Texas? 6. Give an account of his trading among the Hasinai Indians. 'Why was he arrested in Mexico ? 7. What is the chief importance ' of Saint-Denis in the history of Texas? 8. Describe the preparations that the Spaniards made fur their settlement. What were some of the things that they took with them ? By what route did they go ? 9. Draw the Old San Antonio Eoad? What towns are now on or near it? 10. Why were the Indians so glad to have the Spaniards return ? 11. Draw on the map a circle enclosing the missions and settlements established in East Texas. 13. What modern town grew up on the site of one of these missions ? 13. What purpose did these settlements serve in keeping back the French ? 14. What were the main causes that led to the founding of San Antonio? Of what importance was this settlement? 15. Mention some other Spanish settlements in Texas. 16. Describe the daily life in a large mission. 17. Describe the life of the settlers. What was the char- acter of the soldiers? Why were they not sent back to Mexico ? 18. Trace the successive abandonments and reoccupations of East Texas. What caused the last abandonment? 19. Trace the events leading to the establishment of Goliad; of Nacogdoches. 30. What is the chief importance of the establishment of Nacogdoches ? 46 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF TEXAS. ADDITIONAL BEADING Saint-Denis: Bolton and Barker, With the Makers of Texas, 50-53; Davis, Under Six Flags, 14-16. The Spanish Settlements in East Texas„i Bolton and Barker, 54-61; Davis, 16-23. Mission Life: Bolton and Barker, 61-66; Garrison, Texas, 56-60. CHAPTER IV THE AMEBICANS BECOME ACQUAINTED WITH TEXAS 1. SPAIN GETS A NEW NEI6HB0E, THE UNITED STATES Growth of the English settlements in America,— If you will go back to the first Chapter you will see how the English people settled in America very far from Texas, and spread so slowly that at the end of a hundred and fifty years they held only a narrow strip of land along the Atlantic Ocean from Maine to Georgia. But they spread rapidly enough when once they got started, and we must now learn how they did it. In 1756 England and France declared war against ea,ch other in Europe, and their colonists took up the quarrel in all parts of the world. In America the war was called the French and Indian War, because the English had to fight both the French and their Indian friends. George Washington was a colonel in this war and gained a reputation as a wise and skillful officer. In 1763, after seven years of fighting, the English won, and France gave England Canada and all of the terri- tory between the Mississippi Eiver and the Appala- chian Mountains. You remember that just the year before France had given Spain all of its territory 47 48 A SCHOOL HISTOEY OF TEXAS west of the Mississippi, so that England and Spain were now neighbors with the Mississippi as the boundary between them. The English settlements become the United States of America. — ^Abont this time the English colonists began to feel that they were being mistreated by English and Spanish Possessions, 1763 (Note that the English have advanced westward to the Mississippi River.) King George of England, and on the Fourth of July, 1776, all except those in Canada declared their inde- pendence and established the United States of America. Of course the king did not want to let them go, and the colonists had to fight a long and cruel war, but in the end they were successful. From this time on they are called Americans. The terri- tory of the new nation extended from the Atlantic AMERICANS LEAEN OF TEXAS 49 Ocean on the east to the Mississippi on the west, and from Canada on the north almost to the Gulf of Mexico on the south. Spain held what is now the state of Florida; a narrow strip along the Gulf, extending across the present states of Alabama and Mississippi; and all the land between the Mississippi Eiver and the Rocky Mountains. It is important for us to remember that on two sides the Spaniards had the Americans for neighbors, because it was in this way that they came to know and fear them. The United States buys the Louisiana Territory. — But the Americans were still a long way from Texas, and we must find out how they came nearer: It was in this way: after a while France took back the territory between the Mississippi and the Rockies which it had given to Spain, and in 1803 sold it to the United States for fifteen million dol- lars. This brought the Americans to the very fron- tier of Texas. The boundary between the United States and Texas. — Indeed, there were some Americans who claimed that all of Texas was in,cluded in the ter- ritory which the United States purchased from France. Others believed that the Sabine River was the boundary between American and Spanish terri- tory. This brought about a difficulty, because Spain claimed that the Arroyo Hondo was the boundary, and this creek was some miles east of the Sabine. The dispute over the land between the Arroyo Hondo 50 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF TEXAS and the Sabine was arranged in a peculiar way in 1806. It was agreed that until the matter could be permanently settled neither Spain nor the United States should exercise any authority there. The effect of this was to create a little No Man's Land between the Hondo and the Sabine. English and Spanish Possessions, 1803 (Note that rhe English have advanced to the border of Texas.) The Neutral Ground. — This was called the Neu- tral Ground. It had no laws and no government, and for that reason was a safe place for crimi- nals to gather. It was soon filled with despera- does of the worst kind, who robbed and mur- dered without fear of punishment. But the United States and Spain put an end to this condition of affairs in 1819 by agreeing upon the present boun- AMEEICANS LEAEN OF TEXAS 51 dary between Louisiana and Texas. Long before this agreement, however, adventurous Americans had been pushing a,cross the Neutral Ground into Texas and causing the Spaniards a great deal of annoyance. An account of their movements must be given in the section which follows. 2. AMEEICANS BEGIN TO INVADE TEXAS Nolan's expedition. — One of the earliest Ameri- cans to come to Texas was Philip Nolan. For many years he made occasional trips to San Antonio for trading purposes, but our interest in him begins in 1800. In that year he led a small band of men to a spot near where the city of Waco now is and built a cabin. We are not sure what his object was. One of the men said later that Nolan told him that the plan was to explore the country thoroughly, and then go to Kentucky and enlist enough men to come back and conquer it. But it is quite probable that he merely wanted to .capture wild horses and to trade with the Mexicans. The death of Philip Nolan, — ^When the Spaniards learned that Nolan was in Texas, Lieutenant Mus- quiz (Mus-kees') went out with a hundred soldiers to arrest him. Discovering Nolan's cabin at day- break on March 21, 1801, Musquiz divided his force into three divisions in order to surround it, and advanced. When he got within about thirty yards Nolan stepped out and shouted to him that if he 52 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF TEXAS came any nearer one or the other of them would be killed. Musquiz ordered him to surrender, but he refused and re-entered the cabin. Firing then began, and in about ten minutes Nolan was killed by a bul- let through the head. The Americans fought on until about nine o'clock, and then, with their leader dead, three men wounded, and their ammunition nearly gone, they surrendered. They could do noth- ing else. Lieutenant Musquiz allowed Nolan's two negro boys to bury their master, and the next day started for Nacog- doches with the prisoners. The fate of Nolan's men. — The Americans thought that when they reached Nacogdoches they would be released and sent back to the United States, but they were disappointed. On the contrary, an order came for them to be sent to Mexico for trial. A weary time of wait- ing now began, for the king of Spain had to be informed of their ease and say how they should be punished. Six years after they were cap- tured the king's decision came. It said that one in every five of the men must be hanged. Since by An Old Spanish Spur AMEEICANS LEARN OF TEXAS 53 this time there were but nine of them left, the kind- hearted judge who executed the king's decree declared that only one should die. But which one should it be?. To settle this question the men were told to throw dice, and the one who made the lowest throw Avas hanged. But the others were still not released, and for years they were kept moving around from one prison to another until we finally lose sight of all ex,cept one of them. Ellis Bean. — This one was Peter Ellis Bean. In the next Chapter we shall learn that the Spaniards in Mexico revolted from Spain in 1810, and after a war of eleven years gained their independence. During the war Bean escaped from prison, joined the rebels, and fought faithfully for Mexico. He was eventually promoted to be a colonel in the Mexi- can army, and after the close of the war was for a . long time a military officer at Nacogdoches. While in Mexico he had married a wealthy Mexican lady, and just before the Texas revolution he returned to Mexico, where he died in 1846. The importance of Nolan's expedition. — We are not' positive what the object of Nolan's expedition was, and, whatever it may have been, it failed. The only importance that it has for us, therefore, is that it proves that Americans were now beginning to take an interest in Texas The Gutierrez and Magee expedition. — Eleven years after Nolan's death another band of Ameri- 54 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF TEXAS cans invaded Texas. Mexico was then in the midst of its revolution against Spain, and the Americans declared that they wanted to free Texas and then help Mexico free herself. But this was only half of the truth ; the whole truth is that they wanted to free Texas and keep it for themselves. The active commander of these men was Augustus Magee, a young lieutenant who had just resigned from the United States army, but the expedition was planned by Bernardo Gutierrez (Ber-nar'do Goo-te-ar'ras), a Mexican, and he was elected general, while Magee held the office of colonel. The early success of the expedition. — The men gathered in the Neutral Ground, where no one had the power to interfere with them, and when all was ready marched first on Nacogdoches. The Spanish troops fled without firing a shot, and left the town in the hands of the Americans. This occurred in August of 1812. Gutierrez tried to win the help of the inhabitants of Texas by exciting them against the Spanish officials. Some of the people joined him, and in October all marched to attack Goliad, which they captured. Here Magee died, but another commander was elected, and with a number of Mex- ican and Indian allies the Americans set out for San Antonio. Near San Antonio the governor had an army of two thousand men drawn up to receive them, but in the battle which followed he was ter- ribly defeated, with the loss of more than half his AMERICANS LBAEN OF TEXAS 55 men. The next day (April 1, 1813) the Ameri- cans marched into San Antonio and the governor surrendered. Trouble begins for the expedition. — This was the end of their success. A few days later by the order of Gutierrez the governor and sixteen other helpless prisoners were brutally murdered, and this so hor- rified many of the Americans that they returned to the United States. Those who remained deposed Gutierrez from his office, but the men had lost confi- dence in each other and it was never again possible to restore the spirit of the expedition. The Battle of the Medina and the end of the expe- dition. — In June the Americans and their Mexican allies defeated near San Antonio a Spanish army of fifteen hundred men that was sent against them, but in August came the news that another army was approaching from Laredo, commanded by General Arredondo (Ar-ra-don'do). They determined not to wait for its arrival. Under the command of Colonel Toledo, eight hundred and fifty Americans, six hundred Indians, and some fifteen hundred Mexi- cans marched out to meet it on the way. Gen- eral Arredondo learned that they were coming and planned an ambuscade. Hiding the main part of his army near the Medina Eiver, he sent a small force ahead and instructed them to engage the enemy in a slight skirmish and then fly, as if defeated. The Americans would believe that the 66 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF TE$AS whole army was in retreat, would follow in headlong pursuit, and run into the trap. It happened exactly as Arredondo had planned, and when they were securely entrapped he mercilessly mowed them down with cannon and musket. The Mexicans broke and fled in terror, but the Americans and the Indians fighting desperately died on the field. Less than a hundred of the Americans 'escaped to carry the tidings to the Neutral Ground. The importance of the Gutierrez and Magee expe- dition. — First and last more than a thousand Amer- icans followed Magee and Gutierrez into Texas. For awhile they occupied all of the province east of San Antonio, and they liked it. From this time on there was never a moment when some American was not fixing longing eyes upon Texas with the hope of getting a portion of it for his own. This is one of the important results of the expedition. Another is that the Americans and the Mexicans began to get acquainted and to dislike and distrust each other. Long's expedition. — The last of the American invasions of Texas was led by Dr. James Long, of Natchez, Mississippi, in 1819. This was the year in which the United States and Spain settled their dis- pute over the boundary of Texas by agreeing upon the Sabine. Many Americans believed that all Texas belonged to the United States, and were angry at seeing it given up. Long was one of these, and, col- AMERICANS LEAEN OF TEXAS 57, lecting about three hundred men, he marched to Nacogdoches, declared Texas independent, and es- tablished a sort of government. He was determined that Spain should not keep Texas, even though the United States might not want it. But he failed. As soon as the authorities at San Antonio heard what he was doing they sent an army to Nacogdoches and swept his forces from the province. Long con- tinued to linger near the borders of Texas trying to organize another expedition, and toward the end of 1821 he captured Goliad and enjoyed a brief mo- ment of success. Soon, however, he was not only compelled to surrender the town but was himself captured and taken to the City of Mexico a pris- oner. There he was shortly released, but was soon afterwards killed by a Mexican soldier. The most important thing to remember about Long's expedi- tion is that through it more Americans were intro- duced to Texas and learned to look upon it with desire. The pirates on Galveston Island. — While the Spaniards in Texas were busy trying to put down Mexipan rebels and drive back American invad- ers, bands of desperate characters seized Galveston Island and made it headquarters for their evil doings. They claimed to be friends of Mexico fight- ing against Spain, but in reality they were outlaws engaged in piracy and slave trading. That is, they made their living by capturing richly laden vessels, 58 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF TEXAS and selling the cargoes as their own, and by get- ting African negroes in Cuba and smuggling them into the United States for sale. The first to make such unworthy use of the Island was Louis Aury (Loo'ie O'ry), who established himself there in 1816. He left after a year, but was followed by Jean Lafitte. This gentlemanly rascal continued to ply his dishonest business until 1821, when the United States government sent a war ship and broke up his settlement. These men are of no importance in the history of Texas, but they helped to give Texas a bad name with the world, which it took many years to live down, and the story of their deeds illustrates the sad condition of disorder into which the country was plunged at this time. Summary. — In 1762 Fran,ce gave Spain its terri- tory west of the Mississippi and in 1763, at the close of the French and Indian war, ceded its lands east of the river to England. The English and the Spanish thus became neighbors on the Mississippi. Shortly afterwards the English settlements became the independent United States of America, and by the purchase of Louisiana in 1803 the boundary between the Americans and the Spaniards was moved back to the border of Texas. A boundary dispute arose which was provisionally arranged in 1806 by the Neutral Ground agreement and perma- nently settled in 1819, when both the United States and Spain accepted the Sabine as the dividing line. AMERICANS LEAEN OF TEXAS 59 During the first twenty years of the nineteenth century three American expeditions, led by Philip Nolan, Augustus Magee, and James Long, invaded Texas for the purpose of taking it from Spain. They all failed, but they were important steps in the process by which the Americans became ac- quainted with Texas. QUESTIONS 1. When and from whom did England get the territory between the Mississippi and the Appalachian mountains? 2. Who owned the territory west of the Mississippi at the time ? What was the importance of this situation f 01 Texas ? 3. How and when did the English settlements become the United States? 4. How and when did the United States get the territory west of the Mississippi ? 5. What was the importance of this for Texas? 6. Describe the settlement of the boundary dispute be- tween the United States and Spain. 7. Where was the Neutral Ground? 8. What was the character of its population? Why did it get a population of such a character ? 9. To what power did the Neutral Ground go in the boundary settlement of 1819 ? 10. Tell the story of Nolan's expedition. What probably was his object? 11. Did Spain have a right to keep him out of Texas? About where was he killed ? 12. Tell the story of Nolan's companions. 13. Tell the story of Ellis Bean. 14. Give an account of the Gutierrez and Magee expedi- eo A SCHOOL HISTOEY OF TEXAS tion. What was its real object? Who was the active com- mander ? Why was Gutierrez given the title of general ? 15. Describe the battle of the Medina. 16. Tell the story of Long's expedition. What connection did it have with the settlement of the boundary dispute be- tween the United States and Spain? 17. What is the chief importance of these three expedi- tions ? 18. What was going on on Galveston Island from 1817 to 1821? How did this affect the reputation of Texas? ADDITIONAL BEADING Nolan's expedition: Bolton and Barker, With the Mal'ers of Texas, 67-75; Davis, Under Six Flags, 31-33; Littlejohn, "Ellis P. Bean" in Texas History Stories. Bean's own nar- rative in Yoakum, History of Texas, 1, 403-52, will be enjoyed by pupils to whom it is available. The Gutierrez-Magee Expedition: Bolton and Barker, 75-78 ; Davis, 36-39. Long's Expedition: Bolton and Barker, 87-98; Davis, 40, 46-48. Jean Lafitte: Bolton and Barker, 81-86; Davis, 41-44. The Neutral Ground: Davis, 33-36. CHAPTER V COLONIZATION: THE AMERICANS SETTLE TEXAS A glance backward. — We have now studied three hundred years of the history of Texas, and what have we learned? For nearly two hundred years Spain rested idly on its claim to Texas, and took no steps to improve it until the approach of the French compelled it to settle for fear of losing the country. Fear of the French was followed by fear of the Americans, but, with all its efforts, the best that Spain could do during the third hundred years was to keep alive the three small settlements of San Antonio, Goliad, and Nacogdoches. As late as 1820 there were, besides the Indians, 'scarcely four thousand people in Texas, all in a wretched and poverty-stricken condition. And what Spain itself could not do for the province it would not let others do. No foreigner was allowed west of the Sabine. Now history teaches no lesson more clearly than this, that a nation shall not keep for- itself alone what it will not or cannot properly use. The Spaniards had had their chance with Texas and failed; it was time for the Mexicans to try. 61 Stephen F. Austin AMEEICANS SETTLE TEXAS 63 Mexico frees itself from Spain. — ^Mexico had fared little better than Texas under Spanish rule. It was governed by officials ■whom the king appointed and according to laws which the king decreed. The Mexicans had nothing to say in the management of their own government. They were heavily taxed without their consent. And they were not even Spanish Settlements in Texas Before 1800 .Adapted from a map by Elizabeth 11. West in the Ivanhoe series. 1. Natchitoches. 2. San Augustine. 3. Mission San Miguel. (Adaes.) 4. Mission Dolores. 5. Mission Guadalupe. 6. Mission San Joseph de los Nazones. 7. Mission Concepcifin, 1st site. 8. Mission Santa Maria. 9. Mis- sion San Francisco de los Neches. 10. Mission San Francisco de los Tejas. 11. Nacogdoches. 12. Ft St. Louis. 13. Mission Refugio. 14. Mission La Bahia. 15. Mission San Juan. 16. Mission Conccpci6n. 17. Mission San Javier. 18. Mission San Josf. 19. Mission San Francisco de la Espada. 20. San Antonio de Bexar. 21. San Juan Bautista. allowed to buy and sell their goods where they could get the best bargains. All foreign trade had to be .carried on with Spain. Against these and other abuses the Mexicans finally revolted in 1810. 64 A SCHOOL HISTOEY OP TEXAS For many years tlie revolution merely dragged along, and it often seemed that Spain would succeed in putting it down. In 1821, however, it took on new life, and before the end of that year Mexico was inde- pendent. The Mexicans unprepared for self-government. — But the Mexicans did not know how to use their freedom. Spain had never allowed them to learn anything about the business of government, so that they were now entirely unprepared to govern them- selves, and this, of course, pla,ced them at the mercy of unscrupulous politicians. The first to take advan- tage of their helplessness was General Iturbide, who compelled them to make him emperor, and then tried to rule as tyrannically as the king had done. He was successful for a while, but in about a year he was o.verthrown, and a government somewhat like that of the United States was established, with a president and congress at the City of Mexico and a governor and legislature in the different states. "We call this sort of government a federal republic. It is a good one for an educated, intelligent people who have had some practice in governing them- selves, but it was an unsuitable one for the Mexicans, who had not had such practice. For years, hardly knowing what they were about, the poor people tore each other to pie,ces in one revolution after another, and then in 1835 President S antji. Atiti^ tried to trample upon their rights, as Iturbide had AMEEICANS SJ3TTLE TEXAS 65 done, by taking the government absolutely into his own bands, faiis was one of the principal causes of the Texas revolution\)f which we shall learn a great deal more in the next Chapter. How Texas was governed by Mexico. — ^When Mex- ico gained its independence it took, of course, all the- territory that Spain had owned in N'orth Amer- ica. This included Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California, and parts of Colo- rado, Utah, and Nevada. In a later Chapter of this book we ■shall have to learn how all of this t e r r i t ory finally passed over to the United States, but at present we are concerned only with Texas. There were not enough people in Texas to make it a separate state, so it was joined to Coahuila (Ko-a-weel'a). At first the town of Saltillo (Sal-tee'yo) was the capital of Coahuila and Texas, but later the capital was moved to Monclova. At the capital was the governor, who looked after the general business of the state, and there the legislature met to pass laws. Both the governor and the legislature were elected by the people, somewhat The Cathedhal, Ciir of Mexico 66 A SCHOOL HISTOEY OF TEXAS as tliey are with us to-day. In Texas the most impor- tant official was the political chief, who lived at San Antonio and acted in most respects as the gov- ernor of the province. And then, every town had an officer called an alcalde (al-cal'da) whose duties were partly like those of our own mayor and partly like those of a justice of the peace. It was by these officials — governor, legislators, political chief, and alcaldes — that Texas was governed as long as it \bel\)nged to Mexico. 2. THE AMEEICAN COLONIES IN TEXAS The purpose of this section. — We have seen how the English settlers became Americans and spread from the Atlantic Ocean to the Sabine Eiver, and how they became acquainted with the land west of the Sabine through the filibustering expeditions of Nolan, Magee, and Long. It is now time to learn how the government at last threw open the doors and allowed a stream of Americans to flow in and peaceably occupy Texas. Moses Austin gets permission to establish a colony. — In 1820 Moses Austin went boldly to San Antonio and asked the governor to let him bring three hundred families to Texas. This was the year before Mexico established its independence and took Texas away from Spain. The governor may well have been surprised at Austin's politeness in asking his permission, for the Americans had always AMEEICANS SETTLE TEXAS 67 before tried to force their way into the country without asking anybody's consent. Nevertheless, as he did not have power to grant the request, he refused even to talk about it, and ordered Austin to get back to the United States as quickly as he could go. Finally, however, he was persuaded by Austin's friend Baron Bastrop to forward the peti- tion to the proper authorities in Mexico to see if they would grant it. And with this plan, though by now he had little hope of its being successful, Austin was forced to be content. He de,cided to return to his home in Missouri to await the answer, and there on the tenth of June, 1821, he died of pneumonia, caused by exposure to the weather dur- ing his journey. Only a few days before his death the notice came that his petition had been granted, and one of his last requests was that his son, Stephen '^ Fuller Austin, should carry on his plans. / Stephen Austin establishes the colony. — Stephen \ Austin was on the way from New Orleans to Saif Antonio when he heard of his father's death, and of his wish that the plans should not be given up. So, with a very sad heart, he kept straight on, and asked the governor to let him carry out his father's wish. The governor consented, and, after choosing a place for the settlement between the Colo- rado and Brazos Rivers and south of the Old San Antonio Eoad, this remarkable young man, then less than twenty-eight years of age, went to New 68 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF TEXAS Orleans and advertised for settlers. His proposal was liberal, indeed. To every one who would settle in Ms colony lie offered six hundred and forty acres of the best land in the province for the ridiculously low price of twelve and a half cents an acre. He was soon able to start back to Texas with some of the three hundred families for which his con- tract palled. Many poor people and some well-to-do ones went with him, and all hoped to better their condition in this land of promise. They arrived in December, 1821, and settled on the Brazos, in what is now Washington county. At last Americans had a foothold in Texas, and they had come to stay. Some of us had great-grandfathers in this settle- ment. Early difficulties of the colony. — ^But there were hardships a-plenty in store for the little colony. Austin had arranged for supplies, tools, and seed for planting to be brought by the schooner Lively. These were to be landed at the mouth of the Colo- rado, but for some reason they were landed at the Brazos and Austin failed to get them. For a time the colonists had to depend for food upon such wild game as they could kill, and many a day they went hungry. Then Austin was called to the City of Mex- ico on business concerning the colony, and the set- tlers were left without a leader. Some became discouraged and returned to the United States, while others wandered off to other parts of the province. AMERICANS SETTLE TEXAS fig When Austin returned, his colony had almost dis- appeared. He set to work with a fine spirit to build it up again, however, and before the end of 1824 he was asking permission to bring in three hundred more families. Mexico invites Americans to Texas. — ^After the Mexicans gained their independence from Spain and established a republican form of government, they felt a momentary glow of friendly sympathy and admiration for the Americans who had only a short time before flung off the yoke of England. And while they were still under the influence of this feeling they passed a law cordially inviting Amer- icans and other foreigners to come to Texas. Every married man who would settle here was offered a league of land (4428 acres), and anybody who would bring in a hundred families was given a pre- mium of twenty-three thousand acres. In many parts of Texas to-day a league of land is worth a hundred thousand dollars, so that this looks like a very generous offer, but you must remember that in those days land had little value because there were so few people here to use it. The empresarios. — In order to earn the large pre- miums a number of men hastened to make con- tracts with the government to bring hundreds of families to Texas. The Mexicans called these men jmpresaxiasy but we may call them by the more familiar title of contractors, for in the present sense 70 A SCHOOL HKTOEY OF TEXAS that is what the word means. Stephen F. Aus- tin himself at different times made new contracts to bring in altogether more than fifteen hun- dred families. Some of the other contractors with whom we must become acquainted were Hayden Edwards, Green DeWitt, Martin de Leon (Mar-teen' da La-6n'), Benjamin E. Milam, David Gr.. Burnet, Lorenzo de Zavala, and two Irishmen named McMullen and McGloin. Ed- wards arranged to settle eight hundred families around Nacogdo- ches, but he soon got into trouble with the govern- ment and his con- tract was can- celed. We shall learn more of this in another place. DeWitt agreed to settle three hundred families between the Guada- lupe and Lavaca Elvers. Gonzales became the prin- cipal town in his colony. De Leon contracted to settle a hundred and fifty Mexican families in the present counties of Victoria and Lavaca. And McMullen and McGloin established an Irish colony SojiE Ea'elt Colonial Ghants 1. Edwards's colony. 2. Austin's first and second colonies. 3. DeWitt's colony. 4. De Leon's colony. 5. McMullen and McGloin's colony. AMEBIC ANS SETTLE TEXAS 71 between the San Antonio and Nueces Elvers, San Patricio became the chief town of this colony. A study of the map will show where the other contract- ors started their colonies, but as they did not suc- ceed in settling many families we need not further notice them now. The Americans rapidly settle Texas. — Soon a stream of American settlers began to pour into Texas, tempted by the liberal invitation of Mexico and the glowing advertisements of the contractors. Every boat that landed at Velasco or Matagorda brought settlers, while others came by land in wagons or on horseback. From New York, Penn- sylvania, Virginia, and Ohio they came; but most of all they came from Tennessee, Mississippi, Ala- bama, and Georgia. The wealthy open-handed southern planter, with a band of slaves to dig a second fortune from the fertile bottom lands of the Trinity, Brazos, and Colorado ; the frugal north- ern farmer, wealthy in the possession of a family of sturdy sons ; the ' ' poor white, ' ' with hardly more than the shabby clothes upon his back; bridal couples on their honeymoon journey; young adven- turers; lawyers, do.ctors, merchants — all sorts and conditions of men came to Texas. And to all of them it was a land bright with promise and hope. By 1835 there were between twenty-five and thirty thousand Americans in Texas. The character of the colonists. — It used to be the 73 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF TEXAS fasMon for histories to say that most of the early settlers of Texas were bad characters who fled from the United States to escape punishment for crime, but we can prove that this is not true. No doubt there were some vagabonds in the country, just as there are in the most respectable communities to-day, but the majority of the settlers were simple, honest, upright pioneers, no worse than those who settled Ohio and Indiana. In fact, undesirable men who came to Austin's .colony were whipped and driven away, and in 1829 Austin declared that the people in his settlements were as moral, hospitable, and law-abiding as could be found at that time in any county in the United States. 3. LIFE IN THE COLONIES The houses iu which the colonists lived. — The early colonists settled in a part of Texas where stone was scarce and trees were plentiful. But there were no sawmills, and it was too expensive to ship lumber from the United States. So for the first few years nearly all of the houses were built of logs. A house of the best sort would have a long front porch, a. wide hall, with rooms opening into it on each side, plank floors, and great fireplaces and chimneys. Such a house was both commodious and .comfortable, and some of us to-day would consider it a picturesque lodge. But only the very well-to-do settlers could afford such a house. Many lived in AMEEICANS SETTLE TEXAS 73 one-roomed cabins with earthen floors, thatched roofs, and mud-chinked walls, which were neither convenient nor comfortable. What must have been one of the very poorest houses is described by a lady who came to Texas from Germany when she was A Comfortable Pioneek Home about nine years old. She says: "Our house was a miserable little hut, covered with straw and hav- ing six sides, which were made out of moss. The roof was by no means water-proof, and we often held an umbrella over our bed when it rained at night, while the cows came and ate the moss. Of 74 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF TEXAS course we suffered a great deal in the winter. My father had tried to build a chimney and fire place out of logs and clay, but we were afraid to light a fire because of the extreme combustibility of our ■dwelling. So we had to shiver." And she lived in ihis house six years. Their furniture. — In general the furniture was as ■crude as the houses. It is true that some of the ■colonists, coming by sea, were able to bring from their old homes silver and china and household goods sufficient to furnish the new homes in com- parative elegance; but many of them brought no more than could be packed on the back of a horse, and in their cabins the furniture was likely to be ■of the home-made sort. Their benches, stools, and tables were hewn from the trunks of trees, and they .sometimes ate their scanty food from wooden plat- ters and drank their milk from gourds. Sometimes the barest necessities, such as beds, washbasins, and towels, were lacking. One who suffered the hard- ships of those early days says "my mother was ■on,ce called to a neighbor's, . . . because one of the little children Avas very sick. My mother slept ■on a deer skin, without a pillow, on the floor. In the morning, the lady of the house poured water over mother's hands and told her to dry her face on her bonnet. ' ' Food. — For the first few years the crops were not .sufficient to meet the needs of the incoming colonists AMERICANS SETTLE TEXAS 75 for bread and seed corn, and they were often com- pelled to live for months upon the game which they could kill. Deer and wild turkeys could usually be found, but occasionally hunger drove them to eat the mustang ponies which roamed the prairies in countless numbers. In time, however, this changed: props became more abundant, and cornbread ceased to be a luxury; the gardens furnished fresh vege- tables for the table; honey was obtained from bee- trees in the woods; and soon cattle and hogs were adding milk and butter and beef and pork to the bill of fare. It did not then so much matter that the price of flour was very high because, with the other things, it was no great hardship to do without biscuits and cake. For a good many years, however, mills were so scarce in Texas that a colonist often had to go thirty miles to get his corn ground into meal. Clothing. — Calico was fifty cents a yard in the stores, and other goods were proportionally high. But most of the colonists were not troubled by that, for nearly every .cabin contained a spinning wheel and a rude loom for the making of homespun cloth, and that was what most of them wore. Some had suits of buckskin for rough wear, and moccasins were commoner than boots and shoes. Hospitality. — ^But scarcity and want did not make the colonists selfish or inhospitable, and the traveler was always sure of a welcome among them wherever 76 A SCHOOL HISTOEY OF TEXAS he went. One witness says: ''The settlers with whom we came in contact were very kind and hos- pitable; and this was true of nearly all the old American pioneers. They would receive one with gemline pleasure and share the last piece of bread. Money was out of the question and if you had offered it to those people, they would have been amazed. When you came to one of the old settlers, you were expected to make yourself at home. He would see that your horses were well fed, and offer you the best cheer he could; and you were expected to do the same when the next opportunity presented itself." Amusements. — Nor must we gain the impression that life was entirely filled with hardships for the early settlers. It is true that they were often lonely, that they were in constant danger from the treacher- ous Indians, that they worked hard, and sometimes went hungry; but they took these things as a mat- ter of course, and, looking hopefully to the future for better times, enjoyed to the utmost such pleas- ures as came their way. Their amusements were much like those of people who live in the country to-day — hunting, fishing, shooting matches, riding wild horses, dancing parties, weddings, and an occa- sional trip to town. At first there were no Sunday schools nor churches to serve as gathering places, but they sometimes met at a camp meeting under the shelter of a spreading tree, and before and after AMEEICANS SETTLE TEXAS 77 the sermon talked of old times in the United States and indulged in golden prophecies of the future. None of us would care to exchange places with the pioneers of those old days, but if we could do so, we should find many things to amuse us in the life that they led. Indians. — The Indians were the greatest annoy- ance and dianger with which the colonists had to contend. The hostile ones murdered and the friend- ly ones robbed them, and the worst of it was that nobody could tell when a friendly tribe might suddenly turn hostile and go on the war- p a t h. They would sometimes hang around a settlement for months, begging, trading, and pilfering, and then, without a moment's warning, would dash away to some lonely neighborhood and, unless help came quickly, kill every living soul. After a massacre of this sort the colonists themselves would take the warpath and hunt the Indians down like wild beasts. A battle would follow, and the Indians were gener- ally defeated, but the colonists also frequently suf- fered. Still, the settlers sometimes found the more Me-ta'-tes, Used by the Indians and Mexi- cans FOB Mashing Cobn 78 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF TEXAS civilized Indians really useful, and often traded them ammunition and corn for venison, moccasins, and skins. The Indians liked nothing better than driving a close bargain, and one old chief of the Tonkawas (Tonk'a-ways) used to boast that if he could only get Austin to trade with him, he could cheat him out of his colony. An old settler says that Austin once furnished this same chief with a supply of seed corn and some farming tools and made him promise to raise a crop, but he ate the corn and then told Austin that the Great Spirit had forbidden the Tonkawas to plant corn. He said that they must hunt, as they had always done, and depend upon their white brothers for bread. Austin replied that the Tonkawas would surely starve, if they did not work, but his threat had no effect. The occupations of the colonists. — Most of the colonists were farmers. Those who could afford it imported tools from New Orleans and cultivated with their slaves vast fields of cotton and corn. Others who did not even possess a hoe burned away the brush and canebrakes and planted corn with a sharpened stick. This, of course, was in the earliest days of the colonies. As time passed conditions improved. The principal crops were cotton and corn, some tobacco and sugar cane, and the usual garden vegetables. Everybody tried to raise a few horses, some cattle, and hogs; and in parts of the colonies sheep were raised for their wool. There were a AMEEICANS SETTLE TEXAS 79 good many lawyers in. Texas, among whom we must remember William B. Travis, who so gloriously died in the Alamo; a few physicians; and some mer- chants. The first stores were at San Felipe, Quin- tana, Harrisburg, and Nacogdoches. At Quintana, near the mouth of the Brazos, Thomas F. McKinney and Samuel M. Williams had a large wholesale es- tablishment, where they stored goods which they bought in New Orleans and sold to retail merchants in all parts of the colonies. This was long before the time of railroads, and at first the goods had to be hauled from Quintana in heavy freight wagons drawn by many yokes of oxen. Later they were taken up the Bra- zos in a steam- boat. In short, if we could visit the oldspectac.es Texas of seventy- five years ago, we should see in their infancy the beginnings of the principal industries of our state to-day. The condition of the colonies in 1834. — ^According to a careful Mexican account, the colonists in 183.4 were scattered along the rivers south of the Old San Antonio Eoad from the Nue,ces to the Sabine, and were beginning to prosper. They had sawmills, cotton gins, and mills for grinding corn. There was 80 A SCHOOL HISTOEY OP TEXAS a steamboat on the Brazos, and two others were ordered, one for the Trinity and one for the Neches. They shipped great quantities of cotton, corn, cattle, and the skins of animals to New Orleans and ex- changed them for machinery, farming implements, household goods, flour, coffee, etc., which could not be produced in the colonies. This Mexican writer noticed with regret, however, that in all Texas there were only four small schools, and that they were very poor, but he said that colonists who could afford it sent their children to the United States to school. Summary. — ^At the very end of its rule in Texas the Spanish government gave Moses Austin permis- sion to plant an American colony in the province, and upon his death continued the grant to his son Stephen. Then Mexico became independent, and offered great bounties of land to all who settled in Texas. Austin arrived with the first of his colonists in December, 1821, and less than four years later a number of other empresarios made contracts to bring hundreds of families to Texas. By 1835 there were at least twenty.five thousand Americans in the country. At first they suffered a great many hardships, but conditions improved as time went on, and most of them became able to live very com- fortably. In less than a dozen years the Americans did more to develop the province than Spain had done in all its three hundred years of possession. AMERICANS SETTLE TEXAS gl ,As long as Texas belonged to Mexico it was united ■with Coaliuila, and the two states had a single gov- ernor and legislature, but in Texas the principal officer was the political chief. At first there was only one political chief, with headquarters at San Antonio, but by 1834 there were three, one at San Antonio, one at San Felipe, and one at Nacogdoches. The colonists really paid very little attention to the government in Mexico, and generally managed their own affairs. In fact, their connection with the United States was closer than with Mexico. Most of them had friends or relatives in the United States and were constantly going back there on visits or on business; they did nearly all their trading in the United States; and they sent their children there to school. It is important to remember this, because it helps to explain in part the Texas revolution. QUESTIONS 1. "WTiat were the causes of the Mexican revolution from Spain? 2. Why were the Mexicans unprepared to govern them- selves after they became independent? 3. "What sort of a government did they finally establish? Why was it not suitable for them ? 4. Why do you suppose the Spanish government gave Moses Austin permission to establish an American colony in Texas ? 5. Why did Mexico continue, in this respect, the liberal policy that Spain had begun ? gg , A SCHOOL HISTORY OF TEXAS 6. What inducements did Mexico offer to settlers in Texas? Were any foreigners except Americans invited to Texas ? 7. Who were some of the principal empresarios, or con- tractors ? 8. Show on a map the location of the principal colonies. 9. From what parts of the United States did most of the colonists come? What classes of people were among them? Were there many bad characters among them? 10. Tell of the hardships of the early colonists. 11. Describe some of their amusements. 12. Describe a comfortable house in the colonies; a house of the poorer sort. 13. What sort of clothes did the early settlers usually wear? 14. What did they eat? Tell of their hospitality. 15. Give an account of their relations with the Indians. 16. What occupations did most of the colonists follov/? 17. Describe the general condition of Texas in 1834. 18. Where did the colonists buy and sell their goods? 19. What did they have to sell ? 20. How did they transport their goods ? 21. How many schools did they have? ADDITIONAL BEADING Stephen F. Austin: Bolton and Barker, With the Makers of Texas, 100-104 ; Davis, Under Six Flags, 50-56 ; Littlejohn, "Stephen F. Austin" in Texas History Stories. Life in the Colonies: Bolton and Barker, 104-153; Smith- wick, The Evolution of a State (Gammel Book Company, Austin), pp. 9-86. CHAPTER VI THE TEXAS REVOLUTION: THE AMERICANS TAKE TEXAS 1. THE GENERAL CAUSES OF THE EEVOLXJTION The fundamental cause of the revolution. — The causes of the revolution were spread through the whole ten years, between 1825 and 1835, but at the very bottom of them all was the fact that the Mex- icans and the colonists never really got acquainted and learned to trust each other. The chief reason for this was that they always considered each other foreigners. They belonged to different races, and had different religions, different ways of living, and different ideas of government and education. The colonists felt a sort of contempt for the Mexicans. They formed very few conne,ctions with Mexico, while with the United States, where they had left friends and relatives, where they sold their crops and bought their goods, and where those who could afford it sent their children to school, their connec- tion was very close. The Mexicans soon observed this, and began to suspect that the colonists would some day try to take Texas away from them and attach it to the United 83 84 A SCHOOL HISTOEY OF TEXA8 States. This was the beginning of the misunder- standing. After the idea had once entered the minds of the Mexicans nearly everything that the colo- nists did was misinterpreted and only helped to strengthen it. The Mexicans then did exactly what you would do if you believed that somebody was going to try to snat,ch something from you — they took measures to prevent the success of such an attempt. But now the colonists in their turn mis- understood the Mexicans, and considering their measures oppressive and unnecessary, demanded that they be changed. This however, only convinced the Mexicans the more thoroughly that the colo- nists were plotting a rebellion. They redoubled their efforts to prevent it, and in so doing drove the colonists into the revolution. If they had been of the same race, they might have known each other better, or distrusted each other less, and the revolu- tion might never have occurred. To see the truth of this statement, and to learn the other causes of the revolution, we must now take up the principal events in the history of Texas between 1825 and 1835. The Fredpnian rebellioiL—- The first thing that occurred to give the Mexicans a bad opinion of the American settlers was what is called the Fredonian rebellion. If you will turn back to page 70, you will find among those who made contracts with the Mexican government to bring colonists to Texas the THE AMERICANS TAKE TEXAS 85 name of Hayden Edwards. He undertook to settle eight hundred families in a vast tract of land in East Texas which included the old Spanish town of Nacogdoches. There had been, as you remember, some Mexican families living in this neighborhood ever since Gil Ybarbo founded Nacogdoches in 1779, and there were, besides, a good many Ameri- cans there who had drifted in after Long's expedi- tion. Edwards soon got into trouble with these old settlers by threatening to take their land away from them unless they could prove a good title to it, and later he got into trouble with some of his own colonists by trying to charge them a small fee for the land which the government allowed them. Those who were dissatisfied complained to the political .chief at San Antonio, who took their part. Thereupon Edwards's brother wrote to him and attempted to explain the difficulty, but the political chief thought the letter so abusive and dis- respectful that he canceled Edwards's contract and ordered him to leave the country. Now, Edwaids, who had spent a fortune in getting his colony started, saw ruin staring him in the face if com- pelled to obey this command, and he determined to resist. On December 16, 1826, therefore, with the support of a few friends, he declared Texas inde- pendent of Mexico and named it the Republic of Fredonia. It is for that reason that we call this the Fredonian rebellion. g6 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF TEXAS The failure of the rebellion. — Edwards immedi- ately saw that he could not succeed without more assistance, and set to work to get it. The Cherokee Indians, who had recently come from the United States and stopped near Nacogdoches, agreed to help him in return for some land, and he then tried to stir up the settlers in Austin's colony hy persuading them that they were being badly mistreated by the government. B. W. Edwards, the brother of Hay- den, wrote to a prominent colonist, saying: "I write you in much iaste to apprise you that the Amer- icans in this end of the province have at length resolved to throw off the yoke of despotism and to be freemen. . . . We have been shamefully op- pressed for twelve months. . . . We are the sons of freemen and will sooner die than be slaves! . . . We look upon you as our brothers, and as such expect to find you in arms, ready to avenge our wrongs and to protect your own rights against the faithless government." But Austin's colonists paid no attention to Edwards. Though they were sorry for him, they believed that he was in the wrong, and they knew that it would ruin them all if they joined him. Ellis Bean persuaded the Cherokees to lay down their arms, and when the Mexican soldiers advanced from San Antonio to put down the disturbance some of Austin's men went with them. Upon the approach of the soldiers the Edwards brothers realized that THE AMERICANS TAKE TEXAS 87 they were helpless, and on January 31, 1827, a little more than six weeks after their declaration of inde- pendence, they fled to the United States, and the Fredonian rebellion was at an end. The government later divided np the land which was to have been included in Edwards's colony and granted it to Lorenzo de Zavala, David G. Burnet, and others. The importance of the Fredonian rebellion. — One slight skirmish in which a man was killed and sev- eral were wounded was the only fighting that took place during the Fredonian rebellion, but the effect of the rebellion upon the minds of the Mexicans was very much more serious. It was the first defi- nite thing that happened to make the Mexicans fear that the colonists would finally take Texas away from them. If a mere handful were bold enough to make the attempt at this early date, would they not surely succeed when their numbers increased and the province was full of them? It was true that Austin's colonists had refused to have anything to do with the uprising, but the Mexicans said to themselves that this might have been only because they realized that the time was not yet ripe. You see, they did not trust the Americans. And pretty soon they began trying to discourage them from coming to Texas. 1 How the Mexicans tried to check American immi- gration into Texas. — At first the Mexicans did not -come out openly and forbid Americans to settle in gg A SCHOOL HISTOEY OF TEXAS Texas, but attempted to reach the same end by a round-about way. They saw that many of the colo- nists from the southern states brought slaves with them, and the idea occurred to them that if the slaves already in Texas were deiclared free and no others were allowed to enter, a good many Ameri- cans would stop coming. It is likely that this really would have happened, because at that time there were no laborers to be hired in Texas, and the only way in which large plantations could be cultivated was by slaves. So, on September 15, 1829, President Guerrero issued a proclamation freeing tlie_^slaves throughout Mexico. Now, there were very few slaves in any of the Mexican territory except Texas, most of the labor elsewhere being done by peons, who by law were free but who in reality were worse off than the slaves in Texas. The colonists saw immediately, therefore, that the president's decree was aimed at them, and it made them very angry. It seemed for a time that they might go to war, but Stephen F. Austin per- suaded them to first send a petition to the president, telling him that the proclamation would ruin Texas, and asking him to withdraw it. Even the Mexicans living in Texas endorsed this petition, and when it reached President Guerrero he granted it by except- ing Texas from his proclamation. This caused great rejoicing among the colonists, but at the same time they did not forget that the government had delib- THE AMERICANS TAKE TEXAS 89 erately tried to ruin tliem, and bitter resentment was mingled with their joy. The breach between them and Mexico was widened. The law of April 6. 1830.— Scarcely had this 3 excitement subsided when the colonists were irri- tated almost beyond control by the law of April 6, 1830. You will have no difficulty in understanding why they objected to it when you learn its princi- pal provisions. First, it forbade the settlement of any more Americans in Texas except in Aus- tin's and DeWitt's colonies, and made it extremely troublesome for them to settle even there. Second, in order to outnumber as soon as possible the Ameri- cans already in Texas, it provided that Mexican convicts should be sent to the province to serve their terms and then permanently settled there. Third, it provided that a number of Mexican sol- diers should be scattered through Texas to watch the colonists and keep them in subjection. And, finally, it established custom houses at the seaports, where taxes had to be paid upon all goods that were not bought in Mexico. The purpose of this, of course, was to break up the trading between Texas and New Orleans. Why the colonists objected to the law of April 6. — The colonists saw that if the law was carried out, they would be almost entirely cut off from their friends and relatives in the United States, and that Texas would become filled with low-class Mexicans 90 A SCHOOL HISTORY CF TEXAS through the settlement of ex-convicts, and of sol- diers, who were nearly as bad as the convicts. At first they had no right to object to the establish- ment of custom houses and the collection of tariff duties on goods imported from the United States, because at that time every country in the world imposed the same sort of taxes on foreign trade, but, as we shall see, they soon had good reason to com- plain of the tyrannical methods employed by the collectors. Failure to enforce the law of April 6. — ^But the government could never enforce the law. Though it stationed troops in many places, Americans con- tinued to slip into Texas; and though it established custom houses at Anahuac, Velasco, and Matagorda, and collected the duty on goods from the United States, the colonists continued to trade with New Orleans. They were glad, of course, that the Mex- icans could not enforce the law, but it is a charac- teristic trait of the American people to admire men who can do things and to despise those who cannot, so that this very failure to carry out the law soon caused them to lose what respect they still retained for the Mexicans. The first breath of the revolution, fighting atAna- huac. — In 1832 the colonists were so infuriated by the treatment which they received from two Mexican officials that they flew to arms. The objectionable THE AMERICANS TAKE TEXAS 91 men were Colonel John Bradburn/ commander of the fort at Anahnac, and George Fisher, collector of the custom house at the same place. Their first offense was to order all the ports closed except Ana- huac. That is, they issued a notice saying that all vessels bringing merchandise to Texas must land at Anahuac and pay duty. This was very inconve- nient for colonists who had been having their goods landed nearer home, at the mouth of the Brazos or of the Colorado, and they made such a determined protest that Bradburn withdrew the order. But while they were still in bad humor over this, he began encouraging slaves to riin away from their masters, saying that slavery was against the laws of Mexico and that they were therefore free. And finally, in retaliation for a practical joke that was played on him, he arrested Patrick C. Jack and "Wiljiam B. Travis and threw them into prison. This was more than the colonists would stand. A number of them marched to Anahuac and ordered him to release the prisoners, and when he refused a skirmish took place in which one Texan and five Mexicans were killed. The colonists then drew off and Avent into camp until they could send to Brazoria for some cannon. This was July 13, 1832. While they were still waiting. Colonel Piedras (Pe-a'dras) ^ Bradburn was a Kentuckian who, like Ellis Bean, entered the Mexican service during the revolution from Spain and was promoted to high rank in the army. 93 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF TEXAS arrived from Nacogdoches and persuaded Bradburn to give Tip the prisoners and leave Texas. His sol- diers remained at Anahuac about a month longer and then followed him to Mexico. The Battle of Velasco. — ^But this was not the end of the fighting. The men who went to Brazoria for the cannon intended carrying them down the Brazos on a steamboat and thence by sea to Anahuac, but when they reached Velasco, at the mouth of the river. Colonel Ugartechea (U-gar-ta-cha'a), who commanded the fort there, would not let them pass. For several days they argued with him, and then at midnight on June 26, 1832, they attacked him with a hundred and fifty men. The battle waged hotly until day light, when a heavy rain storm put a stop to it. The Mexicans had five men killed and sixteen wounded, while the Texans had seven killed and fourteen wounded. Three days later Ugartechea abandoned the fort and marched away to Mexico with what men he had left. The soldiers driven from the rest of Texas. — ^At the beginning of August the colonists attacked Colonel Piedras, and after a fierce battle drove him from Nacogdoches. This was the last of the fight- ing. One after another the remaining garrisons marched away to Mexico, and by the end of the year there were only a few soldiers scattered here and there in Texas. The custom officers went THE AMERICANS TAKE TEXAS 93 with the soldiers, and the colonists again found themselves free from annoyance. How the colonists explained their rebellion. — But the colonists, knowing that the Mexicans might con- sider the fighting in Texas a rebellion and send a large army to .crush them, hit upon a clever scheme to prevent it. A revolution led by General Santa Anna was going on in Mexico at this time and seemed about to overthrow the government. When, therefore, the colonists were asked to explain why they drove the troops from Texas they re- plied that they favored Santa old Foet at Nacogdoches Anna and attacked the government soldiers in order to assist him. If Santa Anna had failed, this ex- planation would have done them more harm than good, but fortunately he won, and of course he could not punish them for helping him. The importance of the difficulties of 1832. — These conflicts of 1832 were really the beginning of the Texas revolution. They were the last thing needed to convince the Mexicans that the Texans were dan- gerous characters, bent upon seizing the province. 94 A SCHOOL HISTOEY OF TEXAS Even Santa Anna, for wliom they claimed to be fighting, did not believe them, and when he became president in 1833 he determined to crush them utterly at the first sign of insurrection. On the other hand, the fighting had caused the colonists to despise the Mexicans, and had shown them that they could take care of themselves in case of a war. In short, the suspicion and distrust of both parties were increased, and from this moment the revolution developed rapidly. The colonists send Austin to Mexico to secure the separation of Texas from Coahuila. — The first use which the colonists made of their victory was to try to obtain the separation of Texas from Coahuila. They believed that the union with Coahuila was harmful to Texas, and that the organization of a separate state government would enable them to avoid in future such abuses as they had recently suffered from the Mexican officials. They accord- ingly held a convention at San Felipe on April 1, 1833, and drew up a petition begging for separa- tion.^ General Sam Houston, who had only arrived in Texas a few months before, wrote such a consti- tution as they desired for the new state, and Austin was elected to take it and the petition to Mexico ^ A convention which had been held in October, 1832, dis- cussed the same question and appointed William H. Wharton and Eafael Manchola to carry petitions on this and several other subjects to Mexico, but they failed to go. THE AMEEICANS TAKE TEXAS 95 and get the government to approve them. Austin thought the whole plan unwise at that time, but the people, knowing that he better than any one else could persuade the government to agree to the change, insisted on his going, and he went. This illustrates Austin's readiness to sacrifice his own opinions as well as his comfort and convenience in the service of the people. Austin fails to secure separation. — When Austin reached Mexico President Santa Anna was not in the city, so he laid the petition before Vice-President Gomez Farias (Go-mas' Fa-re'as). But Farias, who had no liking for the Texans, would never give him an answer, and after several months Austin became impatient and wrote a letter to Texas advising the people to go ahead and organize a government with- out waiting any longer. Soon after this Santa Anna returned, and Austin placed the matter before him. He refused to make Texas a state, but he did prom- ise to make a number of important reforms which the Texans desired, and Austin then started home, very well satisfied. Before he got to Texas, how- ever, he was overtaken by soldiers and arrested by order of the vice-president. Austin thrown into prison. — The cause of this was /^ the letter which Austin had written to Texas. Some one sent it to the vice-president, and it so enraged him that he threw Austin into prison and for months would not allow him to speak to anybody or to have 96 A SCHOOL HISTORY 0? TEXAS any books. Austin suffered terribly, and the worst of it was that he knew he did not deserve it. In a little diary which he kept while in prison we are still able to read dimly these words: "What a horrible punishment is solitary confinement, shut up in a dungeon with scarcely light enough to distinguish anything. If I were a criminal it would be another thing, but I am not one . . . my intentions were pure and correct." And later. in the same diary he wrote: " How happy I could have been on a farm alongside of my brother-in-law far from the cares and difficulties that now sur- round me. But I thought it was my Austin's Pistols and Hatchet duty to obey the call of the people, and go to Mexico as their agent. I have sacrificed myself to serve them." He was kept in prison for fifteen months, and was not allowed to leave Mexico until the middle of 1835. His punishment was a cruel injustice and was deeply resented by the colonists, who were grateful for his services. Little more was needed to stir them to a revolt from Mexico, and that was soon supplied by the action of Santa Anna. THE AMERICANS TAKE TEXAS 97 Summary of the general causes of the revolution. — If we stop for a moment now and look back over the troubles that have been described, we shall see that most of them grew out of the failure of the Mexicans and the colonists to understand each other, and this was chiefly due to the fact that they be- longed to different races. Though only a handful of the colonists joined in the Fredonian rebellion, it caused the Mexicans to suspect that all of them wished to take Texas, and the fighting of 1832 and the petition for separation froin Coahuila strength- ened their suspicion. They believed that separa- tion from Coahuila would only be the first step toward separation from Mexico. At the same time we have seen how the colonists were irritated almost beyond endurance by the emancipation decree of 1829, the law of April 6, 1830, the tyranny of Bradburn and Fisher in 1832, and the imprisonment of Austin in 1834. But we must not judge the Mexi- cans too harshly. Remember that Texas belonged to them and that they honestly believed that they were in danger of losing it. They were merely try- ing desperately in the only way that they knew to save it. Neither can we blame the Americans, for they come of a people who have never borne oppres- sion with patience. 2. THE IMMEDIATE CAUSES OF THE EEVOLUTION Santa Anna's measures. — It was Santa Anna who finally exhausted the patience of the colonists and 98 A SCHOOL HISTOEY OF TEXAS drove them into the revolution. With what he did in Mexico we are not concerned, but in Texas two important measures must be noticed. First he deter- mined to re-occupy Texas with soldiers. His other measure was to order the military commander in Texas to arrest some of the most prominent caLo- nists and send them to Mexico for trial. Let us now more fully examine these measures. The colonists and the soldiers. — At the end of 1834 there were only three companies of soldiers in Texas, two at San Antonio and one at Goliad. Since these towns were inhabited principally by Mexicans, the colonists did not object to a few soldiers being there, but it was entirely another matter when a company went to Anahuac in January, 1835, and the rumor spread that Santa Anna was going to send others to Texas as soon as possible. Trouble imme- diately arose, but nothing serious occurred until the colonists captured a courier bearing letters from Mexico to Captain Tenorio, who commanded at Ana- huac, and learned from these letters that reinforce- ments were on the way to him. Then a band of hot- tenipered young men, led by William B. Travis, resolved to drive Tenorio out before the new troops arrived, and marching to Anahuac, armed with their rifles and a small cannon, they ordered him to sur- render. He knew that it was useless to fight, but asked for time to consider. Travis allowed him. only one hour, but that was enough, for at the end of it THE AMERICANS TAKE TEXAS 99 he surrendered. The next morning, after giving np their arms and ammunition, he and his men started for San Antonio. At first a good many of the colo- nists tliought Travis had been too hasty, but they soon had cause to change their minds. The arrest of Travis and other prominent colo- nists ordered. — ^As soon as General Cos, the brother- in-law of Santa Anna, and the commander of north- ern Mexico and Texas, heard of the attack on Ana- huac, he ordered the arrest of Travis, Samuel Will- iams, R. M. Williamson, Mosely Baker, and others, and directed that they should be sent to Mexico and tried by a military court. At the same time came the news that troops in large numbers were on the way to San Antonio. These two things turned the Texans squarely against Santa Anna. They were determined not to submit to a military occupation of Texas, because they remembered the abuses which they had suffered from the soldiers in 1832; and they were equally determined not to permit the arrest of the men whom Cos was demanding, because none of them was guilty of any wrongdoing except Travis, and under the circumstan,ces they did not consider his offence a very serious one. They tried to send a committee to General Cos, to explain that they wanted to remain at peace with Mexico and that the soldiers would not be needed in Texas, but at San Antonio the committee was stopped by a letter from Cos saying that he would not talk to 100 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF TEXAS them until Travis and tlie others were surrendered. There the matter rested, and as troops continued to arrive at San Antonio the colonists commenced preparing for war. The return of Stephen F. Austin. — Early in Sep- tember (1835) Austin returned from his long impris- onment in Mexico, and told the people that the time had come for war. They believed him, because they knew that he loved peace and would never advise war if it could be honorably avoided. From this moment Austin took the lead, and at his command horsemen rode in hot haste to all parts of the coun- try collecting arms and ammunition and urging the colonists to form military companies and begin to drill. On September 19 in a circular letter which was scattered broadcast he said: "War is our only resource. There is no other remedy but to defend our rights, ourselves, and our country by force of arms. ' ' And three days later he sent forth a ringing call for every man in Texas to seize his arms "in defence of his country and his rights." This was enough. The colonists were ready, and the clash of battle was not to be much longer delayed. 3. THE EIEST STAGE OF THE WAE, THE CAMPAIGN OF 1835 The battle of Gonzales. — The first shot was fired at Gonzales, where the Mexicans tried to get a can- non which the people had there to protect them from THE AMERICANS TAKE TEXAS 101 the Indians. Colonel TJgartechea, who now com- manded at San Antonio, knew that they would use it against his troops, if they were allowed to keep it until the war started, and resolved to get it away from them. At first, in order not to alarm the colo- nists, he sent only a corporal and five soldiers with an ox-cart to receive it, hut when they refused to give it up, he sent a captain and a hundred dragoons to take it. Upon his arrival, the captain did not feel strong enough to make the attempt, so he marched up the river several miles and went into camp to wait for reinforcements. Here for one night his men had a pleasant time plundering a farmer's watermelon patch, but the next morning at break of day they awoke to find a little army of a hundred and fifty Texans advancing upon them with the desired cannon mounted on heavy wagon wheels and point- ing toward them in a dangerous way. It was loaded with pieces of chain and scraps of iron, and at the first volley the Mexicans broke and fled in terror, leaving one dead upon the field. This was the battle of Gonzales, October 2, 1835. Austin takes command. — The news that Gonzales was threatened had spread rapidly, and now as Cannon Used in the Revo- LCTION 103 A SCHOOL HISTOEY OF TEXAS band after band of anxious volunteers hurried up, hoping to be in time to save it, they were greeted with the tidings of victory. You may imagine their relief. There still seemed to be a chance for them to enjoy a fight, however, for it was reported that Colonel Ugartechea himself with five hundred men was coming to take the cannon. They went into camp to wait for him, but as the days passed and he did not appear, while their own numbers con- tinued to increase, they decided to march boldly to San Antonio and attack him. To do this they needed a commander in whom all had confidence, so they wrote to Austin at San Felipe, and begged him to lead them. He was worn out by his recent labors and ill from his long imprisonment, but he consented, and on October 11 he was elected com- mander-in-chief. Two days later the little army commenced its march to San Antonio, but before following it thither we must notice an important victory which another band of colonists won at Goliad. The capture of Goliad. — While most of the colo- nists were flocking to Gonzales another party gath- ered under Captain George M. CoUinsworth and quietly marched on Goliad, where at the time there was a great quantity of valuable military supplies protected by only a small garrison. As they ap- proached the town, about midnight of October 9, they were hailed from the darkness by Colonel Ben. THE AMERICANS TAKE TEXAS 103 R. Milam, wlio liad just escaped from a prison in Mexico. Thinking at first that they were Mexican soldiers, he had hidden in a thicket, but upon hear- ing them talking in English he called out, and was overjoyed to find himself among old friends. He joined them, and they proceeded toward the town. Arriving there, they cautiously stole upon the gar- rison and took it completely by surprise. The sol- diers did no more than fire a few scattering shots and then surrendered, so that without the loss of a man the colonists obtained possession of the fort and its valuable supplies. These consisted of two cannon, three hundred muskets, and some ten thou- sand dollars' worth of food and military stores, which became of the greatest benefit to General Austin and the volunteers who were marching on San Antonio. Skirmishes around San Antonio. — After leaving Gonzales on the 13th of October Austin proceeded slowly toward San Antonio. His force increased every day, and before the end of the month amounted to more than five hundred men. The first fighting to speak of occurred at the old mission of Concep- cion, at sunrise on October 28. Austin had sent James Bowie and J. W. Fannin ahead with ninety men to select a camping place near San Antonio, and suddenly they found themselves almost sur- rounded by about four hundred Mexicans. Fortu- nately they were able to take refuge in the river 104 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF TEXAS bed, using the bank for a breastwork, and in this position they waged a fierce battle for three hours with the loss of only one man, while the Mexicans left sixteen dead upon the field and were thought to have carried away with them as many more. Mission Concepci6n This was indeed a remarkable victory, against tre- mendous odds, and it gave the volunteers fresh confidence in themselves. The next fighting of any consequence took place on November 26, nearly a month after the battle of Concepcion, and Bowie played a leading part in this, too. On that day Deaf Smith, the famous THE AMERICANS TAKE TEXAS 105 scOut, dashed into camp at full speed with the announcement that a hundred soldiers were ap- proaching San Antonio with horses loaded down with bags of silver to pay the troops. You may- imagine the wild excitement that he caused. In a flash Bowie was at the head of a hundred men and galloping off to intercept them* The whole army followed him, and then the Mexican army sal- lied out to assist their friends. The result, was a lively skirmish in which the Mexicans lost some fifty men and many of their bags, but these the Texans found to their great disappointment were filled with grass instead of silver. The Mexicans had been bringing in grass to feed the starving horses in the town. For this reason the engagement was called the ' ' grass fight. ' ' The Texans had not a man killed. General Burleson takes command. — Two days before this fight occurred General Austin had been called from the army by the provisional govern- ment, of which we shall learn in the next section, and given a more important position. The men who composed the government saw that Texas could not succeed without assistanj3e from the people of the United States, so they appointed a committee to go there and explain how Santa Anna had oppressed Texas and ask for help. They believed that A.ustin would have more influence with the people than any other man in Texas, so they ap- 106 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF TEXA.S pointed him, and with, him they sent two other prominent citizens, William H. Wharton and Dr. Branch T. Archer. Before leaving the army Austin ordered an election to be held to select a man for his place there, and this resulted in the choice of General Edward Burleson. Milam storms San Antonio. — ^But when Austin left the volunteers became very restless. Some of them wanted to attack the fortifications at once, while others believed that this would be useless and wanted to go home. None of them wanted to con- tinue the siege. They w^ere just on the point of breaking camp and retreating when Milam sprang up and shouted, ' ' Who will go with Old Ben Milam into San Antonio?" Three hundred men answered " I, " and flocked to his side. This was on the 4th of December. That night they met at the Old Mill and made their arrangements, and the next morning a little before day they began the attack. For four days and nights the battle raged with the greatest fury, while Milam and his brave companions fought their way from house to house and gradually approached the center of the Mexican position. On the morning of the 9th .General Cos, who commanded the Mexicans, raised a white flag, as a sign that he wanted to parley, and notified the Texans that he was ready to surrender. You may well believe that the Texans were proud of themselves, for, armed merely with their rifles and THE AMERICANS TAKE TEXAS 107 a cannon or two, they had taken a fort defended by more than a score of cannon and four times their own number. The Texans had only two men killed, but one of them was the heroic Milam, for whom all Texas mourned. According to the terms of the sur- render General Cos and his men were allowed to keep their arms and march away, but the Texans liEAB OP Cathedeal San Feknando, San Antonio took possession of the fort with all its cannon and military supplies. The end of the campaign of 1835. — ^With the departure of General Cos and his men from San Antonio the first campaign was over. But the Texans knew that Santa Anna was on the way with five or six thousand men, boasting that he would drive the last one of them across the Sabine, and they had to prepare to meet him. It was two months 108 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF TEXAS before he arrived, and while we are waiting for him we shall have time to describe the government of Texas during the revolution. ■'a 4. THE GOVERNMENT DURING THE REVOLUTION The consultation. — ^Before the battle of Gonzales was fought the colonists were divided on the ques- tion of whether or not they should go to war with Mexico. In order to decide it the people of every district in Texas elected delegates to meet together and consult with each other. For this reason the meeting was called the consultation. Before it met the battle was fought, and that settled the question without the need of further discussion. There was still enough work for the consultation to do, how- ever, so early in November, after the siege of San Antonio was begun, it assembled at San Felipe. Three important things are to be remembered about its work: (1) it organized a provisional govern- ment; (2) it adopted regulations for the formation of a regular army, and elected General Sam Houston to command it; and (3) as we have seen, it elected Austin, William H. "Wharton, and Branch T. Ar- cher to go to the United States and ask the people for help. The provisional government. — The government as arranged by the consultation was to consist of a governor, a lieutenant-governor, and a general council. It elected Henry Smith governor, James W. Eobinson lieutenant-governor, and one man from THE AMERICANS TAKE TEXAS IQO each district in Texas to compose the council. It was the business of the governor and the council to carry out the regulations for organizing the regular army, to continue the work of getting help from the United States, to procure supplies for the volunteers before San Antonio, and to do every thing possible for the welfare of the country. For a while they worked harmoniously together to do all this, but then they .commenced to quarrel over which had the most authority, and after that everything was neglected. This caused the people to elect a new assembly, the convention, to take the place of both the governor and the council. The convention. — The convention met at Wash- ington on the Brazos, March 1, 1836. It first notified the governor and the council that their services were no longer required, and then turned its atten- tion to three important things. These were: (1) a declaration of independence from Mexico; (2) the writing of a constitution for Texas as an independ- ent country; and (3) the election of temporary officers to carry on the government until perma- nent ones could be chosen by the people. We must now briefly study each of these measures separately. The declaration of independence. — In the cam- paign of 1835 the Texans were fighting not only for themselves but for all the Mexicans to prevent Santa Anna from changing the government of Mexico. As they expressed it, they were fighting 110 A SCHOOL HISTOEY OF TEXAS to preserve the republican constitution of 1824. But they soon saw that most of the Mexicans cared nothing about the constitution, and that they must either submit, or declare independence and continue the war for themselves. You would hardly need to be told which alternative they accepted — they declared independence. And here are some of the reasons which they gave for the declaration. They said: (1) that Mexico had invited the Americans to settle Texas and promised them the protection of a republican government like that to which they were accustomed in the United States, but that Banta Anna had now so changed the government that it oppressed instead of protecting them; (2) that Santa Anna had overthrown the government of Coahuila and Texas; (3) that he had kept Austin in prison without a cause; (4) that he had demanded the surrender of their most prominent citizens, to be tried by military officers; (5) that the colonists were denied the right of trial by jury; and finally (6) that Mexico had failed to establish a system of public education. For these and other reasons they proclaimed Texas a free and independent republic. This was done on March 2, 1836,^ and in commemoration of that day we Texans now cele- brate every 2d of March as a holiday. ^ An unofficial declaration of independence had previously been made on December 20, 1835, by ninety-one citizens of Goliad. THE AMEBIC ANS TAKE TEXAS m The constitution. — The constitution provided for the establishment in Texas of a government similar to that of the United States. At the head of it was a president, elected by the votes of all citizens over twenty-one years of age. The congress was to con- sist of a senate and a house of representatives ; and this body had power to pass all the laws of Texas, subject to the veto of the president. The judicial system was to consist of a supreme court, as many district courts as were found to be needed, and a county court in each county. And every man was declared to be entitled to a speedy trial by a jury for any offence with which he might be charged. This was very different from the practice in Mexico, where no trial by jury was allowed, and where prisoners were often held for years without being tried at all. The establishment of a temporary government. — As was noticed a moment ago, one of the first acts of the convention had been to deprive Governor Smith of his position, while the constitution declared that the regular president should not take charge of the government until December. It was now only the middle of March, and this made it necessary to provide temporary officers to manage affairs until December. For that important duty the convention elected David Gr. Burnet president and Lorenzo de Zavala vice-president, with a cabinet of able ad- visers, among whom was Colonel Thomas J. Eusk, 112 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF TEXAS secretary of war. Burnet and Rusk were two of the ablest men who have ever served Texas, and it was fortunate that they could be included in this first government. The end of the convention. — The work of the convention was concluded amid the wildest excite- ment. Santa Anna, as we shall presently see, had led an army to Texas during the winter, and reports now reached the convention that one of his generals had destroyed a hundred men commanded by Colonel F. W. Johnson and Dr. James Grant, and that Santa Anna himself, after capturing the Alamo and putting its defenders to death, was marching east- ward to carry out his threat of driving the colonists beyond the Sabine. These reports were true, and you can easily imagine how anxious they made the members of the convention to fly to their families and put them in places of safety. When the election was over, therefore, and they had listened to an inaugural address from President Burnet, they hastily adjourned. As a part of his speech President Burnet said: "The day and the hour has arrived when every freeman must be up and doing his duty. The 4-lamo has fallen! The gallant few who so long sustained it have yielded to the overwhelming power of numbers; . . . but they perished not in vain! The ferocious tyrant has purchased his triumph over one little band of heroes at a costly price; and a THE AMEEICANS TAKE TEXAS 113 few more such victories would bring speedy ruin upon himself. Let us, therefore, fellow-citizens, take courage from this glorious disaster; ... let us implore the aid of an incensed God, who abhors iniquity, who ruleth in righteousness, and will avenge the oppressed." The Alamo President Burnet's government. — President Burnet and his cabinet first established themselves at Harrisburg and took up the work of getting supplies for the army and of assisting the helpless women and .children who were fleeing from the country to escape the on-coming Mexicans. Soon, however, the advance of Santa Anna drove them to Galveston Island, and there we shall leave them for 114 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF TEXAS a time while we turn back to trace the history of the campaign of 1836. 5. THE CAMPAIGN OF 1836 Texan operations during the winter. — When General Cos surrendered and marched away from San Antonio in the middle of December, 1835, the Texans knew that Santa Anna would be upon them in the spring with a larger army than they had yet faced, but they could not agree upon a plan of defense. The general council of the provisional government thought that the best thing would be to send a force to attack the Mexican town of Mata- moros at the mouth of the Eio Grande, because that, if it succeeded, would keep Santa Anna out of Texas altogether. But Governor Smith opposed this, thinking that every effort should be made to organize the regular army and to establish a strong garrison at San Antonio for the purpose of checking Santa Anna there when he began his invasion. This illustrates one of the most disastrous results of the quarrel between Governor Smith and the council. Because neither one would accept the plan of the other, the Texan forces were scattered in small detachments all along the western frontier of Texas, when they should have been united, and this prevented them from effectively resisting the Mexi- cans when they returned. THE AMERICANS TAKE TEXAS US The situation at the beginning of the cam- paign. — When the campaign began F, W. Johnson and Dr. James Grant were at San Patricio with less than a hundred men ; Colonel James W. Fannin was at Goliad with between four and five hundred ; and Colonel William B. Travis was at the Alamo with a hundred and fifty brave spirits, among whom were such veterans as James Bowie and the famous Davy Crockett. Other forces were slowly prepar- ing to gather at Gonzales and march to the relief of Travis. Against San Patricio and Goliad General Urrea (U-ra'a) was advancing with about a thou- sand men from Matamoros, while Santa Anna him- self, with several thousand, was coming along the Old San Antonio Eoad to attack the Alamo. Let us first follow the story of the Alamo. Travis calls for reinforcements. — ^When Travis, by Governor Smith's order, assumed command of the Alamo early in February, 1836, a small garri- son was already there under the .command of Lieu- tenant-colonel J. C. Neill. In fact it, had been there ever since General Cos surrendered the place in December. Travis took thirty men with him, and on February 12 he wrote the governor that his force then consisted of a hundred and fifty men. In the same letter he said that several thousand Mexican soldiers had already reached the Eio Grande, and pointing out the fact that San Antonio would be the first place which they would attack, he urged 116 A. SCHOOL HISTOET or TEXAS the governor to send Mm more men. "For God's sake and the sake of our country," he begged, "send us reinforcements." But he went on to say that he was determined to remain at his post as long as he had a man left, "because we consider death preferable to disgrace, which would be the result of giving up a post so dearly won." Day after day he wrote in the same strain, but the governor had no men to send. Thirty-two brave men from Gonzales. — On Febru- ary 23 Travis dashed off a hasty note to Andrew Ponton, the alcalde of Gonzales: "The enemy in large force is in sight. We want men and provisions. Send them to us. We have one hundred and fifty men and are determined to defend the Alamo to the last. Give us assistance." In answer to this appeal Captain Albert Martin and thirty-one other daunt- less citizens of Gonzales forced their way through the lines of the enemy before. day on the morning of March 1, and raised Travis's strength to between a hundred and eighty and a hundred and ninety men. Travis asks Fannin to help. — Twice Travis sent to Fannin for aid, once about the middle of February and again after the arrival of the enemy. And on the 26th Fannin started with three hundred and twenty men to his relief, but circumstances pre- vented his going. First, some of his wagons broke down, which made it impossible to move the cannon, and then news arrived that General Urrea had THE AMEEIOANS TAKE TEXAS 117 destroyed the forces at San Patricio and was already on the "way to Goliad. Fannin was not sure that he could reach San Antonio in time to help Travis, and, on the other hand, he knew that if he divided his forces Urrea would have no difficulty in taking Goliad and marching straight into the colonies. He therefore called a council of war and it was decided to return to Goliad and strengthen its fortifications for a resistance to the death. With all the facts before us, we now believe that it would have been better for him to continue his march to the relief of Travis, but we must not forget that he did what he thought was for the best interest of Texas. Travis's heroic letter of February 24. — On Febru- ary 24 Travis sent out a thrilling appeal to all the world. Professor Garrison thought it the most heroic document in American history, and certainly it quickens the beat of every true Texan's heart to read it: COMMANDANCY OF THE AlAMO. Bejar, Feb'y 24th, 1836. To the People of Texas and all Americans in ihe World. Fellow Citizens and Compatriots: I am besieged, by a thousand or more of the Mexicans under Santa Anna. I have sustained a continual bombardment and cannonade for 24 hoxirs and have not lost a man. The enemy has demanded a surrender at discretion, otherwise, the garrison are to be put to the sword, if the fort is taken. I have answered the demand with a cannon shot, and our flag still waves proudly from the walls. I shall never surrender or retreat. Then, I call on you 118 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF TEXAS in the name of Liberty, of patriotism and everj'thing dear to tlie American character, to come to our aid with all dispatch. The enemy is receiving reinforcements daily and will no doubt increase to three or four thousand in four or five days. If this call is neglected, I am determined to sustain myself as long as possible and die like a soldier who never forgets what is due to his own honor and that of his country. Victory or Death. "VyiLLiAM Barrett Travis, Lt. Col. Comdt. P. S. The Lord is on our side. When the enemy appeared in sight we had not three bushels of corn. We have since found in deserted houses 80 or 90 bushels and got into the walls 20 or 30 head of beeves. Travis. The fall of the Alamo. — On March 3 Travis wrote : "A blood-red banner waves from the clnirch at Bexar, and in the camp above ns, in token that the war is one of vengean,ce against rebels . . • Their threats have had no influence on me or my men, but to make all fight with desperation, and with that high-souled courage which characterizes the patriot who is willing to die in defense of his coun- try's liberty and his own honor." But the end was near. On the 4th Santa Anna held a council of war and decided to storm the fort on the 6th. Ac- cordingly, at dawn on Sunday, March 6, he gave the order to advance. The movement began in silence, but soon the bugles sounded "no quarter," and the assault was on. At that time the Alamo, with a considerable space in front and to each side, was en,closed by a strong wall, and the Texans at first tried to hold this wall, THE AMERICANS TAKE TEXAS 119 upon whicli their cannon were mounted. But tlieir numbers were too small and tlie line too long. The Mexicans soon broke through, and then each little squad of Texans became engaged in a separate battle. Travis and Crockett each did the work of ten men alone, and Bowie, though confined to his cot by a recent injury, sold his life dearly. These facts we learn from Mexican officers who took part in the at- tack. But the odds were too great. In less than an hour all was over, and every defender of the Alamo lay dead. The wife of Lieutenant Dickinson and her baby girl, some Mexican women, and a negro be- longing to Travis were all who were spared. Santa Anna is thought to have lost in killed and wounded between five and six hundred men. The little band of Texans had given a good account of themselves. The Mexicans piled the bodies of Travis and his brave companions in heaps and burned them, but The Alamo Monument 120 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF TEXAS later the Texans gathered up their ashes and buried them with military honors. Some old errors. — Histories used to tell us how- Travis, before the final assault began, drew with his sword a line on the floor of the Alamo and told all who were willing to" die with him to cross it, while offering anyone who wished it permission to escape. The story went on to say that Bowie, who was unable to arise, asked that his couch he moved across the line. This certainly has a thrilling sound, but the truth is that it is extremely unlikely that anybody who was there escaped to tell the tale,^ so that we have no reliable means of knowing what happened. It used also to be said that Santa Anna had five or six thousand men in the attack on the Alamo, but we now believe that his numbers did not exceed three thousand. "We do not need to exaggerate the odds to ensure the glory of Travis and his men, because in its barest outlines the true story of their heroic resistance is immortal, i Results of the fall of the Alamo. — The fall of the Alamo had two important results. (1) It aroused the Texans to a vengeful fury, and strengthened their determination to fight Santa Anna to the last breath; and (2) it made Santa Anna over-confident ^ Captain W. P. Zuber, a prominent member of the Texas Veterans' Association, says that his mother used to tell him that a man named Eose came to her house, and, telling her of Travis's speech, said that he took advantage of the permission to escape. But we must be very sure of our facts in history before accepting them, and in this case we cannot be certain that Eose was telling the truth. THE AMERICANS TAKE TEXAS 131 of his ability to crush the colonists. He became care- less, and this had a good deal to do with his com- plete undoing at San Jacinto. Houston plans to relieve Travis. — In the mean- time, as "we have seen, the convention had met at "Washington and declared Texas independent. Gen- eral Houston was a member of the convention, and on the 6th of March was again elected commander- in-chief of the army. He at once set out for Gonzales' to take command of the forces which were gathering there to go to the relief of Travis, but, alas, he was too late; for on the same day, though of course he did not know it, the Alamo was taken. In camp at Gonzales, which he reached on the 11th, he found three hundred and seventy-four men, and imme- diately began organizing a regiment. Edward Burleson was elected colonel and Alexander Somer- vell major. The rumor was spreading that the Alamo had fallen, and on the 13th Houston ordered his scouts out toward San Antonio to learn the truth. They had not far to go, for about twenty miles from Gonzales they met Mrs. Dickinson, whose husband had perished in the Alamo, and heard from her what had happened. She also told them that a division of the Mexican army under General Sesma was marching toward Gonzales. Gonzales is abandoned. — It would be hard to picture the grief and consternation which this news caused in Gonzales. Nearly every family in the 132 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF TEXAS town mourned the death of some loved one in the Alamo, and in the midst of their sorrow came the announcement that the Mexicans were approaching, that General Houston was going to retreat, and that they must abandon their homes and the improve- ments made by years of toil. No time was lost. General Houston gave his baggage wagons to the helpless people, and then, since that left him with- out means of transport, burned his surplus provi- sions and sank his cannon in the river to keep them from falling into the hands of the enemy. By mid- night Gonzales was deserted, and before morning it was burned to the ground, so that the Mexicans might find no comfort there. After .crossing the Colorado General Houston pitched camp on the east bank of the river, where he remained for nearly a week. Eeinforcements began to join him in considerable numbers, and he determined to retreat no further, but to await the arrival of Santa Anna and give him battle. We shall leave him there while we go back and trace the history of Johnson and Grant and Fannin. The fate of Johnson and Grant. — After the cap- ture of San Antonio from General Cos in December, 1835, F. W. Johnson and Dr. James Grant, with some volunteers, moved down to San Patricio, where they began to scour the country for horses, which they expected to use in an expedition against Mata- moros. For a time they were completely successful, THE AMERICANS TAKE TEXAS 133 and captured a number of horses from the Mexican ranches south of San Patricio. Then they divided their party and became separated, Johnson remain- ing at San Patricio wliile Grant went as far as the Eio Grande in search of more horses. While John- son's force was thus divided, General Urrea, who had advanced from Matamoros with nearly a thou- sand men, surprised him during the night of Feb- ruary 26, 1836. Johnson and four companions escaped, but all the others were either killed or captured. Urrea then learned of the movements of Grant, and marched southward to intercept him on his return to San Patricio. His plan succeeded, for on the 2d of March Grant unsuspectingly rode into an ambush prepared for him, and only two of his party escaped. Notice that the convention at "Washington this same day declared Texas forever independent of Mexico, and that Travis in the Alamo was still sending out his appeals for help. Fannin at Fort Defiance. — ^While Johnson and Grant were at San Patricio Fannin had gone to Goliad and begun fortifying a position which he called Fort Defiance. His force consisted of more than four hundred volunteers from the United States who had come to assist Texas. Here on March 14 he received an order, which General Hous- ton had despatched from Gonzales during the night of the 11th, telling him to destroy his fortifications, 134 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF TEXAS ' SO that the enemy could not make use of them, and fall back to Victoria. Fannin waited five days, how- ever, before beginning to obey this order, and by that time General Urrea's troops had almost sur- rounded him. Some historians have blamed him severely for his delay in carrying out Houston's instructions, but before judging him we must know why he delayed. King and Ward at Refugio. — The reason was this. Several days before General Houston's order arrived Fannin had detailed a small company under Cap- tain King to protect the settlers at Eefugio. But when King reached Refugio he found it already occupied by some of Urrea's troops, and, taking refuge in the stone church, he sent to Fannin for reinforcements. Fannin despatched to his relief Major Ward with a hundred and twenty men, and together they were able to drive the Mexicans away, but then they made a fatal mistake in not returning at once to Goliad. Ward took up his quarters in the church, while King went out with part of the men to punish some Mexican ranchers in the neighborhood who had been unfriendly to the Americans. While he was away the Mexican troops returned to Refugio in greater force, and in trying to re-enter the town he was cut off and his whole party perished. Ward carried on a desperate battle from the church for several days, and then, when his ammunition was almost. THE AMERICANS TAKE TEXAS 125 exhausted, escaped and started for Victoria, where lie now expected to find Fannin.^ Later we shall see what there befell him. In the meantime, after receiving Houston's order Fannin sent courier after courier to Ward and King commanding them to return immediately so that he could retreat to Victoria, but none of his mes- sengers ever came back. It was not until the 17th that he heard of the fate of King, and he waited yet another day in the hope that Ward might still be able to join him. You see, he did not want to abandon his men, because he knew very well what their end would be if they fell into the hands of the Mexicans. The Battle of the Coleto. — At last he could wait no longer. On the 18th Urrea's troops were all around him, and, to make his situation the more critical, five hundred men despatched by Santa Anna after the fall of the Alamo arrived at the same time. Fortunately the morning of March 19 dawned in a heavy fog, and under its cover Colonel Fannin crossed the San Antonio Eiver and began the retreat to Victoria. His force was now reduced to about three hundred, but he was well supplied with arms and ammunition and had nine cannon, so ^ While in the. church he had received a message from Fannin telling him of Houston's order and instructing him to retreat. 126 A SCHOOL HISTOEY OF TEXAS that he felt fully able to take care of himself in case of a conflict. All went well nntil about three o'clock in the afternoon. Then, when they were about a mile and a half from Coleto creek, Urrea's cavalry blocked their way. They ought to have pressed on to the shelter of the timber along the creek, but an ammu- nition wagon broke down, and Fannin decided to halt in the open prairie and offer battle. T h e wagons were hastily drawn up in a circle, to form a breastwork, and the battle began. With awful fury it raged until dark. Time after time Urrea charged, only to be hurled back with terrible loss. At first the Americans used their cannon with deadly effect, but when these became too hot to fire, their rifles were sufficient. At the close of the day, however, Fannin's situation was desperate. Seven of his men were dead and sixty wounded, forty of whom were disabled. Fannin himself was severely wounded in the thigh. The night was passed in cruel suffering. The wounded men moaned and cried in vain for water; while the uninjured ones toiled with pick and shovel THE AMERICANS TAKE TEXAS 137 digging entrenchments, until they were exhausted, and then threw themselves on the ground only to find it too cold to sleep. By morning Urrea's force had increased to twelve or thirteen hundred, and the battle again commenced. The only hope for the Americans was to break through the enemy and reach the timber, but to do that they would have had to abandon their wounded. They preferred to surrender. Fannin's surrender. — A white flag was raised and Colonel Fannin went out between the lines to meet the Mexican officers. Concerning what followed there are directly contradictory accounts. The Americans say that terms of surrender were agreed upon by which they were allowed to keep all their personal property, but were to lay down their arms and return to Goliad as prisoners of war. ■ It was even understood by some that from Goliad they were to be sent back to the United States. In fact, one of the Mexican officers is said to have remarked in a cheery tone, "Well, gentlemen, in ten days liberty and home." But General Urrea and Santa Anna declared that Fannin surrendered uncondi- tionally — that is, that the Mexicans made him no p?:omises. The truth about the capitulation. — A Spanish copy of the document which Fannin signed has recently been found in Mexico, and it seems to show that in a technical sense Santa Anna and Urrea 128 A SCHOOL HISTORY OT TEXAS were correct. The first article of this document declares that the Texans agreed to surrender uncon- ditionally, while the third says that they surrendered as prisoners of war subject to the disposition of the supreme government of Mexico. We may be sure that the Texans expected to be treated as civi- lized nations treat prisoners of war, but the first article gave Santa Anna an excuse a few days later for ordering the execution of the unfortunate men. Why Fannin surrendered at discretion. — It is easy to say that Colonel Fannin should not have accepted such terms. But a little reflection will .convince us that there is more than one side to the question. There were three things that he could do: (1) he could fight his way out of the trap, but in so doing he knew that many more of his men would be lost, and that he would have to abandon those already wounded; (2) he could stay where he was, fighting until the end, but in that case every man would surely die; or (3) he could surrender, and perhaps save all of them. We may be certain that he weighed the matter well, and that he chose as he thought for the best interest of his men. The Goliad Massacre. — ^Upon their return to Goliad the men were imprisoned, and the physicians of the Texans began to attend to the wounded. Before they were allowed to treat their own coun- trymen, however, they were compelled to dress the wounds of the Mexicans. On the 25th Major Ward THE AMERICANS TAKE TEXAS 139 and his men were brought in as prisoners. They had gone to Victoria two days after the surrender of Fannin at the Coleto, and finding it in possession of General Urrea, had fired their last round of ammunition and then surrendered. On the 27th all of the men who were able to walk, except about a Mission La Bahia at Goliad dozen, were divided into three squads and marched out of town under guard. Some were told that they were going to Copano ; others that they were to help the soldiers slaughter beeves; but after marching for fifteen or twenty minutes in different directions they were halted, and at the word of command shot down by the soldiers in cold blood. Nearly all were killed at the first fire, and those who were not were chased like wild beasts and despatched with bayonet or clubbed musket. Very few escaped. Afterward 130 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF TEXAS the -wounded were dragged from their beds and shot. This horrible massacre occurred on the Sunday before Easter, exactly three weeks after the fall of the Alamo. The bodies were piled in heaps, brush was thrown upon them, and they were partially burned. Three months later the Texan army came that way and reverently buried the fragments that remained. Who was responsible for the Massacre? — Santa Anna alone -was responsible for this barbarous crime. He ordered the commander at Goliad in the severest terms to execute the prisoners, and though that officer was horrified, he dared not disobey. One of the officers was bold enough, however, to save the physicians, and several men were spared through the pleading of a kind-hearted Mexican lady, Sefiora Alvarez (San-yo'ra Al'va-ras). Do you wonder that the colonists hated the very name of Santa Anna? To the memory of the Alamo they now had added that of Goliad, and dearly were the Mexicans to pay on the field of San Jacinto for Santa Anna's inhumanity. General Houston retreats to the Brazos. — We left General Houston encamped on the east bank of the Colorado, a short distance above Columbus. We must now return to him. On the 25th he heard authentically of Fannin's surrender and the next day, thinking that his force was too small to risk a battle there, he gave the order to break camp and THE AMERICANS TAKE TEXAS 131 continue the retreat. On the 28th he reached San Felipe, on the Brazos, and after spending the night there and leaving Captain Mosely Baker's company to guard the crossing, he led the main army up the river to Groce's plantation, a few miles from the present town of Hempstead. He remained there nearly two weeks, drilling his men and preparing them to meet Santa Anna's regulars. While there he received two brass cannon, the "Twin Sisters," which the people of Cincinnati, Ohio, had sent to the Texans. The "Runaway Scrape." — ^You may perhaps be able to imagine in some degree the sorrow and con- sternation with which the people received the suc- cessive announcements of the fall of the Alamo; the retreat of General Houston, and the Goliad mas- sacre. They realized that the Mexicans were almost upon them, and helpless women and children began to flee for their lives. Homes were abandoned with all that they contained, and an endless procession of panic-stricken fugitives thronged the muddy roads that led to the east. Some did not stop until they crossed the Sabine and gained the protecting shelter of the United States. Old settlers afterwards named this the "runaway scrape." The following extracts are taken from an account of it by a lady who was then a little girl: "We left home at sunset, hauling clothes, bedding, and provisions on the sleigh with one yoke of oxen. 133 A SCHOOL HISTOEY OP TEXAS Mother and I were walking, she with an infant in her arms. Brother drove the oxen, and my two little sisters rode in the sleigh . . . "We camped the first night near Harrisburg . . . Next day we crossed Vince's Bridge and arrived at the San Jacinto in the night. There were fully five thousand people at the ferry . . . The horrors of crossing the Trinity are beyond my power to describe. One of my little sisters was very sick, and the ferryman said that those families that had sick children should cross first. When our party got to the boat the water broke over the banks above where we were and ran around us." This was one of the terrible experiences whi,ch early Texans never forgot. Santa Anna runs into a trap. — Santa Anna's success at the Alamo had made him overbold, and when he learned of Urrea's victory over Fannin and of General Houston's retreat, he thought that the war was over and that nothing was left to do but take possession of the country. Hastening from San Antonio, he reached San Felipe on April 7, but the town was in ashes. Captain Baker was on the opposite side of the river, blocking his passage, so he descended the river to a point midway between San Felipe and the present town of Eichmond and there crossed, after a skirmish with Captain Wily Martin, who was guarding the ferry. From there, with only seven hundred and fifty men, he hurried straight on to Harrisburg, hoping to .capture Presi- THE AMEBICANS TAKE TEXAS 133 dent Burnet and the government. But he arrived a few hours too late; they had been warned of his coming and fled to Galveston Island. Santa Anna burned the town, and then pressed on down Buffalo Bayou and the San Jacinto Eiver to New Washing- Genehal Houston's March to San Jacinto ton, at the head of Galveston Bay. He was now far away from his main army, with Houston on his heels. He was well within the trap. Houston follows Santa Anna to the San Jacinto. — On April 13 General Houston crossed the Brazos, and on the 18th arrived at the ruins of Harrisburg. There he left his baggage wagons and his sick, with seventy-five men to guard them, and hurried after Santa Ajina. The two armies came together on the 20th, just at the point where Buffalo Bayou and the San Jacinto meet. There was some skirmishing 234 A SCHOOL HISTOEY OF TEXAS that day, but the Texans were exhausted by their rapid marching, and General Houston thought it best to postpone the decisive battle until the morrow. The Battle of San Jacinto. — The next morning Santa Anna was reinforced by General Cos with about five hundred men. This increased his force to between twelve and thirteen hundred, which turned the odds heavily against Houston. The Texans, however, were burning to avenge the death of their friends at the Alamo and at Goliad, and had no thought of drawing back. General Houston ordered Deaf Smith to take axes and men and destroy the bridge over Vince's Bayou, in order to delay the arrival of any other reinforcements that might be coming to Santa Anna. And at half past three in the afternoon he gave the .command to advance. His men were eager to obey. They marched rapidly but in perfect silence until they were near the Mexicans, and then, shouting the battle cry, "Remember the Alamo!" they broke into the double-quick and rushed upon them, firing as they ran. , The Mexicans were taken completely by surprise. Santa Anna and many of his men were asleep, some were cooking their dinner, and others were watering the horses. Almost before they could reach their guns the Texans were among them. After one futila effort to stand their ground they fled in panic, with THE AMERICANS TAKE TEXAS 135 the Texans pursuing. According to General Hous- ton's report, the real battle was over in eighteen minutes, but the pursuit continued until nightfall. Travis and Fannin were avenged, for the Mexi- cans lost some six hundred dead, and seven hundred The Captukb of Santa Anna (From a painting by W. H. Huaaie, in the Capitol at Austin) and thirty were prisoners. More than two hundred of the prisoners were wounded. The Texans had two killed and twenty-three wounded, but six of the wounded later died. General Houston himself had received a ball in the ankle. Such was the battle of San Jacinto, on the 21st of April, 1836. Santa Anna escaped from the battle, but was captured the next day. He had changed his splendid uniform for 136 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF TEXAS some cast-off clothes, and to this fact, no doubt, he owed his life. If his captors had recognized him, they would never have allowed him to surrender, but would have killed him on the spot. The Treaty of Velasco. — General Houston and Santa Anna immediately agreed to an armistice, according to which all fighting was to stop for the time and the Mexican troops were to retire to San Antonio and Victoria. On May 14 President Burnet and General Santa Anna signed the Treaty of Velasco. This provided: (1) that hostilities should cease and that the entire Mexican army should, as soon as possible, retreat beyond the Eio Grande; (2) that the Mexicans should restore or pay for all the private property whi,ch they had taken from the Texans; and (3) that Santa Anna should be released and sent back to Mexico, where he promised to use his utmost influence to persuade the Mexican gov- ernment to recognize the independence of Texas. This last article was kept secret for a while, but when it became known it caused the greatest dis- satisfaction among the soldiers, who thought that Santa Anna ought to be hanged for his crimes. In accordance with the treaty, General Filisola (Feel-e-so'la), who succeeded Santa Anna as com- mander-in-chief of the Mexicans, led his army out of Texas, while the Texans followed at a short dis- tance to see that he did not loiter on the way. General Houston had gone to New Orleans after THE AMERICANS TAKE TEXAS 127 the battle of San Jacinto to have his ■wound treated, and the Texans were now commanded by General Eusk, the former secretary of war. The results of the Battle of San Jacinto. — As soon as the battle was over couriers set off at full speed to tell the good news to the hurrying throngs who were running away. They heard it with cries of joy, and immediately turned their faces homeward. The "runaway scrape" was ended. Mexico con- tinued to claim Texas and constantly threatened to invade and subdue it, but beyond some unimportant border raids in 1842 did nothing. This situation was unpleasant for the Texans, but not dangerous. Practically, therefore, the b^ftle of San Jacinto, established the independence of the Lone Star Bepublic. Help from the United States. — A history of the Texas revolution would be in,complete without some account of the assistance that came from the United States. As we saw, the consultation appointed Austin, William H. Wharton, and Dr. Archer to go there to solicit aid, and they found their task an easy one, because the people already felt the deepest sympathy for the Texans. Large sums of money were contributed or loaned, and supplies of food, clothing, arms and munitions were furnished, while hundreds of brave men volunteered their services in driving back the Mexicans. Several of the com- panies that assisted Milam in the capture of San 138 A SCHOOL HISTOEY OF TEXAS Antonio in 1835 were from the United States. Many of the men who perished with Travis were from the United States, as were nearly all of those with John- son and Grant, and those who died with Fannin. Finally, during the summer of 1836, while Texas was ■exhausted by the war, General Gaines led a detach- ment of United States soldiers to Nacogdoches to prevent the Indians of East Texas from rising. Without this generous help the revolution could Jiardly have succeeded. Summary. — The general pauses of the Texas revolution extended from 1825 to 1835, and were largely due to the fact that the Mexicans and the •colonists distrusted each other, but it was Santa Anna who, by his tyrannical acts, brought about "the revolution in 1835. Until the battle of Gonzales the people were undecided whether or not they should go to war, but that put an end to their uncer- tainty, and they marched against San Antonio and took it from General Cos in December. In the mean- time, the consultation had met and established a provisional government, consisting of a governor, a lieutenant-governor, and a general council. Soon the governor and the council became involved in a -disastrous quarrel which ended their usefulness, and on March 1, 1836, the convention met. It declared Texas an independent republic, adopted a constitu- tion, and elected David G. Burnet temporary presi- dent of Texas. Meanwhile, Santa Anna had been THE AMERICANS TAKE TEXAS 139 leading an army into Texas, and before the conven- tion adjourned lie had captured the Alamo and put the garrison to the sword. Three weeks later Fan- nin's command was brutally slaughtered, and Gen- eral Houston retreated from the Colorado to the Brazos. These things made Santa Anna over-confi- dent, and he thrust himself into a trap by marching far to the eastward with only a small portion of his army. General Houston followed him, and the battle of San Jacinto on April 21, 1836, practically established the independence of Texas. QUESTIONS 1. "What was the fundamental cause of the revolution? 2. Give an account of the Fredonian rebellion. 3. What attitude did most of the colonists take toward it ? Why? 4. What effect did it have on Mexican opinion of the colonists ? 5. What was the object of President Guerrero's emancipa- tion proclamation in 1829 ? How did it affect the colonists ? 6. What was the object of the law of April 6, 1830 ? Why did the colonists object to it ? Was it enforced ? 7. What were the causes of the disturbances of 1832? Describe these disturbances. What reason did the colonists give for them ? Do you think that that was the real reason ? 8. How did these disturbances affect Mexican opinion of the colonists ? 9. Describe the action of the convention of 1833. 10. Why did the colonists desire separation from Coa- 140 A SCHOOL HISTOEY OF TEXAS huila ? What did the Mexicans think was their real reason for desiring separation ? 11. Give an account of Austin's imprisonment in Mexico. Was it just? How did it affect tJie Texans' opinion of the Mexican government? 12. What acts of Santa Anna precipitated the revolution? Why did Travis attack the fort at Anahuac? Did all of the colonists want to go to war with Mexico in 1835 ? 13. State the cause of the battle of Gonzales, and describe it. 14. Describe Collinsworth's capture of Goliad. What was its importance? 15. Describe the battle of Concepcion, the "Grass Fight," Milam's assault on San Antonio. Who commanded the Texans at San Antonio ? The Mexicans ? 16. Describe the government of Texas during the revolu- tion. 17. What were some of the bad effects of the quarrel between Governor Smith and the general council ? 18. What was the date of the declaration of independence? What reasons were assigned for declaring independence ? 19. For what sort of government did the constitution pro- vide? 20. What provision did the convention make for a tem- porary government? 21. What was the position of the Texas troops at the beginning of the campaign of 1836? 22. Give an account of the fall of the AMmo. Why did Fannin not go to its relief ? Did any of its defenders escape ? 23. Describe the scene at Gonzales when the news arrived of the fall of the Alamo. 24. Why did General Houston retreat from Gonzales ? At what point on the Colorado did he stop ? THE AMERICANS TAKE TEXAS 141 25. Give an account of the destruction of Johnson and Grant's party. 26. Why did Fannin delay his retreat from Goliad after receiving General Houston's command? 27. Describe the battle of the Coleto. Did Fannin sur- render as a prisoner of war? Give the facts about his sur- render. Do you think that he should have surrendered ? 28. Describe the Goliad massacre. How did this massacre and the death of the Alamo defenders affect the Texans? 29. Why did General Houston retreat from the Colorado to the Brazos? 30. Why did Santa Anna leave his army so far behind in his march to San Jacinto ? 31. Describe the "runaway scrape." 32. Describe the battle of San Jacinto. 33. State the terms of the treaty of Velasco. Did the Mex- ican army carry out the terms of the treaty ? 34. AVhat was the chief result of the battle of San Jacinto ? 35. Give an account of the assistance which the Texans received from the people of the United States. 36. Trace on the map the march of General Houston and of Santa Anna from Gonzales to the field of San Jacinto. ADDITIONAL BEADING The Causes of the Eevolution : Davis, Under Six Flags, 56-62. The Beginning of the Eevolution : Bolton and Barker, With the Makers of Texas, 159-167; Davis, 62-69. The Storming of San Antonio in 1835 : Bolton and Barker, 168-169; Davis, 69-73. Ben Milam: Bolton and Barker, 156-158; Davis, 69-73. David Crockett: Bolton and Barker, 170-172; Littlejohn, "David Crockett" in Texas History Stories. 142 A SCHOOL HISTOEY OP TEXAS The Alamo: Bolton and Barker, 176 182; Davis, 83-87; Littlejohn, "The Alamo" in Texas History Stories. The Goliad Massacre : Bolton and Barker, 183-186 ; Davis, 77-81, 89-96 ; Littlejohn, "Eemember Goliad" in Texas History Stories. The "Eunaway Scrape" : Bolton and Barker, 202-212. The Battle of San Jacinto : Bolton and Barker, 187-201 ; ' Davis, 96-110; Littlejohn, "The Story of San Jacinto" in Texas History Stories. CHAPTER VII THE BEPUSLIC OF TEXAS, 1836-1846: THE AMEBICANS IN POSSESSION 1. HOME AFFAIRS The object of this chapter. — For nearly ten yeara after Santa Anna signed tlie treaty of Velasco and the remnants of the Mexican army retreated across the Eio Grande, Texas was an independent nation. Its people passed their own laws and elected their own officers to enforce them; they levied their own taxes and used the money derived from them as they thought hest for the benefit of the country; they had their own army and navy and carried on diplo- matic relations with foreign countries; and no other government had any authority to interfere with them. In short, their position was the same as that of the Mexicans had been in 1821 when they freed themselves from Spain. It is the object of this chapter to trace the history of Texas during these ten years (from 1836 to 1846), and to show how at the end of that time the people voluntarily gave up their independence and became a part of the United States. In doing this it will be convenient to consider 143 Sam Houston THE REPUBLIC OF TEXAS 145 the subject in two parts. The first part will deal with the home affairs of the republic: that is, with such matters as the return of the country to order after the confusion of the war, the establishment of the regular government, its financial difficulties, troubles with the Indians, the growth of population and wealth, the location of the capital at Austin> and the beginnings of our public school system. The second part will deal with the foreign affairs of the republic. 1. The Bestoration of Order The return home.— We have already seen that as soon as the battle of San Jacinto was won by our soldiers, messengers hurried after the fleeing fami- lies east of the Trinity to tell them that the danger was past, and that they might safely return to their homes. You can easily imagine the joy of the fugi- tives struggling through mud and water, as the courier galloped up behind them shouting, "Turn back! The Texans have whipped the Mexican army and the Mexicans are prisoners! No danger! No danger! Turn back!" They did turn back, but sad- ness was yet in store for those who found their homes destroyed and their fields laid waste. Gon- zales, San Felipe, Harrisburg, and New Washing- ton had been burned to the ground, and many farm houses had suffered a similar fate. Fences were torn down, and the corn, which some of the settlers had 146 A SCHOOL HISTOEY OF TEXAS planted before the "rmiaway scrape" began, had been ruined. The scene which met one little girl's eyes when she reached home is thus described: "The first thing we saw was the hogs running out. Father's book,case lay on the ground broken open, his books, medicines, and other things scattered on the ground, and the hogs sleeping on them." On one plantation where there had been a comfortable dwelling, a sugar mill, cotton gin, blacksmith shop, grist mill, a number of negro cabins, and. a stock of farming tools everything was gone. But the people lost no time in useless grieving over their misfortunes. They went bravely to work planting new crops and building new homes, for they had come to this country to stay, and were not easily daunted by hardships. Santa Anna's imprisonment. — Following the bat- tle of San Jacinto all of the prisoners were taken to Galveston, but early in May President Burnet moved the government to Velasco and took with him General Santa Anna and a few of his officers. From here, on June 3d, Santa Anna was placed on board the Texan schooner of war "Invincible" to be taken to Vera Cruz, but before the vessel sailed a ship arrived from New Orleans with several hun- dred volunteers from the United States. These men thought that the Mexican president should be pun- ished for his crimes, and declared that President THE EEPUBLIC OF TEXAS 14? Burnet was making a mistake in letting him go. So strong was their opposition that the president could do nothing but order Santa Anna to be brought back, and from this time until early in October he passed under the control of the army. He complained bitterly that he was treated like an ordinary criminal, "being placed in a narrow prison, surrounded with sentinels, and suffering pri- vations which absolutely render life insupportable." But to this President Burnet replied that the Texans themselves had been deprived of many of the com- forts of life by Santa Anna's visit, and that for that reason they did not regret his having to share their privations. In fact President Burnet was very sorry that he could not carry out the treaty by sending Santa Anna home, for he knew that nations, as well as individuals, should always keep their word; but the truth is that the soldiers would not allow it.- In August (1836) a young Mexican laid a plan to rescue the distinguished prisoner, but the Texans discovered it and placed Santa Anna in chains. From this time on his lot was a hard one, indeed, but in the fall he was released by General Houston, who had then become president, and after a visit to Washington to see President Jackson, he returned to Mexico in February, 1837. The other Mexican prisoners. — After the removal of President Burnet to Velasco with Santa Anna and 148 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF TEXAS a few of the highest Mexican officers, the other prisoners were kept for several months on Galveston Island. They were very far, however, from finding it the pleasant place that some of ns now delight to visit. One of the officers who later wrote an account of his experiences said: "We had no whole- some water, nor the shelter of shade trees." The heat was intense, and, besides, "we had to contend with myriads of flies, mosquitoes, and sand-crabs, not to speak of continual storms and showers. Such were the swarms of mosquitoes, that it would seem that the whole species of the world had taken Gal- veston for a meeting place." From this disagree- able camp they were moved to Liberty, and in April, 1837, just a year after the battle of San Jacinto, they were liberated, and returned to Mexico rejoicing. The Texan army. — When the battle of San Jacinto was fought the Texans had an army of less than a thousand men. But a great many were on the way to Texas from the United States, and when they arrived they went into the army, while the old settlers returned to their homes. In a short time there were nearly two thousand men in the ranks, and some of them were very troublesome charac- ters. As we have already seen, they interfered with President Burnet's plan to send Santa Anna home, in fulfillment of the treaty, and before very long it became a difficult matter to make them obey any orders that they did not like. General Eusk soon THE REPUBLIC OF TEXAS 149 asked to be relieved of their command, and when President Burnet appointed General Lamar to take his place the soldiers refused to accept him, and elected General Felix Huston. Perhaps the truth of the matter is that they were simply unaccus- tomed to military life, and did not realize the impor- tance of discipline. The end of the temporary government. — ^By the middle of the summer President Burnet thought that order had been sufficiently restored to enable the people to hold an election, and on July 23 he issued a proclamation, fixing the first Monday in September as election day. The people were asked to vote on three important questions. These were: (1) the adoption of the constitution which the con- vention had framed on Mar,ch 17; (2) the election of a president, vice-president, and members of con- gress; and (3) whether Texas should remain inde- pendent or join the United States, in case the United States was willing to annex it. On the first question the people voted "yes," and at the same time they said that no changes should ever be made in the constitution except by a regular convention elected for that purpose. The second question required a great deal of thought, because there were three candidates for the office of presi- dent, and each was an able man who had done noble service to Texas. They were Stephen P. Austin, who was even then regarded as the Father of Texas; 150 A SCHOOL HISTOEY OF TEXAS Henry Smitli, who had been the provisional gov- ernor of the state during the first part of the revo- lution; and General Sam Houston. General Hous- ton was elected, and, as we shall presently see, the choice was a wise one. In answer to the third question the people said that they wanted to be annexed to the United States. On October 3 the first congress of Texas met at Columbia, and on the 22d President Burnet laid down the heavy cares of the temporary office and they were assumed in a constitutional way by Presi- dent Houston. 2. The Kegular Government of the Bepuhlic President Houston. — General Sam Houston, who became president of Texas in 1836, had a very remarkable ' career. He was born in Virginia in 1793, but while he was still a young boy his father died and his mother moved to Tennessee. Here for a while he went to school, worked on a farm, and clerked in a store. Later he taught school for a short time, and many years afterward he is said to have told a friend that he derived greater satis- faction from the feeling of authority over his pupils which this position gave him than from any other office or honor that he ever held. In 1813, at the age of twenty, he joined the United States army and went to Alabama to fight the Creek Indians. Here, in the battle of the Horseshoe, he was so THE EEPUBLIC OF TEXAS 151 seriously wounded by an arrow and several bullets that General Andrew Jackson ordered him to go to the rear. He pretended to obey, but later, when the stronghold of the Indians was stormed, he was the first man across the breastworks. He remained in the army till 1818, when he resigned and began the study of law. In 1823 he was elected to Congress from Tennessee, and four years later he became governor of the state. From 1829 until 1835 he lived much among the Indians, and was formally adopted by the Cherokee s, who gave him the name of the Eaven. He visited Texas in 1833, and two years later, as we have seen, he was elected commander-in-chief of the Texan army. From 1836 to 1838 and again from 1841 to 1844 he was president of the Eepublic of Texas. From 1846 to 1859 he represented Texas in the United States Senate, and from that time until the spring of 1861 he was governor of the state. He died in 1863, and was buried at Huntsville, where his remains still rest. He was a man of wonderful ability, and Texas has had few such useful citizens. President Houston's first term (October, 1836- December, 1838). — ^When General Houston became president, the condition of Texas was gloomy, indeed. On the south the Mexicans were threat- ening to send another army to compel the colonists to submit to the unjust rule of Mexico. On the north and west the Indians were restless and angry, 152 A SCHOOL HISTOEY OF TEXAS because they believed that the Texans intended to seize their lands, and every day the danger of a savage uprising against the frontier settlements increased. From the United States a steady stream of men was pouring in to fight the Mexicans, and some of them were so turbulent and quarrelsome that they became a danger instead of a protection to the peaceful settlers. Finally, to make matters worse, the government had no money and was so deeply in debt that it could borrow none. A little later we must study with care President Houston's method of dealing with these and other important problems, but at present it is sufficient to know the general effects of his policy. He quickly came to the .conclusion that Mexico was having too much trouble at home to do any real harm to Texas, and in this conclusion he was entirely correct. He reduced the army, therefore, and refused to let the Texans engage in broils with the Mexicans along the border. With the Indians, too, he followed a peace- ful policy, and by convincing them that the Texans would treat them fairly he prevented a cruel war. By reducing the army and enforcing the laws he checked the flood of undesirable volunteers from the United States. And to meet the financial difficulties of the country he practiced the strictest economy. He tried to keep the expenses from exceeding the receipts of the government. Though he did not quite succeed in this, he did leave the condition of the THE BEPUBLIC OF TEXAS 153 country better in every way at the end of his term than it had been at the beginning. The death of Stephen F. Austin.— 0n December 27, 1836, Colonel Stephen F. Austin <}bed.,^e was still a young man — only forty-three — but the hard- ships that he had suffered in behalf of Texas had worn him out. He was born in Virginia in 1793, and was therefore of the same age as President Houston. He was educated at Transylvania Univer- sity, in Kentucky, and then moved to Missouri, which at that time was in the far western part of the United States. He served a term as a member of the legislature of Missouri, and later was ap- pointed by President Monroe to be a United States judge in Arkansas. When his father died in 1821 he came to Texas, and for the remaining fifteen years of his life devoted himself entirely to the up-building of the country. The thousands of families that he brought to Texas between 1821 and 1835 looked upon him as their guardian and protector, and he accepted the charge and spent his health and strength in serv- ing them. We have already learned of his imprison- ment in Mexico during 1834 and 1835, of his com- manding the. army before San Antonio in the fall of 1835, and of his journey through the United States in 1836 to secure aid for Texas. When Gen- eral Houston became president he begged Austin to be his secretary of state, and, though he was ill 154 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF TEXAS at the time and did not want the office, he accepted it, because he thought that Texas still needed him. His death was due to pneumonia which was brought on by exposure to the cold while working in a shabby office that had no fire. President Houston issued a proclamation which began: ''The father of Texas is no more. The first pioneer of the Wilderness has departed. Ste- phen F. Austin, secretary of State, expired this day, at half past twelve o 'clock, at Co- lumbia." All the flags in the re- public were low- ered to half mast, and all the officers of the govern- ment were ordered to wear mourning for thirty days. He was buried in an humble grave at Peach Point, but seventy-four years later, in October, 1910, his remains were removed to Austin and reverelitly interred in the State Cemetery. He hterally gave his life to the state, and his noble example will serve forever to inspire the gratitude and unselfish patriot- ism of every true Texan. Tomb of Stephen F. Austin, at Peach Point, neae Velasco THE REPUBLIC OF TEXAS 155 President Lamar's administration (December, 1838-December, 1841). — The people were generally satisfied with President Houston's way of govern- ing Texas, but the constitution provided that no president should serve two terms in succession. In 1838, therefore, it was necessary to elect some one else to the office, and the choice of the people fell upon the man who for the past two years had been serving as vice-president. This was Mirabeau B. Lamar.^ As president, it was his policy to make Texas a strong, independent nation. In trying to carry out this purpose he at first attempted to make peace with Mexico, but when that failed he no longer discouraged fighting along the border, which General Houston had made it a point to suppress. He sent an expedition to Santa Fe, New Mexico, in the hope of extending over it the government of Texas, and this Mexico bitterly resented. In a later lesson we shall learn more of this expedition. He believed that fear of the Indians prevented many families from settling in western and northern ^ Lamar was born in Georgia in 1798, but had lived a good part of his life in Alabama. He fought bravely in the battle of San Jacinto, and after it was over succeeded General Eusk as secretary of war. Following his two years as vice-president and three years as president, he retired to his farm, but when the Mexican war began in 1846 he joined the army. In 1857 President Buchanan appointed him United States minister to Central America, but he resigned this office in 1859 and returned home, where he died in the same year. 156 A SCHOOL HISTOEY OF TEXAS Texas, and tliiis delayed the development of the country. For this reason he waged war on the Indians, and drove the Cherokees entirely from the state. He was a firm believer in the importance of education, and by his advice congress set aside a great quantity of land in each county to be used for the establishment of public free schools. President Houston's second term (December, 1841-D6cember, 1844). — In the summer of 1841 General Houston was again elected president by a large majority of the people, and when he entered office in December he lost no time in resuming the policy of his first administration. He tried to keep peace with Mexico, though this was somewhat diffi- cult now, on account of the irritation which the Mexicans had suffered from the Santa Fe expedi- tion. He made friendly treaties with the Indians, and stopped their ravages along the frontier. And by his old practice of strict economy he improved the financial condition of the country. President Jones's administration (December, 1844- February, 1846). — To succeed President Houston, Dr. Anson Jones was elected.^ When Dr. Jones became president, Texas was just on the point of being annexed to the United States, so that there * Jones was born in Massachusetts in 1798, and was the same age as President Lamar. In 1833 he came to Texas and took up the practice of medicine at Brazoria. When the revo- lution began, he joined the army as a private and fought in the THE REPUBLIC OF TEXAS 157 was little for him to do. He had great ability, however, and uiider more difficult conditions would no doubt have made Texas an excellent officer. In February, 1846, the last act in the annexation of Texas to the United States was completed, and he surrendered the government to J. Pinckney Hender- son, the first governor of the new State of Texas. 3. The Financial Affairs of the Bepnhlic Financia,! conditions at the close of 1836. — It costs a great deal of money to carry on a government at any time, and the expense is much increased when the country is at war. The Texans learned this during the revolution. The soldiers had to be paid, and food and .clothing had to be provided for them. Guns, cannon, and ammunition had to be bought. "Warships had to be paid for, and sailors had to be hired to sail them. When the war was over the Texans found that they were a million and a quarter dollars in debt. Why the government needed money. — If the Texans could have been sure that the Mexicans would not come back, they could have saved a great deal by dismissing their army and navy. But, as we have already seen, the Mexicans kept threat- ening to come back. Furthermore, a considerable battle of San Jacinto. After the independence of Texas was established he entered pohtics and held several high offices in the republic before he was chosen president. He died at Houston m January, 1858. 158 A SCHOOL HISTOEY OP TEXAS army was needed to guard the settlers from the Indians. And, besides the soldiers and sailors, there were a great many men (as there are in all coun- tries) engaged in making laws and carrying them out. All of these had to be paid, and at the begin- ning the salaries of the higher officers were rather large. The salary of the president, for example, was ten thousand dollars a year. Finally, in addition to these regular, every-day expenses, the government had to make provision for paying its debt. How the government tried to raise money. — There were five important ways in which the government tried to get enough money for its needs. In the first place, it offered for sale a quantity of the public land. In the second place, it levied various sorts of taxes on the people. In the third place, it declared that anybody who brought goods to Texas from foreign countries must pay to the government a fee called a customs duty. In the fourth place, it tried to borrow money. And, finally, it issued paper money. Why the government failed to raise enough money. — ^At the same time that the government was offering its land for sale it was giving away free six hundred and forty acres to every married man and half that quantity to every single man who would settle in Texas. Naturally, nobody would buy, when, by merely coming to Texas to live, he could get for nothing more land than he could use. THE EEPUBLIC OF TEXAS 159 The taxes and customs duties did not bring in enough; and capitalists would not lend money to the government, be,cause they feared that it could not pay them back. It was for these reasons that the government made the mistake of issuing paper money. It would have been much better off if it had never done so. Paper money. — This paper money was in bills of different value, just as our bank-notes are to-day, and it looked very much like our bank-notes. On each bill there was printed a statement that the government would, at a certain time, pay the owner of the bill its full value in gold or silver. Thus, if the bill was for five dollars, the government prom- ised to pay that amount. Now, at the beginning, men believed that the government would some day be able to keep its promise and pay the bills, so they accepted them at full value. But later, as more and more bills were issued, they lost confi- dence in the government. At first they would agree to accept a dollar bill for ninety cents, then for seventy-five cents, and finally some of the bills sank as low as two .cents on the dollar. One reason why the government got no money from its taxes was because the people paid them in this worthless paper. Financial conditions at the close of the republic. — In spite of all that President Houston could do dur- ing his second term, the government owed nearly 160 -A- SCHOOL HISTORY OP TEXAS twelve million dollars wlien Texas was admitted to tlie United States. Much, of this was for the paper money that had been issued. The debt was finally paid, as we shall see, at the rate of a little more than seventy-five cents on the dollar. 4. ludiau Troubles The Indians during the Texas revolution. — When the war with Mexico began in 1835 there were between twelve and fifteen thousand Indians in Texas. They were divided into various tribes, and some of the tribes were hostile to each other and friendly to the Texans. The two most important tribes were the Cherokees and the Comanches. Dur- ing the revolution it was feared for a time that the Cherokees, who lived near Nacogdoches, might join the Mexicans; but General Houston and Colonel John Forbes succeeded in arranging a treaty with them in which they agreed to remain quiet. President Houston's Indian policy. — General Houston thoroughly understood the Indians, and had many friends among the Cherokees and other tribes. When he became president, therefore, he declared that the best way to get along with the Indians was to treat them well, and that he intended to do this. He said that they were to be allowed to keep the lands on which they were living, and stores were to be established on the frontiers at which the Indians could trade without coming into THE REPUBLIC OF TEXAS 161 the settlements. At the same time he was too wise to think that all the Indians would behave them- selves, and, to guard against the bad Indians, he kept up the force of Texas rangers, and advised the building of blockhouses on the frontier. The rang- ers were experienced Indian fighters who had first been used during the revolution to protect the set- tlements while the other men were fighting Santa Anna. From December, 1836, until December, 1838, while General Houston was president, there were a few difficulties with the Indians. Some cattle and horses were stolen, and now and then some lonely settler was killed. But there was no serious trouble. President Lamar's Indian policy. — President Lamar, as we have seen, was in office from Decem- ber, 1838, until December, 1841. His Indian policy was almost directly opposite to that of General Houston. He had had trouble with the Indians in Georgia, before coming to Texas; and he honestly believed that there were no good Indians. He had no patience with the mild methods of President Houston, and thought that the only way to deal with the Indians was either to drive them out of Texas or to exterminate them. A good many people still believe that President Lamar was right in his opinion of Indian character, but many now agree with the opinion of General Houston. As might have been expected, when the Indians learned of President Lamar's intentions, they became alarmed 162 A SCHOOL HISTORY OP TEXAS and tried to save themselves by attacking the set- tlers first. They became so dangerous that settlers on the western border had to work their fields together in bands of six or eight, some of them guarding while others plowed or hoed. The removal of the Cherokees. — Some of the trouble was stirred up by the Mexican general at Matamoros, who sent agents to persuade the Indians to rise against the Texans. One of these agents, named Manuel Flores, was traveling from Matamoros to Nacogdoches with a band of war- riors in the spring of 1839, when he was overtaken by General Ed- ward Burleson near the present city of Austin. A battle followed in which Flores was killed, and from the papers found on his body it was learned that he and a Mexican named Cordova had been trying to get the Cherokees to rise. This probably convinced President Lamar that the Cherokees must be re- moved from East Texas. He was willing to pay them for their farms and houses; but when they refused to sell, war was waged against them, and in the summer of 1839 they were driven across the Eed Eiver. A COJIANCHE CeADLE THE REPUBLIC OF TEXAS 163 War with the Comanches. — Two important bat- tles were fought with the Comanches in 1840. The first of these occurred at San Antonio in March. The Comanches had declared that they wanted to make peace with the whites, and it was agreed that the chiefs should meet at San Antonio to sign the peace and deliver all their white prisoners. Wheri they arrived they had with them only one prisoner, a girl named Matilda Lockhart. The Texans knew that there were other prisoners, and determined to capture the chiefs and hold them until the white captives were brought in. A band of soldiers was therefore marched into the council room and the chiefs were told that they were under arrest. They immediately began to fight, and in a short time all were killed. In the meantime, the Indians on the outside of the house had begun to fight, and soon they too were dead. A few squaws carried the news to the tribe, and before long several other prisoners were brought in, and the treaty was signed. This battle is called the "Council House Fight." The other battle that .occurred in 1840 was at Plum Creek, in what is now Caldwell county, between Lockhart and Gonzales. The Comanches and some of their allies made a raid on Victoria, stole several thousand head of cattle, and plundered and burned to their hearts' content. Then they started home to the mountains west of Austin. On the way they were overtaken on Plum Creek and 164 A SCHOOL HISTOEY OP TEXAS nearly a hundred were killed. A little later Colonel John Moore led nearly a hundred men to the Comanche village, and in a desperate battle a hun- dred and twenty-eight Indians were killed and thirty-two were captured. President Houston establishes peace. — No further trouble occurred during President Lamar's term of office, and when General Houston became president again in December, 1841, he began to make peace with the Indians. He built his trading posts along the frontier, and by 1843 most of the tribes had made peace and agreed to leave the settlers alone. They did not always keep their word, it is true, but they were never again so troublesome as they had been during President Lamar's administration. Importance of the Indian troubles. — These Indian wars were important for two reasons. In the first place, it cost the country a great deal of money to carry them on. This is one reason why our public debt increased so rapidly during President Lamar's administration. In the second place, they delayed the settlement of the western and northern parts of the country, and thus prevented the early develop- ment of the most fertile regions in Texas. . 5. Growth of Population and Wealth ■Why settlers came to Texas. — In spite of the threats of the Mexicans and the outrages of the Indians, thousands of families came to Texas be- THE EBPUBLIC OF TEXAS 165 tween 1836 and 1846. A good many came from Germany and a few from England and France, but by far the most of them were from the United States. The Germans came mainly because they were tired of being ruled as they were at home, by kings and prin,ees and dukes, and wished to live in a democratic country, where all men were polit- ically equal. The majority of them settled in south Texas, and their grand-children still live there, and speak the German language, in such towns as York- town, New Braunfels, and Fredericksburg. Settlers from the United States generally came for two main reasons. In the first place, there were very hard times in the United States between 1837 and 1841, so that many men failed in business, or found it difficult to make both ends meet. They thought that they would have a better chance in a new country. In the second place, Texas con- tinued the practice which had been begun during the revolution of giving to every settler a quantity of land. When we remember that some of this land was as ri,ch as could be found anywhere else in the world we can easily see what a great induce- ment it offered to ambitious immigrants. Tho number of those who came, — In giving the number of those who came to Texas during these ten years we cannot be very exact. The govern- ment now takes a census every ten years, and we know with a good deal of accuracy the population 166 A SCHOOL HISTOEY OF TEXAS of every town, county, and state, but no census was taken in Texas until 1846. We are pretty certain, however, that there were not more than thirty thou- sand white persons in Texas in 1836, and we are almost as sure that there were about a hundred thousand in 1846. This makes an average increase of about seven thousand a year. A Texas news- paper printed this paragraph in December, 1839: "Formerly the cry in the United States was 'Westward Ho!' Now the tide has somewhat changed. ' Texas Ho ! ' is the cry. Steamboats, ships, and wagons come .crowded with settlers for the young and growing Eepublic." Where they settled. — In the early days of the republic most of the immigrants settled in the older sections of the country, south of the Old San Antonio Eoad (see map, page 28), but before long they began to push out to the west. The capital of the republic was moved from Houston to Austin in the fall of 1839, and this was a great encourage- ment to the frontiersmen to establish their homes in the west. It seemed to indicate that the govern- ment was going to do all that it could to help them drive back the Indians and cultivate the wil- derness. By 1840 settlements were begun in north Texas, and when Texas became a state in 1846 set- tlements extended from the coast as far west as Waco and Fort Worth, and from the Eed Eiver to the Nueces THE REPUBLIC OP TEXAS 167 The home stf^^f';^ |a.w-^-DnriTif>- President Lamar's administration (January 26, 1839) the famous "homestead law" of Texas was passed, and this may have had something to do with bringing set- tlers to Texas. Its object was to protect from suffering and want the wife and children of a man who could not pay his debts. In the United States at that time a man's creditors could sue him in court, and take everything that he possessed, leav- ing him neither a home for his family nor tools with which to work for them. But this law provided that in Texas the homestead could not be taken from the head of a family. With the homestead, he was allowed to keep his furniture and tools, and, if he had them, he could keep five cows, a yoke of oxen, a horse, twenty hogs, and provisions for one year. It was soon seen that this was a wise and just law, and to-day nearly every state in the union has a simi- lar one. Beginning of the public school system. — ^As more and more people came to Texas the question of educating the children became important. One of the reasons which the colonists gave for declaring independence from Mexico was that the Mexicans had failed to establish public schools in Texas. President Lamar realized more clearly than most people that the citizens of a republic must be well educated in order to govern themselves, and it was during his administration that the first steps were 168 A SCHOOL HISTOEY OF TEXAS taken to provide for public schools. A law passed in 1839 gave to eacli county nearly fifteen thousand acres of land to be used in establishing public free schools. Another law set aside about a quarter of a million acres for the purpose of establishing two universities. It was a long time before the schools went into operation, but this is the beginning of our present free school system, and of the University of Texas. The increase of wealth. — ^Although the govern- ment was deeply in debt in 1846, the people were fairly prosperous. Their lands had increased in value, their cotton crops were heavy, trade with the United States was profitable, and they had large herds of cattle and horses. Even the government was beginning to spend less than it took in each year, and there was reason to hope that it would gradually become able to pay its creditors. Summary. — Following the battle of San Jacinto the settlers returned to their homes and hastened to repair the damage inflicted by the Mexicans. Dur- ing the summer of 1836 they voted to approve the constitution which the convention had adopted in March of that year, and at the same time they elected General Houston president of the republic He made an excellent president, but the constitution declared that no one could hold the office two terms in succession, so that he was followed by President Lamar. Houston was again elected in 1841, and THE EEPUBLIC OF TEXAS 169 when his second term was ended he was succeeded by Dr. Anson Jones. The financial affairs of the government were in very bad condition during the whole ten years of the republic, but there were signs of improvement toward the end of the period. The Indians caused the government much trouble and expense, especially during President Lamar's administration, but about 1843 President Houston succeeded in quieting them, and from that time until 1846 they gave very little trouble. In spite of hard times and danger from the Indians, the popu- lation rapidly increased, and the capital was moved to Austin partly to keep up with its westward spread. Provision was made for public free schools, and the people were generally prosperous. 2. FOREIGN APFAI3S 1. Belations with European Countries lec*ognition of Texan independence. — The United States government recognized the independence of Texas in March, 1837. In substance this was the same as saying that the United States did not believe that Mexico could ever conquer Texas, and you can easily imagine how much it encouraged the Texans. The European countries were slower in making up their minds than was the United States, but before the end of 1840 Belgium, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, France, and England 170 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF TEXAS had declared their faith in the new republic by recognizing its independence. English interest in Texas. — ^At first England was unwilling to recognize the independence of Texas, because many Englishmen had lent money to Mex- ico, and it was feared that if Mexico lost Texas it would never be able to pay these debts. Later, how- ever, after it had recognized Texas, there was a good deal of talk about getting Texas to join Eng- land and become a part of the British Empire. Eng- land had two important reasons for wanting to con- trol Texas. In the first place, England carried on ■ a great business in the manufacture of cotton cloth, but it owned no province where cotton could be raised in abundance, so that it had to buy most of its cotton from the United States. The business would be much more profitable if England could raise its own cotton; and this it could easily do, if it could only get possession of Texas. In the second place, England had been for many years very much opposed to the slavery of the African race. It had freed all the slaves in its own territories and now it was trying to get other countries to free their slaves. If it could get possession of Texas, it could not only free the slaves there, but might also bring about slowly the abolition of slavery in the southern part of the United States. Fortunately the United States annexed Texas before England took any defi- nite steps to get possession of it. THE REPUBLIC OF TEXAS jyi 2. Belations with Mexico Mexico's refusal to give up Texas. — As we saw, the Mexican congress refused to accept the treaty of Vela^co, saying that Santa Anna had no right to sign it, because he was a prisoner. It was deter- mined to send another army to reduce the rebellious Texans, and teach them a lesson; but it was a long 'time before Mexican soldiers again crossed the Eio Grande. Why Mexico did not invade Texas. — The reason why Mexico was so slow to make another invasion was that the government was on the verge of being overthrown by the Liberal party at home. These Liberals were dissatisfied with the undemocratic government that Santa Anna had established, just as the Texans had been, and for years they never ceased in their efforts to tear it down. Naturally, the government had no time to interfere with, far- off Texas, when it was fighting for its very life at home. President Houston was wise enough to real- ize the situation, and to see that Texas was per- fectly safe. He gave strict orders that the Texans along the border should not fight the Mexicans, except in self-defense, and for this reason the coun- try had peace during his administration. The Republic of the Rio Grande. — President Lamar was not so cautious as General Houston, and when some of the Mexican Liberals came to Texas to get help in carrying on war against the 173 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF TEXAS government he made no effort to prevent the Texans from joining them. Several hundred men under Colonel Eeuben Eoss and Colonel S. W. Jordan joined General Canales (Ca-nal'es), and tried to establish a republic in the northern part of Mex- ico. They called it the Eepublic of the Eio Grande, because all the states to be included in it bordered on that river. A number of severe battles were fought along the river, and at one time the Texans went as far south as Saltillo, where they narrowly escaped capture, because their allies betrayed them. This trouble lasted from September, 1839, until the end of 1840, and its only result was to stir up the Mexican government and strengthen its deter- mination to conquer Texas as soon as it could get the time.- The Santa Fe expedition. — ^Mexico was still fur- ther irritated by the Santa Fe expedition. The first congress of Texas had passed a law declaring that the Eio Grande from its mouth to its source should be the boundary of the state on the south and west. This threw a large part of the present state of New Mexico within the limits of Texas, and Santa Fe was the principal city of this region. It was inhab- ited entirely by Mexicans, and the Texans had made no effort to take possession of it. There had been a very profitable trade carried on for years between Santa Fe and the city of St. Louis, in Missouri ; and President Lamar came to the conclusion that it was THE EEPUBLIC OF TEXAS 173 time for Texas to take Santa Fe and turn the profits of tMs trade into Texas. He asked congress for an appropriation to pay the expenses of an expedi- tion, but congress refused; so he assumed entire responsibility for it, and sent it himself, ordering the treasurer of the republic to pay the bills as they were presented. The expedition was composed of two hundred and seventy soldiers and about fifty merchants and others. They were to invite the people of Santa Fe to renounce the authority of Mexico and join Texas. But if they did not wish to do this, the soldiers were strictly forbidden to use force. The merchants were merely to try to establish trade with the country, and then return. The expedition left Brushy Creek, near Austin, in June of 1841; and it suffered great hardships almost from the beginning. On the plains of western Texas the guides lost their way. Food gave out, there was no water, and the Indians were hostile and trouble- some. So hungry did the men become that they were reduced to eating prairie dogs and snakes. There was not even pasture for the horses, and they, like the men, were exhausted by hunger and thirst. "When they finally reached New Mexico, they were arrested by the governor, Manuel Armijo (Man-wel' Ar-me'ho). He tied them together in bands of five or six and marched them to the City of Mexico on foot. They were very harshly treated, and after 174 ^ SCHOOL HISTOEY OF TEXAS their arrival in Mexico were separated, and placed in different prisons. Later they were released by the order of Santa Anna, who had again become president of Mexi,co. The results of the expedition.— President Lamar made a great mistake in sending out the expedi- tion. It cost the country a great deal of money, which it could ill afford to spend; many of the men died on the way, or suffered untold torture from their captors; and Mexico was angered and driven to make an invasion of Texas. The Mexican invasion of March, 1842. — In March, 1842, a Mexican force under General Rafael Vas- quez (Ra-fi'el Vas'kas) suddenly appeared in San Antonio and took possession of the town. The Mexican flag was run up, but two days later the Mexicans retreated, and left the town at peace. At the same time other forces seized Goliad and Refu- gio, but they, too, soon retired. The "Archive War." — The sudden appearance of the Mexicans alarmed the Texans, and President Houston ordered the removal of the government to Houston, fearing that the Mexicans might .capture the Capitol at Austin. The people of Austin were very angry over this, as you can easily imagine. They refused to allow the government documents, the archives, to be moved; and when President Houston tried to have them secretly taken to Wash- ington on the Brazos, they resisted with arms, and THE EEPUBLIC OF TEXAS 175 caused them to be returned to Austin. This has been called the "Archive War." It occurred in December, 1842. i General WoU's invasion of San Antonio. — In the meantime, another Mexican army, commanded by General Adrian WoU, captured San Antonio in Sep- tember, 1842. This time the town made some resist- ance, and a number of Mexicans were killed. Sev- eral companies of Texans left Gonzales, under the command of Colonel Matthew Caldwell, to go to the relief of San Antonio; and General Woll met them at Salado Creek, about six miles east of the town, A considerable number of the Mexicans were killed and wounded in the battle which followed. But, at the same time, a company of fifty-three men under Captain Nicholas Dawson, which was coming to join Caldwell's force, was cut off by the Mexicans and all of the men were either killed or captured. After this engagement. General Woll abandoned San Antonio and returned to Mexico, taking with him sixty-seven prisoners. The Mier expedition. — ^By the middle of~October, "^^1.242^ more than a thousand Texans had gathered at San Antonio eager to invade Mexico. President Houston did not favor war with Mexico at this time, but he ordered General Alexander Somervell to take command of the men. He led them first to Laredo, where several hundred of the men left him and returned to the settlements. Somervell then started THE REPUBLIC OF TEXAS 177 down the Eio Grande, but a short time later decided to give up the expedition and go back home. All but three hundred of the volunteers went with him. Those who remained elected Colonel William S. Fisher to lead them and marched against Mier. They entered the town on Christmas day, and a des- perate battle was waged all night, and well into the next day. On the 26th General Ampudia (Am- poo'di-a) raised a white flag, and told the Texans that he had a large force surrounding the town and that it was useless for them to fight longer. He said that if they would surrender, they should be kindly treated. Many of the Texans were opposed to yielding, but Colonel Fisher favored surrender- ing, because he thought it would be impossible to escape without abandoning the wounded. They accordingly surrendered. Drawing the black beans. — The prisoners were first taken to Matamoros, and then were started on foot to the City of Mexico. At Salado, about a hun- dred miles south of SaltiUo, they made a break for liberty and escaped. Led by Captain Cameron, they started toward Texas, but after going along the road for a short distance they turned aside to hide in the mountains. Here they became lost, and, almost dying of hunger and thirst, they were all eventually recaptured. Santa Anna decreed that, to punish them for their escape, every tenth man should be shot. A hundred and seventy- six men 178 A SCHOOL HISTOEY OP TEXAS made tlie break for liberty, and, to decide wliicli of them should be executed, a hundred and fifty-nine white and seventeen black beans were placed in a jar, and each man was made to draw a bean. Those who drew the black beans were blindfolded, seated on a log, and shot to death by the soldiers. The remaining prisoners were hurried on to the capital^ and from there distributed to various prisons. Most of them were lodged in Castle Perote (Pa-ro'ta), a very strong and very uncomfortable prison. In July of 1843 General Thomas J. Green and seven others made a daring escape from here, but the remaining captives suffered imprisonment for more than a year longer. Then, on September 16, 1844, the independence day of Mexico, Santa Anna gave orders to release them. The Snively expedition. — ^During the spring of 1843, while the Mier prisoners were wearily trudg- ing toward the City of Mexico, another band of Texans, commanded by Colonel Jacob Snively, was marching light-heartedly toward the north to cap- ture a great w^gon train which was on the way from St. Louis, Missouri, to Santa Fe, loaded with valu- able merchandise. But the wagons were accompa- nied by a number of United States soldiers, who disarmed the Texans, and sent them home. They really had no right to do this, and some years later the United States government paid Texas for the TfiE REPUBLIC OF TEXAS 179 guns that were taken. But the Santa Fe caravan escaped, and the Snively expedition was a failure. The end of the war with Mexico. — In June, 1843, just about the time that Colonel Snively was hav- ing his unpleasant experience in northern Texas, President Houston received a proposal for peace from Santa Anna. He immediately issued a procla- mation, ordering all hostilities to cease, and ap- pointed commissioners to go to Mexico and nego- tiate a treaty. They found that Santa Anna did not want peace unless Texas would again con- sent to be a part of Mexico, and so, of course, they refused to sign the treaty. The negotiations occupied the two countries for nearly a year, however, and soon after they were over Texas was annexed to the United States. There was no more fighting while Texas remained an independent country. The Texas navy. — During all of our trouble with Mexico the little navy of Texas did good service in guarding the coast, and preventing invasion by sea. The first vessels were bought for the navy in January and February, 1836. They were the "Lib- The Palace of Chapultepec, City of Mexico (The Mexican White House) 180 A SCHOOL HI8T0EY OF TEXAS erty," "Invincible," "Independence," and "Bru- tus." They captuted several vessels and caused a good deal of alarm to tlie Mexican towns situated on the coast of the Gulf; but by the end of 1837 they -were all gone. One was sold, another was captured, and two were wrecked. But in 1839 a second navy was bought. This con- sisted of seven vessels, the most important of which was the "Austin," armed with twenty cannon. President Lamar kept the navy sailing from place to place, trying to frighten and annoy the Mexicans. On one occasion, during 1840, he lent it to the people of Yucatan, who were carrying on war with Mexico. When General Houston became president the second time, however, he thought that it cost too much to keep up the navy. In January, 1843, he had con- gress secretly pass a law ordering the vessels sold, but Commodore E. W. Moore, who was command- ing the fleet, refused to bring the vessels into Texas harbors, and thus prevented the sale. The next year congress repealed the law ordering the sale, and when Texas joined the United States in 1846 it still had four ships. These were transferred to the United States navy. /' / ' 3. Relations with the United States / .■ Texas asks to be annexed. — As we learned in a previous lesson, one of the questions upon which the Texans voted in the election of 1836 was whether THE EEPUBLIC OF TEXAS 18] or not they wished to be annexed to the United States. Only ninety-one voted "no." As soon, therefore, as the United States recognized the inde- pendence of Texas, we asked to be annexed. But the United States was not yet ready to annex us, and declined. It had two important reasons for this. In the first place, it knew that Mexico would declare war against it, if it took Texas, and it wanted to remain at peace. In the second place, there were a great many people in the United States who were bitterly opposed to slavery; and, since there were slaves in Texas, they did not want the country. The Texans became somewhat angry at this refusal, and in October, 1838, withdrew their offer. The United States learns the value of Texas. — For several years, now, very little was heard of annexation, either in Texas or the United States. But during all of this time immigrants were pouring jnto Texas, and, as the population increased, the merchants of the United States realized that the trade of Texas was worth having. Then the alarm- ing rumor spread that England was planning to get possession of Texas, and it began to be said that the United States must take it to prevent Eng- land from doing so. Toward the end of 1843 Presi- dent Tyler asked whether Texas was still willing to be annexed to the United States. President Hous- ton pretended that the people had lost interest in the matter and hinted that it might be better for 182 A SCHOOL HISTOEY OF TEXAS them to remain independent and keep on good terms with England. And this, of course, made President Tyler more anxious to get the country. The annexation of Texas. — Those in the United States who were opposed to slavery were still able to delay annexation • for many months, but in February, 1845, congress passed a bill providing that Texas should be an- nexed. Dr. Anson Jones was now president of Texas, and he called a convention to meet at Austin ' on July 4, 1845, to decide whether Texas should accept the of- fer. Before it met Mexico offered to recognize the inde- pendence of the republic and make peace, provided Texas would refuse annexation. But the convention voted almost unanimously to ac- cept annexation. A constitu- tion was then adopted, and submitted to the United States Congress for approval. And as soon as Presi- dent Jones learned that it was approved, he delivered the government to Governor J. Pinckney Henderson, who had been elected to receive it. In his farewell address, delivered February 16. 184fi, Pr esiHpnf Jones declared that "the Eepublic of Texas is no Pbesident Anson Jones THE EEPUBLIC OF TEXAS 183 But he thought it far better to be a part of the great American Union than to remain inde- pendent, Texas retains its public land. — It was customary for the United States to own the vacant lands in the states, but Texas was allowed to keep its lands, in order to pay its debts. This was very fortimate for Texas, because a few years later it sold a por- tion of the land to the United States for ten million ■dollars. "With this money it paid all of its debts, and still had left a vast quantity of land. This has been of the greatest benefit to the state. A great deal of it has been used to pay for the establishment of our public free schools. Some of it was given to the University and to the Agricultural and Mechan- ical College. Three million acres were given in pay- ment for the great granite capitol at Austin. And much of it was given to railroads to encourage rail- road building. Mexico protests against annexation. — Mexico had several times told the United States that it would consider the annexation of Texas as a cause for war. And Texas had not been three months in the Union before war began. We shall learn more in the next Chapter of the part which Texas played in the Mex- ican War. ■^Summary. — The United States recognized the independence of Texas in 1837, but the European ■countries were slower in recognizing it. England 184 A SCHOOL HISTOEY OF TEXAS at first hesitated to recognize Texas, for fear that Mexico would be unable to pay its debts to English subjects; but later there was a good deal of talk about England's taking Texas herself. Mexico stub- bornly refused to give up its claim to Texas, but no serious trouble arose between the two countries during President Houston's first term. During Pres- ident Lamar's administration the Texans became aggressive. They assisted the Liberals, and invaded New Mexico. The Mexicans replied by sending two expeditions to San Antonio. And this caused the Mier expedition. No fighting took place after 1843, but Mexico still refused to give up its claim. Dur- ing all this time the Texans wished to join the United States. At first the United States refused to annex Texas, but later changed its mind and proposed annexation. Texas accepted this offer, and was fortunately allowed to retain control of its public land. Mexico protested against annexa- tion, and shortly afterwards the Mexican War began. QUESTIONS 1. Describe the condition of Texas after the battle of San Jacinto. 2. How did the people try to remedy this situation? 3. Give an account of Santa Anna from the battle of San Jacinto to February, 1837. , v- 4. Why was he not freed by President Burnet? Do you think that he should have been freed? Why? How did President Burnet answer his complaints? THE REPUBLIC OF TEXAS JSS 5. Give an account of the other Mexican prisoners. Were they mistreated by the Texans ? 6. Who composed the army of Texas during the summer and fall of 1836? Why did the volunteers come to Texas? 7. Why did President Burnet not dismiss the army? 8. What was President Houston's policy toward the army ? 9. What important questions were voted on in the elec- tion of 1836, and how were they settled? 10. Give an account of the services of President Burnet to Texas. 11. Give a sketch of the life of General Houston. What was his policy toward Mexico? Toward the Indians? Toward the finances? 13. Give an account of Stephen P. Austin's services. Why was he called the Father of Texas? What honors were paid his remains by the government? Where are his remains now buried ? Do you think that he was a great man ? Why ? 13. Give a sketch of President Lamar. What was his policy toward Mexico? Toward the Indians? Toward the finances ? 14. What did President Lamar do for public education in Texas? Do you think that he was as good a president as was President Houston ? Why ? 15. Why was-not General Houston elected for two terms in succession ? 16. Give a sketch of President Jones. What do you con- sider the most important event of his administration? Was he responsible for this? 17. What was the financial condition of Texas at the close of the revolution? 18. For what did the government need money after the revolution was over? In what ways did the government try to get money ? Why did it fail to get enough money ? 186 A SCHOOL HISTOET OF TEXAS 19. What are customs duties ? Does Texas collect customs duties now? 20. Why did the paper money become reduced in value ? 21. What was the financial condition of Texas at the close of the Eepublic? 22. What were the Texas rangers ? 23. Why were the Indians more troublesome during Presi- dent Lamar's administration than during President Houston's first term ? 24. Give an account of the expulsion of the Cherokees from East Texas. Why was this done? 25. Give an account of the wars with the Comanches. 26. What was the chief importance of these Indian troubles ? 27. What inducements did Texas offer immigrants who settled in Texas ? 28. What conditions in the United States led to the immi- gration of many settlers to Texas? 29. Why did the German settlers come to Texas? 30. What was the homestead law ? How could it encourage settlers to come to Texas ? 31. How many immigrants probably came during the period of the republic? In what parts of Texas did they settle ? 32. How did President Lamar plan to pay for the estab- lishment of public schools? 33. What do we mean when we say that the United States recognized the independence of Texas? 34. Why was England interested in Texas ? In what way did this stimulate the interest of the United States in Texas? 35. Why did Mexico refuse to recognize the independence of Texas? Why did Mexico not invade Texas between 1836 and 1842? 36. What was the Eepublic of the Eio Grande? THE REPUBLIC OF TEXAS 187 37. What was the object of the Santa Fe expedition? Who was responsible for it? Give an account of its failure. What effect did it have upon Mexico? What was Mexico's reply to it ? 38. Give an account of the two Mexican invasions of Texas during 1842. 39. Give an account of the Mier expedition. 40. Give an account of the Texas navy. 41. Why did Texas wish to be annexed to the United States? Why did the United States refuse to annex it in 1837? Why did the United States change its mind during 1838-1843 ? 42. How did Mexico try to prevent annexation? 43. ^^Tiy was Texas allowed to keep its public lands ? Why was this important to Texas ? ADDITIONAL BEADING The return home after the battle of San Jacinto : Bolton and Barker, With the Makers of Texas, 209-212, 218. Internal Affairs of the Eepublic : Davis, Under Six Flags, 111-127. Indian Troubles: Bolton and Barker, 223-226, 232-235, 248-252, 266-269; Davis, 116-117, 120-122. Early Schools: Bolton and Barker, 241-246. The Santa Fe expedition: Bolton and Barker, 236-241; Davis, 123-124. The Mier expedition : Bolton and Barker, 253-265 ; Davis, 124-131; Littlejohn, "Drawing the Black Beans," "Castle Perote" in Texas History Stories; Mrs. F. C. G. Iglehart, The Boy Captive of the Texas Mier Expedition. The end of the Eepublic: Bolton and Barker, 270-273; Davis, 132-136. The Navy: Davis, 117-120. CHAPTER VIII EABLY STATEHOOD: PEOM ANNEXATION TO SECESSION, 1846-1861 Changes in government caused by annexation. — When Texas gave up its position as an independ- ent nation to become a part of the United States, it was necessary to change the form of its govern- ment. It was to have a governor instead of a presi- dent, a legislature instead of a congress, and it had to give up to the government of the United States complete .control over the army and navy, the cus- tom houses, and postal service, the coining or issu- ing of money, and the right to declare war and make treaties with other nations. But this was an advantage rather than a disadvantage to Texas, because by giving up these things the people were able to dispense with a large number of public offi- cials, and thereby save a great deal of expense. Texas now entered upon a period of great growth and prosperity; but before studying that develop- ment we must notice briefly the war between the United States and Mexico and its consequences for the state. General causes of the war between the United States and Mexico. — There were several causes for 188 EAELY STATEHOOD 189 the "war between the United States and Mexico, but the most important ones were concerned with Texas. An unfriendly feeling had existed between the two countries sin,ce the Texan revolution. The people of the United States had always remembered that the Texans were their kinsmen and they had helped the Texans in their struggle for independ- ence. The Mexicans resented this, claiming that it was the duty of the United States to prevent its citizens from fighting against Mexico while the two governments were at peace with each other. Then, too, Mexicans dreaded the power of their great northern neighbor. But the chief cause of the war was the annexation of Texas. The annexation of Texas as a cause of the war. — Mexico, as you remember, had never acknowledged the independence of Texas, had done all in its power to prevent other nations from doing so, and had fiercely resented every move that threatened to place that rebellious province under the secure pro- tection of the Stars and Stripes. Three times Mex- ico had invaded Texas in pretended efforts to recon- quer the country. It went so far as to warn the United States that it would regard the annexation of Texas to the Union as equivalent to a declaration of war. Finally when the United States openly declared for annexation in March, 1845, the Mexi- can minister at Washington made a vigorous pro- 190 A SCHOOL HISTOET OF TEXAS test and left the United States, while the minister of the United States at the City of Mexico was ordered to leave the country. All friendly rela- tions were thus broken off. However, war did not begin at once and the United States sent a special envoy to Mexico to attempt to set- tle the differences between the two countries. The boundary question and the outbreak of the war. — At the time of the Texas revolution the boundary be- tween Texas and the Mexican states to the south was the Nueces Eiver. The first Texas congress, however, passed a law on Decem- ber 19, 1836, extending the boundary to the Eio Grande. Mexico paid no attention to this at the time, because it claimed all of Texas, as well as the strip between the Nueces and the Rio Grande. But when General Zachary Taylor, in the spring of 1846, left his camp near Corpus Christi, where he had ; 1 S \ — / WoMCTo l_ 1 H \ 7!-F j NEBRASEi \ ^ ■ »V- /I » viiai "" 1 R ADO i .. . . .X \ i ■ O V^ ) y.... J a KANSAS / r ^*nJ^^ ^■^'■■f 1 / B ^TKKRITOKY £%.. ~i I--— r±:z: d V g .' ^/ ^ '^^ — -kiklahomK £(lei- i ^ o 1 MErf MEXICO, j J.)I8PIFTF; / Ai-^WicliitaFaU ~lAk -.-._J \ "oBrowQvvood H^ V San Antonio and A ^''^\qS^ ' y y^^ \ Va ^ ,^ '^f i^^m Disputed Tereitoey at OniBKEAK of the Mexican Wab EAELY STATEHOOD 191 spent the winter, and advanced with a small army to the Eio Grande, the Mexican general ordered him back beyond the Nueces. This has led some histo- rians to say that the war was caused by a boundary dispute. It is more accurate to say that the boun- dary question was the immediate occasion for the outbreak of hostilities. On General Taylor's refusal to retreat, some skirmishing occurred, and on May 8 The Bishop's Palace, Monteeet (Where Heavy Fighting Occurred) a serious battle was fought near the present city of Brownsville, in which the Americans were victo- rious. Four days later the United States Congress declared war and voted men and money for an invasion of Mexico. The part of Texas in the war. — It was natural that Texas should play a prominent part in this war. It lay nearest to Mexico and the war was, in a sense, the continuation of its own struggle for independ- 192 A SCHOOL HISTOEY OF TEXAS ence. With the news that fighting had begun, the war spirit swept over the state, and at the call for volunteers there was a rush of Texans to the Mexi- can frontier. Governor Henderson^ accepted the position of major general of volunteers, and under his leadership and that of such men as Albert Sidney Johnston, Jack Hays, Ben McCuUo.ch, George T. Wood, and Edward Burleson the Texans bore an important part in the campaigns in Mexico. The total number of Texans who served in the war is not known exactly, but it is estimated at about eight thousand, which is a far greater number than was furnished by any other state. Terms of peace. — ^With the details of the war we need not bother. Mexico soon learned that it was no longer dealing with a feeble province but with a great and powerful nation. In less than two years it was completely overpowered, and agreed to a treaty of peace (February 2. 1848) . This is called in history the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (Gwa- ^ J. Pinckney Henderson was born in ISTorth Carolina in 1809, and came to Texas in 1836. He was an able man and an eloquent lawyer and became attorney general in President Houston's first administration, then secretary of state. He afterwards served the Eepublic as minister to England and France and then to the United States. For his gallantry in the Mexican War congress voted him a sword. At the close of his term as governor he retired to private life, but in 1857 he was elected to the United States senate. However, he died, before he could take his seat. EARLY STATEHOOD 193 dii-loop'y E-dal'go), because it was signed at the town of that name a few miles from the City of Mexico. By this treaty Mexico gave np its claim on Texas, agreed to the Eio Grande as the boundary, and surrendered to the United States for fifteen mil- lion dollars the vast region now included in Cali- fornia, Nevada, Utah, and Arizona, with part of New Mexico, Colorado, and Wyoming. Since this great territory ,came to the United States as the Guadalupe Hidalgo (Where the treaty of peace was signed) result indirectly of the annexation of Texas, we can now see how very important is the history of the little colonies established in Texas by Austin and others. The battle of San Jacinto and the winning of Texas independence thus become important even in the history of California. yi A boundary dispute with the United States. — When the United States began to take possession of the territory which Mexico gave up in the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, a dispute arose with Texas. 194 A SCHOOL HTSTOET OF TEXAS The Texans claimed more tlian half of the present State of New Mexico — that part east of the Eio Grande. You remember that one of the main objects of the Santa Fe expedition during President Lamar's administration was to take possession of it. The United States was determined to include this region in the new territory of New Mexico, and pointed out that Texas had never been in possession of the land, and that, therefore, it had no title to it. Texas replied that the Mexican War was fought by the United States to prove that the Eio Grande was the boundary of Texas. Both Governor Wood^ and his successor. Governor Bell,^ tried to persuade- the United States government to acknowledge the claims of Texas, but their efforts were without avail. Excitement in Texas now ran high. Newspapers and public speakers denounced the United States government, declaring that it was trying to rob Texas. The legislature passed a resolution renew- ing the claim to the disputed region, and it looked for a time as if there might be war between the ^ George T. Wood, a member of tlie constitutional conven- tion of 1845, state senator in 1846, and a colonel of volunteers in the Mexican War, was elected governor in 1847 and served one term. He died in 1850. ^ P. Hansborough. Bell, a native of Virginia, took part in the battle of San Jacinto and later served on the frontier and in the Mexican War. He served two terms as governor, four years in the United States Congress, and then removed to North Carolina, where he died in 1898. EAELY STATEHOOD 195 state and the general government. Thouglitful men on both, sides were very uneasy. The settlement of the dispute. — ^But at this point Henry Clay, of Kentucky, one of the greatest states- men of his time, proposed a compromise in the United States Senate, and the dispute was finally settled as he suggested, A bill was passed by Con- gress offering Texas ten million dollars for its claim to this territory and to a narrow strip of land extending as far north as the present state of Wyoming. Many Tex- ans did not wish to ac- cept this offer, but the governor and the legisla- ture thought it would be wiser to do so. Thus Texas came to have the western boundary that it has to-day.^ This was really a good bargain for ^ The boundary was to run along the 103d meridian west longitude, but the surveying was done so carelessly that the line actually ran several miles west of that meridian. When New Mexico organized to apply for statehood, in 1910. it set up a claim to the narrow strip between the line as surveyed and the meridian. The United States, however, held that the ]ine should remain as surveyed. Teehitoet Claimed by Texas AND Sold to the United States in 1850 196 A SCHOOL HISTOET OF TEXAS Texas, for the state was heavily loaded -witli debt and the money for this land went a long way toward relieving it of the burden. The public debt. — Texas still owed the heavy debts contracted during the period of the Eepub- lie. The total amount was nearly twelve million dollars. It had been expected that most of this could be paid gradually by the customs duties col- lected on the goods which were imported into Texas from other countries. Perhaps this really could have been done if Texas had remained independent, but as we have seen, when it was annexed, it gave up to the United States its custom houses and the right to collect duties. The only income the state now had was from taxes and the sale of public lands; and, sin,ce the total receipts from these sources were barely enough to pay the running expenses of the government, it was impossible to pay back debts. How the debt was paid. — The sale of its land claims to the United States gave Texas at once more money than it could have saved from the customs duties in a great many years. With this the debts were paid at the rate of seventy-seven cents on the dollar, and the state was relieved from a most embarrassing situation. In 1855 thfe United States gave Texas nearly three million dollars more, to repay it for the expense that it had been put to in defending itself from the Indians, who had been EAELT STATEHOOD igi}- drifting in from the United States ever since 1836. This enabled the state to make many useful improve- ments. For several years Texas had more money than it needed, and the taxes collected during this time were given over to the counties, which used them for building court-houses and schools. A capi- tol and other public buildings were erected at Aus- tin, and homes were established for the blind, the deaf and dumb, and the insane. Immigration to Texas. — The white population of Texas in 1836 was between twenty-five and thirty thousand, and it was scattered thinly over a vast region. Before annexation it had increased to nearly a hundred thousand, and there were, in addi- tion, some thirty-five thousand slaves. Annexation and the triumphant conclusion of the Mexican War induced more people to come to Texas, and by 1850 the total population of the state was about two hundred and twelve thousand, of whom fifty-eight ■ thousand were slaves. The stream of iinmigrants grew larger every year. The new-comers were from all parts of the United States, though most of them came from the Southern states — Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Kentucky. Others con- tinued to come from foreign countries to seek a home and liberty on the broad lands of Texas. Of these the greatest number were Germans, fleeing from oppression in their native land. They settled for the most part in south and southwest Texas, in 198 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF TEXAS and around the towns of Brenham, New Braunfels, Fredericksburg, San Antonio, and Cuero. They and their children have .contributed a great deal to the upbuilding of Texas. i The removal of the Indians. — ^As new immigrants came in and settled on the western frontier, the Indians again became troublesome. In fact, as buffalo and- other game became scarce, the Indians were almost compelled to resort to plundering and cattle stealing to secure a living. For several years the United States kept troops stationed at various points in the west, and these with Texas rangers were kept busy protecting the settlements from hostile attack. To put a stop to the trouble the United States government at first undertook to colonize the Indians and to teach them to live in settled ^communities. Two colonies or reservations were established, one near the present town ' of Graham, in Young County, and the other on the Clear Fork of the Brazos, about forty miles farther west. At these colonies, dwellings and store-houses were built, schools were established, and several hundred acres of land were cleared and put in culti- vation. The Comanches, however, found it hard to give up their wild life, and now and then some of them would break away and join bands of hostile Indians in raids on the white settlements. Finally, to prevent further bloodshed, the United States de- cided to remove the Indian^ from Texas. Leaving EARLY STATEHOOD 199 their growing crops in the fields, and many of their cattle on the ranges, the Indians, to the number of fourteen hundred, were marched across the Red River into the Indian Territory. Here new lands were given to them, and they have since gradually settled down to civilized life. The western frontier. — The frontier was now pro- tected from the savage Indians and became fairly prosperous. The more peaceful condition of the country and the opening up of the public lands in- duced still more rapid immigration, and by 1860 the population of Texas numbered four hundred and twenty-two thousand whites and more than a hun- dred and eighty thousand slaves. Eastern Texas was still the most thickly settled section, while the central part of the state was very thinly settled. A line drawn a little to the west of San Antonio, Austin, Waco, and Fort Worth would indicate roughly the boundary of the settled country. Industries before 1860. — The occupations of the people were such as are natural in a new country. There were few towns, and they were all small and far apart. Most of the people were farmers and stock-raisers. Along the larger rivers — the Sabine, Trinity, Brazos, and Colorado — there were already large plantations of cotton and corn, cultivated by slaves. It was then generally believed that the black prairie lands, which we now know to be very rich, would not grow crops. Besides, wire fences 200 A SCHOOL HISTOEY OF TEXAS had not then been invented, and there was no easy way of fencing the land. Therefore, most of the dwellers on the prairies and uplands raised cattle and horses on the great unfenced pastures. The need of railroads in Texas. — One of the great- est hindrances to the development of Texas was the lack of easy means of transportation. The rivers were too shallow for steamboats to venture far from the coast, the roads were bad, the streams were unbridged, and there were no railroads. Farm products and other goods which the Texans wished to sell had sometimes to be hauled hundreds of miles to shipping points on the coast or in Louisiana. This hauling was so expensive that the profit left to the grower was always very small and at times the goods were sold at a loss. Cattle and horses had to be driven in herds to market in far away New Orleans. Merchandise from outside was brought in at great cost and only the well-to-do could afford even the simplest luxuries. The beginning cf railroad building in Texas. — Men were not long in seeing that the state would be greatly benefitted by railroads, but there was so little money in the country that it was for a long time impossible to build them. At last, in 1850, a company of ,citizens undertook to build a road, and by Jj55. thirty-two miles of track were completed from par risburg to the Brazos B iyer^ opposite the town of Eichmond. It is now a part of the great EAELY STATEHOOD 201 Southern Pacific system which extends from New Orleans to San Francisco. By this time the legis- lature had passed a law offering railroad com- panies sixteen sections of land, amounting to more than ten thousand acres, for every mile of track built. It also lent them money from the school fund to help them build their lines. During the next few Raileoads in Texas Bepobb the Civil Wae years ten other roads were started, but all were very short, and one was only five miles long. Most of them reached only a little way into the state from. Galveston and Houston. But with the outbreak of the great war, all railroad building in Texas stopped for nearly seven years. 203 A SCHOOL HISTOET OF TEXAS Beginning of the public school system. — Among the things that Texas needed most at this time were public free schools. In a few places there were pri- vate schools, but these were often poorly taught, and only a small portion of the children could attend them. Too many young men and women were grow- ing up without the education that was necessary to make them good citizens. But in 1853, E. M. Pease,^ one of the ablest men in Texas, be- came governor, and his first recommendation to the legis- lature was that it establish a system of public schools. A start was made in 1854, but a complete system could not be put into operation all at once. It was very hard to get competent teachers ; and there was not enough money to keep the schools ■open for the full term, so that the pupils still had to ^ Elisha M. Pease was born in Connecticut in 1813, and •came to Texas in 1835. He practiced law successfully, and had held a number of state offices when elected governor. He was re-elected in 1855. He later opposed , secession and lived in Tetirement in Austin during the Civil "War. During the period of reconstruction he was appointed provisional governor by General Sheridan, holding the office from 1867 to 1869. .He died in 1883. GOTERNOE E. M. PEASH (1853—1857; 1S07— 1860) EAELY STATEHOOD 303 pay tuition part of the time. A few years later the Civil War broke out, and during the war nearly all the schools were closed, jj^ The approach of the Civil War. — But now, just as the iuiancial dif6,culties of Texas were safely past, its population rapidly increasing, its vacant. lands settling up, railroads and school houses building, and everything fair with promise, a terrible trouble loomed ahead. Thoughtful men began to fear that the Northern and Southern states could no longer live peaceably together, and that they would have to separate. At the same time it was feared that the Northern states might not want to agree to the separation and that a war would break out if the Southern states started to withdraw from the Union. One cause of disagreement between the North and the South was the slavery question. The beginning of the slavery question. — You remember that the English people first began to settle in America about seventy-five years before La Salle landed in Texas. They needed laborers to help them clear the land and cultivate the fields, but there were no laborers to hire. In the midst of their difficulty, a vessel arrived in America with a cargo of negroes who had been captured in Africa, and the captain sold these negroes to the colonists as slaves. They worked well, and soon others were brought from Africa, and the labor problem was solved. These first slaves were brought to America 204 A- SCHOOL HISTORY OF TEXAS in 1619, nearly three hundred years ago. At that time no one saw any harm in slavery. It was thought to be a good thing for the negroes to bring them from the "Dark Continent" of Africa to the civilized country of America, where they would be better fed and better clothed, and where they could learn to be Christians. Slavery unprofitable in the North. — For nearly a hundred and fifty years there were slaves in all of the English colonies, but just about the time that these colonies revolted from England and became the United States the people in the North began to set their slaves free. Their chief reason for this was that slaves were not profitable in the North. Most of the land there was poor, and the fields were small, so that it did not pay to use slaves in their cultivation. In the South, on the other hand, the land was rich, and the cultivation of tobacco, rice, and cotton could be carried on by slaves with great profit. Moreover, much of the best land lay along the river bottoms, and these were so unhealthful that it was thought that white men could not live there. Slaves were absolutely necessary, therefore, if these fertile lands were to be used. This, then, was the situation in the United States until about the time when Austin brought his first colonists to Texas: the Northern states had no need of slaves, and gave them up; while the Southern states did need them, and kept them. EAELY STATEHOOD 205 The Abolitionists. — But now there arose a new way of thinking about slavery. It began to be said both in the South and in the North that it was not right to buy and sell and own negro men and women. Nevertheless, there seemed to be no way to put a stop to slavery. Men in the South had millions of dollars invested in slaves, and they felt that they could not afford to give up so much money by free- ing them. At first most of the people in the North felt the same way about the matter. They were sorry that there were slaves in the South, but they did not think it right to ask the slave-owners to give them up. Later a few men in the North began to say that slavery should be abolished at once. Because they wished to abolish slavery they were called abolitionists. The Southern states secede from the Union. — As time went on, the people in the South c&me to fear that those in the North would be persuaded by the abolitionists to free the slaves. They grew tired of the continual arguing about the matter, and when Abraham Lincoln was elected President of the United States by the party opposed to slavery, they decided to withdraw from the United States and form a union of their own. South Cai^olina took the lead in this, and it was soon followed by ten other states. These were Mississippi, Florida, Ala- bama, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas. This was in 206 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF TEXAS the early part of 1861. government very mucli These states established a like that of the United States, and took the name of the Confederate States of America. Jefferson Da- vis, of Mississippi, was elected president of the new republic.^ Our great citizen, Judge John H. Eeagan, was his postmas- ter general, and one of his most useful assistants. The North objects to the secession of the South. — But just as many had ex- pected, the North opposed the withdrawal of the South from the Union. It was said that the states had no right to secede, and President Lincoln ordered out the army to prevent it. A great many people in the South were very sorry to see the Union broken up; but they hon- estly believed that each state had the right to with- Pbbsident Jeffeeson Davis ^ Jefferson Davis, the president of the Confederate States of America, though raised in Mississippi, was born in Kentucky on June 3, 1808, and his birthday is now a legal holiday in Texas. He graduated at West Point at the age of twenty, and won distinction in the Indian wars and in the war with EAELY STATEHOOD gOT draw if it chose, and when President Lincoln tried to prevent this they went to war. This terrible war lasted four years, but we must leave an account of it to the nest Chapter. Summary. — The annexation of Texas to the United States brought on a war with Mexico in which the Texans greatly distinguished themselves. At the close of the war the United States acquired a vast territory in the West, and the Eio Grande became the recognized boundary between Texas and Mexico. A dispute then arose with the United States over claims to a part of New Mexico, but this was settled by a compromise in which the United States paid Texas ten million dollars for its claims. "With this money and another sum paid for damages done by Indians the Texan debt was paid. Immigrants poured into the state, the Indians were remo'^ed, the frontier was protected, railroads were begun, and a public school system started. But just as Texas was beginning to prosper the qiiarrel between the Northern and Southern states Mexico. He was secretary of war under President Pranklia Pierce, and was senator from Mississippi for several years. He resigned his seat in 1861 when his state withdrew from the Union, because he thought that his first duty was to his state. As president of the Confederacy he probably did all that any man could have done to win southern independence. After the war he suffered two years of imprisonment without a trial, but was finally released in May, 1867. He died in 1889 at the age of eighty-one. 208 A SCHOOL HISTOEY OF TEXAS became so bitter that the Southern states seceded and formed a government of their own. Texas was one of those to secede. Then began the Civil War. QUESTIONS 1. "Why was it necessary to change the government of Texas after annexation ? What changes were made ? 2. What did Texas gain by the change ? 3. What were the general causes of the war between the United States and Mexico ? 4. Why did the annexation of Texas help to cause the war? 5. What was the boundary dispute with Mexico? Show 'on a map where the southern boundary of Texas was, accord- ing to the claim of Mexico. 6. Where did the war begin? Why did the Texans play so large a part in it ? 7. What were the terms of peace? How do the results of the Mexican war prove the importance of earlier Texas history ? 8. Why did Texas claim part of New Mexico ? Why did the United States refuse to allow the claim ? 9. How much was Texas paid for its claim ? Show on a map the cession made by Texas. What was done with the money Texas reqeived? 10. Why had Texas not been able to pay its debts earlier ? 11. What was the population of Texas in 1836 ? in 1846 ? in 1850? in 1860? 12. Why did settlers come to Texas? Where did most of them come from? Where did the Germans settle? 13. Why did the Indians begin giving trouble again? 14. How was the population of Texas distributed in 1860 ? EAELY STATEHOOD 309 15. "What were the chief occupations of the people? 16. Why were railroads badly needed in Texas? When and where was the first railroad built ? 17. How did the state government help the railroads ? How many roads had been started before the outbreak of the Civil War, and where were tl:^j ? (See map, page 201). 18. Why had Texas not established public schools before 1854 ? How did the Civil War affect the schools ? 19. How did negro slavery begin in America? How was slavery regarded then? 20. AVhy did slavery die out in the North and flourish in the South? 21. Why did the Southern people refuse to free their slaves ? 22. Why did they want to secede from the Union ? What states seceded and when? 23. What did they do next? 24. What did the North do? What followed? ADDITIONAL BEADING The War with Mexico: Bolton and Barker, With the Makers of Texas, 275-279; Davis, Under Six Flags, 136-140. The Frontier and the Texas Eangers : Bolton and Barker, 273-275, 280-285; Davis, 140-147.- CHAPTEE IX CIVIL WAE AND RECONSTRUCTION 1. THE CIVIL WAR The purpose of this chapter. — We must now fol- low the story of the part which Texas played in the Civil War, and give an account of the trying days of "reconstruction" that continued for four years after the readmission of the state into the Union in 1870. Texas secedes and joins the Confederacy. — ^At the close of 1860, people began to insist that Governor Sam Houston^ should take steps to call a convention for the purpose of deciding whether Texas should join the Southern Confederacy or remain in the Union. But Houston, who opposed secession and did not want a convention, refused to do so. Then a number of prominent men, without the governor's consent, urged the people to elect delegates. This ^ Houston had succeeded Hardin Eichard Eunnels as gov- ernor in 1859. Eunnels was a native of Mississippi. He came to Texas in 1841, became a prominent lawyer, and served sev- eral terms in the legislature. He was speaker of the house of representatives in 1853-1854, and was lieutenant-governor during the second administration of Governor Pease. 210 CrVIL WAR AND EECONSTEUCTION 211 was done, and the convention met at Austin on Janu- ary 28, 1861. Four days later the delegates drew up an ordinance of secession. The Secession Ordinance. — This document de- clared that the Northern states, by their attacks upon slavery, had violated the constitution of the United States, and that the power of the government was now being used to oppress the slave states. For Galveston about 1860 (From engraving in the State Library) these reasons Texas was declared wholly separate and free from the United States. At the same time the convention voted to join the Southern Confed- eracy. The ordinance was passed in the conven- tion by a vote of one hundred and sixty-six to seven, and it was later voted on by the people and approved. A great many people in Texas were very sorry to have to withdraw from the Union, but two things caused them to vote for secession: (1) they believed that the interests of Texas lay with 213 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF TEXAS the South rather than with the North, and (2) they believed that the North had no right to keep the Southern states in the Union by force, if they wanted to withdraw. Houston tries to prevent secession. — Governor Houston, however, opposed secession at every step. He said in one of his public speeches: "You may, after the sacrifice of countless millions of treasure and hundreds of thousands of previous lives, as a bare possibility, win Southern independence, if God be not against you; but I doubt it. I tell you that while I believe with you in the doctrine of state rights, the North is determined to preserve this Union. ' ' The convention deposes Houston. — But all his pro- tests were in vain. The convention demanded that all the officers of the state should come before it and swear allegiance to the Confederacy. Houston refused to do so. The convention then de,clared the office of governor vacant, and Edward Clark, the lieutenant-governor, was installed as governor. Houston at first refused to give up the office, but he declined to use force to sustain himself. "I love Texas too well," sa,id he, "to bring civil strife and bloodshed upon her. To avert this calamity I shall make no endeavor to maintain my authority as chief executive of the state, except by the peaceful exer- cise of my functions. I protest in the name of the people of Texas against all the acts and doings of CIVIL WAR AND EECONSTEUOTION 213 this convention and declare them null and void." But he was forced to yield. He retired to his home at Huntsville, where he died two years later at the age of seventy. Volunteers from Texas. — Jefferson Davis, the president of the new Confederacy, began at once to organize an army for the approa,ching struggle. When he called on Texas for volunteers there was a quick response. Many of those who had opposed secession now entered the army, declaring that they would stand by their state in the hour of peril. It is impossible to find out just how many men went from Texas into the Confederate armies during the war, but there were probably about fifty thou- sand. Among them were Hood's ^^rigade. Gran- bury 's Brigade, Boss's Brigade, Terry's Eangers, and the Eleventh Texas Cavalry. All of these won undying glory for themselves and for Texas by their dashing valor on the field of battle, but it will not be possible for us to follow their story here. The war in Texas. — Fortunately for the people of Texas, there was less fighting here than in any other state of the Confederacy. Only three or four attempts were made by the Northern armies to invade Texas, and all of them failed. The most important of these were the capture of Galveston, the attack on Sabine Pass, and the attempts to enter Texas by the Eio Grande and the Bed Biver. 214 A SCHOOL HISTOEY OP TEXAS Thec&.pture and retaking of Galveston. — ^Although tlie Northern armies could not at first get to Texas, ttiere were a number of warships which sailed up and down the Gulf coast trying to prevent the Texans from trading by sea with foreign nations. On October 4, 1862, after the war had been going on for a year and a half, some of these ships determined to make an attack on Galveston. The Confederate troops who were defending the island i-^J^^^ ^.ft" r-^^ COTTON-CLADS were unprepared for battle and withdrew to the mainland, leaving the city in the hands of the Federals, as the Union soldiers were called. But Galveston was the chief seaport of Texas, and was too important a place to leave in the hands of the enemy. Besides there was danger that the Federals civil, WAR AND EECONSTRUCTION 215 miglit land an army there for the invasion of Texas. So General Magruder planned to recapture the city. Two cotton steamers at Houston were fitted up as gunboats, and on their decks, protected by cotton bales, were placed a number of volunteers, armed with rifles and shot-guns. These " cotton-clad s," as the boats were called, were to slip down Buffalo Bayou and across Galveston Bay and attack the United States vessels in the harbor. At the same time about a thousand men, with a few cannon, were to cross the Bay secretly, and attack the garrison by land. On the night of De,cember 31, 1862, the plan was carried out. Before daybreak on New Year's morning the land force had driven the gar- rison to the extreme northern end of the island, where it surrendered. In the meantime, the cotton- clad steamers arrived and captured all but four or five of the enemy's ships. It was a brilliant victory for the Confederates, and General Magruder and his men received the thanks of President Davis and the Confederate Congress, as well as of the Texas legislature. Federal invasion repulsed at Sabine Pass. — The second attempt to invade Texas came in September, 1863, when an army of five thousand Federals set sail from New Orleans to Sabine Pass, with the purpose of landing there and advancing on Beau- mont and Houston. But this attempt failed more signally than did the attempt to enter Texas by 316 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF TEXAS way of Galveston. "When tlie army reached Sabine Pass and attacked the little fort there, its garrison of forty-seven men, commanded by Lieutenant Dick Dowling, not only repulsed them, but without losing A-A-C. Proposed line of march from Sabine Pass to Galveston- B-B. Pro- posed line of supply from Velasco to Houston. D-D. Proposed line of invasioa of the Interior. Fedeeal Plan of Invading Texas Thkough Sabine Pass' (Taken from Official Records, volume 2G) a single man captured two of their gunboats and three hundred and fifty prisoners. After this dis- aster the Federals gave up the attempt and returned to New Orleans. Attempted invasions by way of Brownsville and of Red River. — ^About two months later came the next attack, this time upon the town of Brownsville, near the mouth of the Eio Grande. One object of CIVIL WAE AND EECONSTEUCTION Sir this invasion was to cut off the .cotton trade which Texas was carrying on with Mexico. Another object was to prevent the French, who had just seized Mexico, from helping the Southern states in their struggle for independence. There were very few Confederate troops at Brownsville at this time, and General Banks with six thousand Federals . easily captured the town. During the summer of 1864, how- ever, all but a handful of the Federal soldiers were with- drawn to make an attack on East Texas. They went by sea to New Orleans, and planned to march up Bed Eiver to Texas, but they were defeated before reach- ing the border of the state and the expedition was abandoned. A little later the Federal troops were withdrawn from Brownsville and Texas remained free from attack during the rest of the war. Politics and elections. — ^During the war the few men who were left in the state paid very little atten- tion to politics. Governor Clark served for a short time in 1861, and was then succeeded by F. E. Lub- bock,^ who exerted himself to the utmost to put the ^ Francis Eichard Lubbock was born at Beaufort, South Dick Dowling 218 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF TEXAS state in good condition for defense, and to raise men and supplies for the Confederate armies. He was followed in 1863 by Governor Pendleton Mur- rah/ who was elected by a large majority over his opponent, General T. J. Chambers. Murrah did all in his power to keep up the strength of the state, but long before the end of his term it was plain that the Confederacy was slowly sinking to its fall. How Texas furnished supplies to the Confederacy. — Though the other Confederate states were pre- vented from trading with foreign powers by United States warships which blockaded the coast, Texas managed to keep up an important trade with Mexico throughout the war. This was of immense advan- tage, not only to Texas, but to the whole Confed- eracy, because goods brought into Texas were shipped immediately to the suffering Confederate armies throughout the South. But it was not only Carolina, in 1815. He came to Texas in 1836, and the next year was appointed comptroller of the Eepublic by President Houston. Thereafter he took a prominent part in politics and was elected lieutenant-governor in 1857. He served one term as governor, 1861-1863, and then became a member of the staff of Jefferson Davis, the President of the Confederacy. In 1878 he was elected state treasurer, and held the office for twelve years. He died in 1905. ^ Pendleton Murrah, a native of South Carolina, came to Texas at an early day and settled at Marshall. He took an active part in politics, and was elected to the- legislature in 1857. When the Confederacy fell, he fled to Mexico, where he shortly afterwards died. CIVIL WAR AND RECONSTRUCTION 219 with goods brought from Mexico that Texas sup- plied the Confederacy. Many small factories were established in the state for the manufacture of cloth, hats, shoes, blankets, tents and other necessities. The state penitentiary at Huntsville was converted into a great factory, and turned out large quantities of military supplies, which were forwarded to Texas soldiers in the field, or were sold to the Confederate government. In fact, Texas became the store house for the western part of the Confederacy, and sent to the Southern armies large quantities of beef, pork, corn, and other food stuffs. As every attempt to invade the state failed, and as its industries were not destroyed by the contending armies, Texas was in a much better condition in every way when the war closed than was any other state of the Confederacy. ^4A Home life during the war, — ^But even in Texas the war brought hard times and great suffering. Many things which we now consider necessary to every- day life were then the greatest luxuries, or could not be had at all. Calico was worth fifty dollars a yard in Confederate money. Coffee could often not be bought at any price, because there was none in the country. The people, however, found that a fair substitute for coffee could be made from parched sweet potatoes, rye, or okra-beans, and this was gen- erally used. For soda they burned corn-cobs and used the ashes; while for medicines they were com- 220 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF TEXAS pelled to use roots and herbs and the bark of certain trees. Sorrow at home. — ^But this was not the worst of the situation. From nearly every home some one had gone to join the army, and only the very old men, the young boys, the women and girls, the officers of the government, and others absolutely needed to manage affairs, were left in the state. You can easily imagine the unhappiness which set- tled upon every home, for at any moment news might come that some dearly beloved member of the family had died on a far-off field of battle. "My dear, dear brother, ' ' wrote a lady during that awful time, "we are filled with anxiety for him! Even if he is spared through this fight, when and where can we see him again? . . . This is a cruel war. " How the women helped the soldiers. — ^But the women did not begrudge their men to the Confed- eracy. No one believed more strongly than they in the right of the South to withdraw from the Union, and they wanted their soldiers to fight and win. . No sacrifice was too great for them to make, if it would only in,crease the comfort of the soldiers in the field. They stripped their beds of blankets to send to the army and cut up their flannel wrappers to make the soldiers shirts. Little girls learned to knit socks, and little boys turned the spinning wheel while their mothers spun wool and cotton from which CIVIL WAE AND EECONSTEUCTION 221 to weave cloth for tlie homespun clothing that nearly everybody wore. Sunday School classes and Ladies' Aid Societies busied themselves in doing things for the soldiers. Loyalty of the slaves. — ^During the whole course of the war the slaves remained for the most part faithful to their masters. While the men were away in the army, they guarded the homes and protected the defenseless women and children. And crops produced by their labor on South- ern farms went far to support the Confederacy in its struggle against the government which wished to free them. Many a kind old slave loved his master's children as if they were his own; and the old "black mammy" was a cherished member of many Southern families. The end of the war. — But all efforts were in vain. The North had too many men and too much money. While the Southern soldiers often suffered for the barest necessities of life, the Northern armies were An Old-Time Negro 222 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF TEXAS usually supplied with abundance of food and com- fortable clothing. At last the great Confederate commander-in-chief, General Eobert E. Lee,^ was compelled to surrender to an army more than thrice the size of his own. This occurred at Appomattox Court House in Virginia, on April 9, 1865 — almost four years to a day after the struggle began. All was now over. "Wherever the news was heard, the Con- federate armies broke up, and the men returned to their homes. Their joy at seeing their loved ones again was mixed with sor- row that their cause was lost, but they spent no time in idle grief. There was work to do in restoring the state to prosperity, and bravely they set themselves to the task. ^ Eobert Edward Lee, the great Confederate general, was born in Virginia on January 19, 1807, and was educated at West Point. He won distinction in the Mexican War, and at the outbreak of the Civil War he was practically com- mander-in-chief of the armies of the TJnited States. He believed that the Southern states had a right to withdraw from the Union, but he did not think that it was wise at that time to do so. With a sad heart he resigned his place in the Federal army, believing, like President Davis, that his first duty was General Robert E. Leb CIVIL WAE AND EECONSTEUCTION 923 -Tip" 2. EECONSTEUCTION The problem of reconstruction. — The South was not to be left in peace to recover from the effects of the war. Its armies had surrendered, and it had been forced to remain in the Union, but a great many people in the North believed that the South- erners would refuse to obey the laws of the United States if they were allowed to manage their own state governments, as they had done before the war. These people were particularly afraid that the Southerners would continue to treat the negroes as slaves, although President Lincoln had issued a proclamation during the war declaring them free. How to prevent these things became the great ques- tion at the North. The establishment of garrisons in Texas. — The federal forces began to arrive in Texas during the summer of 1865, a few weeks after the break up of the Confederate armies. On June 18 General Gordon Granger landed at Galveston, and the next day he issued a proclamation declaring the slaves free. It is for this reason that iix Q negroes of T exas c olobrjitQ - J une 19 as " emancipation day. ' ' Other to his state. In writing to his sister he said : "With all my devotion to the Union and the feeling of loyalty and duty of an American citizen, I have not been able to make up my mind to raise my hand against my relatives, my children, my home." After the war was over he served for several years as president of Washington and Lee University. He died in 1870. 234 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF TEXAS soldiers were soon stationed at different points in the state, and thus "reconstruction" was begun. The President's plan of reconstruction. — ^At first, however, the people did not foresee the hardships that were in store for them. President Andrew Johnson was a Southern man, and, besides sympa- thizing with the people of the South, he believed that they could be trusted to re- turn to the Union and obey its laws. He insisted there- fore on only three things. In the first place, the peo- ple of each state must hold a convention and declare that secession from the Un- ion had been illegal. This would be the same thing in effect as saying that they had never been out of the Union. In the second place, they must recognize the negroes as free. And in the third place, they must declare that all debts contracted by the state for the purpose of carrying on the war were illegal, and would therefore not be paid. After doing these things the Southern states would be restored to the Union. For the purpose of carrying out this policy in Texas the president GovEHXOE A. J. Hamilton (1865-1866) CIVIL WAB AND EECONSTEUCTION 225 appointed A. J. Hamilton^ provisional governor of the state. The provisional government. — ^When he arrived at Austin, the new governor found a difficult task awaiting him. There had been no sort of govern- ment in Texas for two months and everything was in confusion. His first duty was to appoint officers — judges, sheriffs, clerks, tax assessors and col- lectors, county commissioners, and others — all over the state and to restore order. This took a long time, because the mail service had not yet been restored, and there were almost no telegraph lines or railroads. But the people generally gave the gov- ernor their support, and by November his efforts to restore order had been so far successful that he issued a proclamation calling for the election of dele- gates to meet in convention at Austin in February, 1866. Regular government restored. — The convention met on February 7, 1866, and the president's plan was put before the delegates. For some of them it ^ Andrew Jackson Hamilton was a native of Alabama who had come to Texas in 1847. He was a very able man and a remarkable orator, and became prominent both in law and politics. He served the state as attorney-general, and in 1859 was elected to the United States Congress. Being strongly opposed to secession, and refusing to support the Confederacy, he left Texas and went to the North. He was a prominent figure in Texas throughout the reconstruction period. He died in Austin in 1875. 226 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF TEXAS went very much against the grain to carry out his wishes, but at last, after much bitter discussion, secession was declared illegal; the negroes were acknowledged to be free, with the same rights before the courts and with the same right to hold property as the whites;^ and the state debts contracted dur- ing the war were canceled. In June, 1866, an election was held for regular state officers, and, J. W. Throck- morton,^ who had been president of the conven- tion, was elected governor. President Johnson then or- dered Governor Hamilton to turn over his office to the newly elected governor; and Throckmorton was in- augurated in August, 1866. The new legislature mot at the same time. After more than a year of waiting, the people were now under a government of their own choosing. They ^ Until that time the negroes did not have equal rights with the whites. They could not appear as witnesses in court, sit on juries, or vote. * James "W. Throckmorton was a native of Tennessee, and came to Texas in 1841 at the age of sixteen. He had repre- sented Collin County in the legislature before the war, and as a member of the convention in 1861, had strongly opposed Gov. J. W. Theockmokion (1S66-1867) CIVIL "WAR AND RECONSTRUCTION 237 thoiiglit that their greatest troubles were over, but we shall see that they were sadly mistaken. "^ Congress establishes military government, 1867. — Congress was now controlled by the most radical leaders of the Eepublican party, and they thought that the president's plan of reconstru,ction was too easy for the South. So they refused to permit the senators and representatives from the Southern states to take their seats in Congress. They then passed a law placing the whole South under mili- tary rule, and provided that this should continue in each state until the people proved their good inten- tions by adopting a constitution giving the negroes the right to vote and hold office. They also required the people to accept the fourteenth amendment to the constitution of the United States, which guaran- teed to the negroes the right to hold property, to appear as witnesses in court, and to sit on juries, ^hen this should be done, the Southern states would be restored. General Philip Sheridan, who had made a record as a dashing cavalry officer during the war, secession, being one of the seven who voted against it. Declar- ing then that he would stand by his state, he Joined the Con- federate army as a private, but rapidly rose to the rank of brigadier general. During most of the war he was commis- sioner to the Indians beyond Red Eiver. During reconstruc- tion he was one of the most prominent figures in the state, and Texas has never had a more honest official. He afterwards served four terms as a member of Congress. He died at McKinney in 1894. 228 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF TEXAS was commander of the troops in Texas and Louis- iana, but in his dealings with the people he proved to be an extremely harsh and unjust official. He set aside whatever laws he did not like, and began removing state and county officers on the charge that they were hostile to the general government. The Goteenoe's Mansion at Austin The removal of Governor Throckmorton. — Gov- ernor Throckmorton tried to carry out the orders of Sheridan and the laws of Congress, though he did not approve of them. But General Sheridan was determined to get rid of him, so on July 30, 1867, he ordered Throckmorton to give up his office, say- ing that he was "an impediment to reconstruction." CIVIL WAR AND EECONSTRUCTION 229 In his place Sheridan appointed ex-Governor E. M. Pease. The choice was a very good one, for Pease was one of the wisest and best men in the radical Eepublican party. ,He had made a good governor before the war (1853-1857), and though he was now unpopular, as any radical would have been, it was better to have a Texan as governor than to have some one who was a stranger to the state. —4; Hardships of reconstruction. — In many ways the> period of reconstruction was more distressing to the white people of Texas than the war had been. The garrisons scattered here and there over the state were a constant irritation, and frequent quarrels between the citizens and the soldiers kept the coun- try in an uproar. General Sheridan and his officers removed many of the state and county officials, claiming that they were not in sympathy with the plan of Congress. Some of the offices remained vacant, but many of them were filled by the appoint- ment of "carpet-baggers" and "scalawags,"^ for most of whom the people then had little respect. It became impossible to enforce the laws, and crimes of the worst sort became shockingly common. Mean- ^ After the war a great many men from the North came South in the hope of being appointed to office under the reconstruction governments. They frequently brought all their belongings in a carpet-bag and for that reason they were called "carpet-baggers." "Scalawags" were Southern white men who sided with the "carpet-baggers" and negroes. 230 A SCHOOL HISTOEY OF TEXAS while, bands of idle negroes wandered about the country refusing to work, though many fields lay unplanted for want of laborers. The condition of the negroes. — When General Granger issued his proclamation from Galveston in June, 1865, declaring slavery at an end, the people generally gathered their slaves around them and told them that they were free. Some of the slaves preferred to stay with their former masters, but most of them thought that in order to show that they were really free they must quit work and gather about the towns and military camps. They were very ignorant, and did not realize that the free man must work for his living as well as the slave. In fact, many honestly believed that the government which had been kind enough to set them free would see to it that they did not suffer want. The Freedmen's Bureau, a sort of branch of the United States army that had been estab- lished to advise and protect the ex-slaves, did great service in supplying food to the helpless negroes, in maintaining schools for them, and in giving them advice about making labor contracts. But the offi- cers of the Bureau were suspicious of the Southern- ers and frequently did harm by unwisely taking the part of the negroes against them. Sometimes, too, designing men who were not officers of the Bureau gained influence over the negroes and tried to set them against their former owners. CIVIL WAR AND EECONSTEUCTION 33I The Union League. — The object of sucli men was to control the votes of the negroes, who had now been given the right to vote, and for this purpose they organized them into what were called "Union Leagues." In these organizations the negroes were taught how to vote, and were told for whom to cast their ballots. In some cases they were organized into military companies by their white leaders and were supplied with guns and uniforms. This added greatly to their feeling of iinportance, and made it hard for their former masters to teach them^to settle down and live peaceably with their white neighbors. The Ku Klux Klan. — The conservative white men of the South were opposed to these negro leagues for two reasons. In the first place, they thought that it was a great mistake to allow the ignorant negroes, who had so re,cently been liberated from slavery, to vote and take part in making and enforc- ing the laws. In the second place, they thought that it was dangerous for the negroes to be going about the country in military companies with arms in their hands. So, to hold the negroes in check, to prevent them from voting, and to keep them away from the Union Leagues, the .white men organized a society of their own, known as the Ku Klux Klan. This society, which started in Tennessee, quickly spread over all the Southern states. Its members would ride out in the still hours of the night, clad in long white robes, with masks on their faces and 232 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF TEXAS high, peaked hats on their heads, and visiting the huts of the negroes, would represent themselves as the spirits of Southern white men killed in battle. They would search the cabins for guns and warn the terror-stricken negroes to keep away from the Union Leagues, and to stay away from the polls on election day. Usually a second visit was unneces- sary. When the state governments were on,ce more securely established and public order was restored, the need for such a society passed away and it grad- ually disappeared. "^ The new state government established.— You remember that in 1866 the people of Texas adopted a constitution which declared that secession was illegal, that the negroes were free, and that the debt created by the state during the war was void and should not be paid. But, as we have seen, this constitution and the government established under it did not satisfy Congress, which passed a law that, (1) established military rule, and (2) required the state to make a new constitution whi,ch should guarantee to the negroes the right to vote. It also provided that the negroes should have a right to vote for delegates to the convention which was to make this constitution. So, in 1868, after the negroes had been enrolled as voters and had been told how to vote by white leaders of the Union Leagues, Gov- ernor Pease ordered the election of delegates. As most of the white men who had fought in the South- OIVIL WAR AND EECONSTEUCTION 233 era. armies were not allowed to vote, a majority of the delegates were radical Eepublicans, and a few of them were negroes. When they met in Austin in June, 1868, two opposing factions sprang up among them and they spent many weeks in bitter wrangling.^ So many of the delegates became dis- gusted with the proceedings and went home that in February, 1869, no quorum could be obtained for carrying on business, and the convention came to an end. The constitution was still unfinished, but it was soon put into final form by the secretary of the convention, acting under the orders of the military commander in Texas, and was ratified by the people at an election held in November, 1869. At the same time an election for state officers was held, and Edmund J. Davis,^ after one of the bitter- est political contests ever waged in Texas, won the office of governor over his opponent, A. J. Hamilton. ^ The convention eonsumed a great deal of time in discuss- ing plans for dividing Texas into two or three states, and came very near to making the division ; but through the efforts of ex-Governor Hamilton better counsel prevailed and the state remained undivided. ^ Edmund J. Davis was a native of Florida. He came to Texas in 1848, and settled at Corpus Christi, where he became district judge. Eefusing to agree to secession, he left Texas m 1861 and joined the Northern army. He was a member of the constitutional convention of 1866 and was president of the convention of 1868. He was governor from 1870 to 1874. 234 A SCHOOL HISTOET OF TEXAS Texas re-admitted to the Union. — In February, 1870, the legislature elected under the new consti- tution met and promptly ratified the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments to the constitution of the United States.^ It then elected two senators and asked Congress to allow the senators and representa- tives to take their seats. Texas had now done all that was required of it. It had declared secession illegal; it had cancelled the war debt; it had set the slaves free, and in the constitution which the negroes had helped to make, it granted them the same civil and political rights as were enjoyed by white men; and finally it had ratified the amend- ments to the federal constitution. So, on March 30, >' — ■ - ... •. . 1870. Tex aswas re-admitted j t o the _Jnion;._and the next day its representatives and senators were allowed to take their seats in Congress. Oppressive character of radical government in Texas. — ^But although Texas had regained its place in the Union, the government was still in the hands of men who had little sympathy for the people. The reason for this was that they had been elected before the state was re-admitted to the Union, when ^ The Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution provides that no state shall deprive any citizen of the United States of the right to vote on account of "race, color, or previous con- dition of servitude." Texas was required to ratify it, as well as the Fourteenth Amendment, before the state would be restored to its place in the Union. CIVIL WAE AND BECONSTEUCTION 335 nearly all of those who had supported the Confed- eracy were denied the right of voting. Governor Davis knew that a majority of the people of the state were opposed to him, and he believed that they would not obey the laws unless compelled to do so. For this reason the legislature allowed him to appoint judges, sheriffs, and even city officials who should have been elected by the people. At the same time he organized a police force of about three hundred offi- cers and men, called the state police. These men did a great deal of good in rid- ding the state of outlaws and desperadoes; but they were a reckless band and committed so many outrages upon peaceable citizens that they became greatly disliked. The governor also stationed troops at the polls on election days, and in several instances established military rule and, in violation of the right of trial by jury, tried rhen accused of crimes by military courts. "^ Extravagance of the state legislature. — In addi-'y tion to these oppressive measures of the governor, the legislature became very unpopular as a result of its reckless use of the state's money and the GovEENOK E. J. Davis 336 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF TEXAS rapid increase in the rate of taxation. Tlie tax' rate was fourteen times what it had been in 1866. Finally, in September, 1871, there was held in Austin a great gathering of men of every party to protest against the oppressive rule of the radicals, and the waste of public money of which they were guilty. In this meeting, which was known as the Tax- Payers' Convention, ninety-four counties were rep- resented, and among the delegates were such well- known Eepublicans as ex-Governors Pease and A. J. Hamilton, and United States Senator Morgan 0. Hamilton. The convention adopted strong resolu- tions denouncing the government of the radical Eepublicans and declaring that it was trying to place all power in the hands of one man.^ a_ The overthrow of radical rule. — The strength of the opposition to Governor Davis showed itself at the first opportunity. This was at the election held in October, 1871, when the Democrats elected all their candidates for Congress. In November, 1872, ^ One of the resolutions said : "The violations of the con- stitution and disregard of law have been very frequent and very numerous ; but, frequent as they have been and numerous as they are, we have been unable to find a single one of either class based on an honest desire to accomplish good to the people of the state, or to secure the prosperity of the country. On the contrary, their apparent cause seems uniformly to spring from one grand purpose: to concentrate power in the hands of one man and to emasculate the strength of the citizens of Texas as a free people." CIVIL WAB AND RECONSTEUCTION 237 the state elections were held. There was no election for governor at that time, because, under the con- stitution of 1869, Davis had been elected to hold office for four years; but this same constitution restored the right of voting to most of the ex-. Confederates who had been denied this privilege during the period of military rule. Nearly all of these new vot- ers were Democrats and they were able to elect all the members of Congress from Texas that year, s»Ai» . secure a majority in both branches of the state leg- islature. The final struggle came in 1873. The Demo- crats nominated E i c h a r d C k e^ for governor and Eichard B. Hubbard for lieutenant-governor, and after an exciting campaign they were elected over Governor Davis by a vote of two to one. Davis, who was very angry, declared ^ Eieliard Coke was born and educated in Virginia. He came to Texas in 1850 and established himself in the practice of law at Waco. He served in the Confederate army and rose to the rank of captain. He was elected to the supreme court in 1866 but was removed along with Governor Throck-, morton as an impediment to reconstruction. In 1876, he resigned as governor and became United States Senator. This place he held for eighteen years. He died an 1897, GOVEKNOE RlCHAItD COKE (1874-1876) 238 -A- SCHOOL HISTORY OF TEXAS that the election was illegal, and said that he would not give up the office. While on the second floor of the Capitol the newly elected legislature was inaugu- rating Coke and Hubhard, Governor Davis remained in possession of his quarters on the first floor. He telegraphed President Grant for Soldiers to help him, and it seemed for a time that there might be bloodshed, but the president refused to have any- thing to do with the matter. Two days later Davis changed his mind and vacated the office, and Coke took possession without interference, January 17, 1874. The constitution of 187,6. — Texas was now not only a state of the Union, but the government was once more in the hands of its own people. One thing remained, however, to remind the people of the painful period of reconstruction. That was the reconstruction constitution of 1869, which was still in force. There were many things in that constitu- tion that the people did not like, and so a conven- tion was held in 1875 and a new constitution was made. It was ratified by the people the next year, and it is this constitution which is still in force. Summary.— Early in 1861 a state convention met at Austin and passed an ordinance of secession which was approved by a vote of the people. Texas then joined the Confederate States. In the war which followed, very little fighting occurred in Texas. Galveston was taken by the Federals in CIVIL WAR A>;d reconstruction 239 October, 1862, but was retaken by the Texans on January 1, 1863. An attack upon Sabine Pass was brilliantly repulsed, and though the United States troops managed to hold Brownsville for a while, they never got a footing in the state. From Texas ranches and plantations vast quantities of food sup- plies went to the Confederate armies, and large amounts of other goods were imported through Mexico or manufactured in the state. Though they 'endured great privations, the women and children and even the slaves worked loyally for the soldiers. But the Southern armies were outnumbered and. crushed; the Federals took possession of Texas in June, 1865, and declared the slaves free. Then fol- lowed the stormy "reconstruction" times. First, President Johnson established a provisional govern- ment, which, in 1866, gave way to officers elected by the people. But Congress rejected this plan of res- toration, and passed laws in March, 1867, putting the South back under military rule. Governor Throckmorton was removed. The negroes were given the right to vote, and many of the whites were disfranchised. A great deal of trouble followed. ' A new constitution was framed by the radicals in 1869, and E. J. Davis was elected governor. Then, in 1870, Texas was restored to the Union. "While Davis was governor many harsh laws were passed by the legislature, and a great deal of public money was wasted. In 1872, the Democrats got control 240 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF TEXAS of the legislature, and in 1873 they elected Eichard Coke governor. In 1876 a new constitution was rati- ; fied by the people. QUESTIONS 1. Why did the people of Texas wish to secede from the TJnited States? 2. How was the secession convention called? 3. What did the ordinance of secession declare? What was the vote for and against it in the Convention ? 4. What was Governor Houston's opinion of secession 7 , Why was he deposed ? 5. About how many Texans joined the Confederate armies? Name some of the famous regiments and brigades of Texans? 6. AVhat do you think is the reason there was so little fighting in Texas? 7. Describe the loss and recapture of Galveston. 8. What other attempts were made by the Federals to in- vade Texas and how did they result? Trace on the map, p. 216, the plan of invasion by way of Sabine Pass. 9. Who were the governors of Texas during the war ? 10. Why was there so little interest in politics at that time? 11. Why was Texas called the storehouse of the western part of the Confederacy? 12. How was Texas able to maintain a foreign trade in spite of the blockade? 13. What was done in the way of manufactures in Texas ? 14. Describe some of the hardships endured by the people. 15. How did the slaves conduct themselves during the war? CIYIL WAE AND RECONSTEUCTION 341 16. How and when did the war come to an end ? 17. What was the problem of reconstruction, as viewed by tlie Northern people? 18. WTiy do the negroes of Texas celebrate the 19th of June ? 19. What was President Johnson's plan of reconstruction ? What must each state do in order to be restored to the Union ? 20. Who was appointed provisional governor? In what condition did he find Texas? What did he do first? 21. When did the Convention meet? What did it do? 22. When were the regular elections held, and who was chosen governor? 23. How did Congress regard the President's plan of Teconstruction ? 24. Were the Southern states allowed representation in Congress ? 25. Who was placed in military command of Texas ? How did he act toward Texas ? 26. Why was Governor Throckmorton removed? Who was selected to succeed him? 27. What were the chief troubles of the people during reconstruction? Why did the policy of Sheridan make mat- ters worse? 28. Who were "carpet-baggers" and "scalawags"? 29. What did the negroes do after they were freed? 30. What was the purpose of the Preedmen's Bureau? WTiat good and what harm did it do? 31. What were Union Leagues? Why did the whites ■oppose them? How did the whites try to keep the negroes away from the Leagues? 32. What was the reason for a new Constitutional Conven- tion in 1868? 33. How did the negroes first get the right to vote? 242 A SCHOOL HISTOKY 01' TEXAS 34. What party elected the majority of delegates to the convention of 1868 ? Why? What did the convention do ? 35. How was the constitution put into final form ? When was it ratified by the people ? 36. Who were the candidates for governor in 1869 ? Who was elected ? 37. When was Texas readmitted to the Union ? What had it been compelled to do before it was readmitted ? 38. Did the people regain control of the state government at once? Why? What was Governor Davis's opinion of the people ? 39. What was the state police force? What good and what harm did it do? 40. How did the governor misuse his military power? 41. Why did the legislature become unpopular ? 43. Tell what you can about the Tax-Payers' Convention. 43. How was the strength of the opposition to Governor Davis first shown? 44. Explain the victories of the Democrats in 1873. 45. Who was elected governor in 1873? 46. Why did Davis refuse to give up his office ? How did he try to keep possession ? Why did he yield ? 47. Why was another constitutional convention held in 1875? Do we still live under the constitution which it framed ? ADDITIONAL READING The Capture and Eetaking of Galveston: Bolton and Barker, With the Makers of Texas, 293-398; Davis, Under Six Flags, 157, 160-163. The Battle of Sabine Pass : Davis, 163-165 ; "Brave Dick Dowling," in Littlejohn's Texas History Stories. Home Life During the War: 'Bolton and Barker, 390-392, 306-310; Davis, 158-160. CHAPTER X THE STATE SINCE EECONSTRUCTION: FORTY YEARS OP PROGRESS (1874-1912) Character of the period. — With the close of recon- struction, Texas regained its place in the Union and its people were once more in charge of their own public affairs. The state now entered upon a period of rapid development which has continued without any serious interruptions down to the pres- ent time. With the return of settled .conditions, industry and commerce took on new life, railroad building began again and went forward as never before, towns and cities sprang up on every side, and a great tide of immigration set m from the older Southern states, and from the North and East as well. To the study of this happy period the remain- der of this book is devoted. The present chapter gives a brief account of the leading events of the . state's history from 1876 to the present time. The next chapter tells of the growth of population and industry, while the last chapter describes our system of public- education. The second election of Coke and Hubbard. — ^In February, 1876, Governor Coke and Lieutenant- Governor Hubbard were re-elected for a term of two 243 Governor James STEniEN Hogg (1891-1895) THE STATE SINCE EECONSTEUCTION 245 years. A little later Coke resigned the office of gov- ernor to enter the United States Senate, to which the legislature elected him. As a result Hubbard^ became governor and served for the remainder of the term. The question of the state's finances was the most pressing problem with which the new state government had to deal. Financial condition of Texas in 1876. — When the democrats got control of the government in 1874, the finances of the state were in very bad condition. The public debt was about five million dollars. In addition, the government had promised to pay to the Texas and Pacific and the International and Great Northern railroad companies ten thousand dollars in bonds for every mile of track they would build in the state. The object of this was to encour- age railroad building in order to develop the coun- ^ Eichard B. Hubbard, born in 1832, was a native of Georgia. He was educated at Mercer College and later studied law in the University of Virginia and in Harvard. At the age of twenty-one, he settled in Tyler, Te;xas, and began the practice of his profession. During the Civil War, he dis- tinguished himself in the Confederate service and rose to the rank of colonel. In 1873, he was elected lieutenant-governor and was re-elected in 1876. When Coke entered the United States Senate, Hubbard became governor. During President Cleveland's administration, ex-Governor Hubbard was sent as minister to Japan, and upon his return to this country he published a book on Japan. He died at his home in Tyler in 1901. 24:6 -A. SCHOOL HISTORY OF TEXAS try, but it was an arrangement wliicli might have involved the state in an additional debt of ten or twelve million dollars. Although the rate of taxa- tion was excessively high, the treasury was empty, the state's credit was ruined, and its warrants were being sold at a heavy discount. How this condition was improved. — The most rigid economy and careful management were needed to meet this critical situation. The salaries of public officials were reduced and all unnecessary expenses were avoided. A .compromise was made with the railroads by which they were given twenty sec- tions of public land per mile instead of the state bonds which had been promised. A portion of each year's taxes was set aside to create a sinking fund for the purpose of paying the interest and dis- charging the principal of the public debt. No one was more successful in overcoming these difficulties than was Governor 0. M. Eoberts, who served from 1879 to 1883.1 He adopted as the motto of his ^ South Carolina sent many men to Texas, but none of them left a stronger impress upon the state than did Oran M. Eoberts. He was educated at the University of Alabama, from which he graduated in 1836. Five years later he came to Texas and opened a law office at San Augustine. He was made colonel of the Eleventh Texas Infantry during the Civil War, but Vfas elected chief Justice of the supreme court of Texas before the war was over. In 1866 he was elected United States Senator from Texas but as the state had not yet been readmitted to the Union, he was not allowed to take THE STATE SINCE RECONSTBUCTION 347 administration the injunction, "Pay as you go," and enforced it rigidly in every branch of the govern- ment. So successful was this policy that in his final message to the legislature in 1883 he was able to report that during his two terms nearly a million and a half dollars had been paid on the state 's debt, and the taxes had been redu,ced from fifty cents to thirty cents on a hundred dollars' worth of property. Other governors have continued the good work begun by Governor Eoberts. The state 's debt is now reduced to a very small amount, and the general property tax is only about twelve cents on each hun- dred dollars' worth of property. This is about one- fourth of the rate that was paid in 1871. The restoration of public order. — Most of the vio- lence of the early years of reconstruction had passed away before the close of that period. Much dis- order still remained, however, and the governors under the new constitution set themselves resolutely to the task of stamping it out. Grovernor Hultard was especially active in the enforcement of the laws, offering large rewards for the capture and convic- his seat. He was again elected chief justice in 1874, and held the position until his election as governor in 1878. While governor he was largely instrumental in getting the University of Texas started and at the close of his second term he became professor of law in that institution. During the ten years of his service in that position he exercised a powerful influence over all the young men who attended his classes. He resigned in 1893 and died in 1898. 348 A SCHOOL HISTOEY OF TEXAS tion of outlaws. Among those prosecuted were sev- eral groups of daring land thieves. They maintained o£S,ces in some of the large cities of the state, and were engaged in forging deeds to lainds belongin-g to other people. These gangs were now broken up and a number of the forgers were sent to the penitentiary. Fence cutting. — ^Another matter that gave consid- erable trouble was the strife that grew up between the farmers and ranchmen in the western part of the state. The ranchmen were buying and leasing large tracts of public land and were enclosing them with wire fences, which were just then coming into use. They sometimes enclosed school lands to which they had no right, thus unjustly depriving t"he farm- ers of pasturage for their stock. In some cases they would leave no roads or gates and would completely fen,ce in small farmers or settlers, whom they called "nesters." This greatly angered the settlers and they began cutting the fences of the ranchmen. Sometimes for many miles the wires would be^ clipped between all the posts. Finally in 1884 the trouble became so common and the feeling between the ranchmen so bitter that Governor Ireland^ called ^ John Ireland was a native of Kentucky who began life as a poor boy He worked to pay his expenses while attending a country school, and began studying law at the age of twenty- four. He came to Texas before the war and settled at Seguin. Like Hubbard and Eoberts, he entered the Con- THE STATE SINCE BECONSTEUCTION 249 a special session of the legislature to deal with the matter. A law was passed punishing fence-cutters with a term in the penitentiary. This put a stop to the fence cutting, and protected the fences of the ranchmen. The stockmen, on the other hand, were required to leave all public roads open, to put m gates every three miles, and to pay for any damage they had done by fencing in the land of settlers. -^ jv The burning of the old capitol. — As the result of ' ^n accidental fire, the old state capitol at Austin was completely destroyed on the afternoon of -November 9, 1881. Practically everything in it was lost, including the state library, which" contained many valuable books, documents, and historic relics. The capitol building itself, however, was regarded as of small value, for it was wholly unsuited to the needs of a rapidly growing state like Texas. In fact, plans had already been made for the con- struction of a suitable State House, and three mil- lion acres of land in the Panhandle of Texas had been set apart to pay for it. The new capitol. — Governor Eoberts called a spe- cial session of the legislature, which, after providing for the erection of a temporary capitol building at federate army and rose to the rank of colonel. He served in both branches of the state legislature and was a member of the state supreme court. He served two terms as governor. Eetir- ing from the office in 1887, he resumed the practice of law in Seguin, where he died in 1896. 250 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF TEXAS the foot of Capitol Hill, made provision for the immediate construction of the new capitol. A board of commissioners, with Governor Eoberts at its head, was created to take charge of the work. This board made a contract with a company of Chicago capital- ists who agreed to build the capitol in exchange for the three million acres of land. The corner- stone was laid on Texas Independence day, 1885, and the building was completed and dedicated with elab- orate .ceremonies on May 16, 1888. Governor Ross^ had the honor of being the first governor to occupy the new building. The Capitol is a building worthy of Texas.- It is built of the famous red granite of Burnet county, and is probably the most substantial capitol building in the United States. In size, it is second only to the national capitol at "Washington, and at the time of its completion it was said that ^ Lawrence Sullivan Eoss, one of the distinguished governors of Texas, was a native of Iowa, but was reared in Texas. Like Eoberts, he was a graduate of the University of Alabama. While yet a young man he won distinction as an Indian fighter. On one of his campaigns against the Comanches, he captured the long lost Cynthia Ann Parker. She had been captured by the Indians when a girl of nine. When the Civil War broke out, Eoss entered the Confederate army as a private and rose to the rank of brigadier general. He held a number of public offices in Texas and was twice elected governor of the state by large majorities. At the end of his term of office, he became president of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas, which position he held until his death in 1898. THE STATE SINCE BECONSTEUCTION 251 there were only six larger buildings in the world. It is in the form of a Greek cross, being five hundred and sixty feet long and two hundred and eighty feet broad. It is surmounted by a magnificent dome that rises to the height of more than three hundred feet. The loss of Greer county. — ^What is known as the Greer county question gave the public men of Texas considerable trouble for a number of years. This was a contro- V e r s y between the State of Texas and the government of the United States over the interpretation of the treaty which the United States made with Spain in 1819. At that time Spain was still, in possession of Texas, and this treaty declared that the northern boundary of Texas was to follow the Eed River westward to where it is crossed by the one hundredth meridian. Later, when the upper courses of the river were explored, it was found to have two branches, and a question at once arose as to which should be regarded as the principal branch. If the north fork were so regarded, the land lying Geeee County 353 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF TEXAS between the forks would belong to Texas; but if tbe soutb fork were tbe true Eed Eiver, the land Roberts Ross Four Distinguished Governors Hogg would belong to the United States. Texas at an early day assumed that the north fork was the Eed Eiver proper, and organized the land into a THE STATE SINCE EECONSTEUCTION 253 county, and established courts and public schools. The United States asserted that the south fork was the main stream and laid claim to the land as a part of the Indian Territory, now Oklahoma. Texas finally carried the question to the Supreme Court of the United States and, in 1896, a decision was rendered in favor of the United States. Many Texans have never ,ceased to regret the loss of this fine territory. Governor Hogg and railroad regulation. — Proba- bly the most important political problem which Texas has met and solved since the days of recon- struction is the proper regulation of the railroads and express companies doing business in the state. The most prominent man in working out this prob- lem was Governor James Stephen Hogg,^ the father of the Texas Eailroad Commission. A brief account must be given of the struggle that resulted in the creation of this commission. ^ ^ James Stephen Hogg, the first native Texan to rise to the office of governor, was certainly one of the greatest public men that the state has ever produced. He was distinctly a "self made man," for at the age of twelve his father died and he was left to support himself and to get such education as he could pick up at the country schools. Por a time he pub- lished a country newspaper called the Longview News. Later he studied law and at the age of twenty-four was admitted to the bar. He was elected county attorney, then district attor- ney, and in 1886 he became attorney general of the state. His 254 ' -^ SCHOOL HISTORY OF TEXAS S "" Why the railroads needed regulating. — The people of Texas were very liberal in assisting railroad com- panies that wished to build in the state. The gov- ernment granted them liberal charters and gave them large tracts of the public lands; while coun- ties and cities sometimes voted them bonds, and the people along the routes gave them the rights of way and large sums of money. For these favors the railroad companies seemed to the people to be utterly ungrateful. Though the amounts which the roads charged for carrying passengers and freight were probably no higher than was necessary in a sparsely settled country such as Texas then was, the people thought that the rates were too high and demanded that they be reduced. Besides, the rail- roads were often unjust in their charges. They fre- quently charged a favored shipper a smaller amount for carrying his goods than they charged other persons for carrying their goods an equal distance, thus giving the former an unjust advantage over his rivals in business. In the same way they would success in this office and his great ability as a leader of men made him governor in 1890, and re-elected him in 1893 in the face of the opposition of the railroads and other powerful corporations. At the close of his second term he took up the practice'of law, first in Austin, and later in Houston. But he always took an active interest in public affairs, and was instru- mental in securing the anti-free-pass law and other useful measures. He died in March, 1906, at the age of fifty-five, and was buried in Oakwood Cemetery, in Austin. THE STATE SINCE EECONSTRUCTION 355 give an unfair advantage to certain favored towns by making lower freight rates to them than to other towns the same distance away. Still another evil arose from the granting of free passes to many rich and influential shippers, while the poor men who rode on the trains were forced to pay full fare. These passes, too, were given in large numbers to state and county officers and to officials of the courts. It was thought that this was done in order to win the favor of these officials. Finally the railroad companies formed themselves into a league, or pool, as it was called, for the purpose of keeping up the rates on freight. The Railroad Commission. — All these abuses caused a strong feeling against the railroads, and the people began to demand that they treat all shippers and passengers alike. Various laws were passed for this purpose, but it was impossible to make the railroads obey them. At last the legisla- ture submitted for popular approval an amendment to the state constitution authorizing the legislature to establish a railroad commission. James Stephen Hogg was then attorney general. He had won great prominence by breaking up the railroad pool just mentioned and by forcing the railroads to surrender large tra,cts of the public lands which they wrong- fully held. He now became a candidate for governor in support of the proposed amendment, and was nominated by the Democratic convention in 1890. 5 56 A SCHOOL HISTOET OP TEXAS In November he was elected by a large majority- over his Eepublican opponent. At the same elec- tion the amendment was adopted by an equally large majority. As a result of this victory at the_£olls ' the legislature passed a law jn 1891 creating: a, com- mission of three men, apppintejdrby_th5_goyernor, ■^dth power to investigate_all complaints against t he rail- xo^ds and Jo~B^, thg,_iaiss^ ■^Mch they could charge for garrying ,f reigE't and passen- gers. 7l~THe first railroad commis- K sioners. — In his selection of the first railroad commis- sioners Governor Hogg showed excellent judgment. ^_e_n a m e d J-adgeJK^^P^ McLean , an able attor n e y oi. EorrWorth ; Hon. L. L. Eo-ster^w-ho,. was afterwards icultural and MechanicarTJbl- P.ISsidfiidLfif -the lege]3nd^jtnost important of all, SenatoFJohn H, Judge John H. Rbaoan (Chairman of the Railroad CommisBion, 1891-1902) m^ i)^en prominent. in all the public ^ John H. Eeagan, born in 1818, was a native of Tennessee. At thirteen years of age he was forced to stop school and go to work in the field in order to help support the family. But he is said to have carried a small dictionary in his hat which he studied whenever, he stopped for a few moment's rest. THE STATE SINCE EECONSTEUCTION 257 .affairs of_Texas for half _a, oea lur;^ . Much, of tlie suc- cess of tlie railroad coinmission has been due to the ability and high character of these early commis- sioners. The fight on the commission. — The commission created was not to escape without a fierce fight for its life. The new commissioners had no sooner entered upon their duties than the railways began to disobey their orders, saying that the law creating their office was unconstitutional. The Supreme Court of the United States, however, decided that the law was constitutional, and that put a stop to the efforts of the railroads in this direction. Their next move was to try to defeat Governor Hogg and thus secure a repeal or a modification of the commission law. But in this also they failed, for in November, 1892, after one of the bitterest campaigns ever known in Later he attended college for a short time but his health, failed and his money gave out, and he had to stop. He came to Texas in 1839. Here he took up the study and practice of law and was elected to congress in 1856. This position he held until the war broke out, when he resigned to become postmaster general of the Confederacy. At the close of the war he returned to his farm near Palestine, and in 1875 was again elected to congress. After twelve years in the lower house he entered the upper house as senator from Texas. This position he resigned to become the first chairman of the Texas Eailroad Commission. For many years before his death in 1905 he was the last surviving member of the Con- federate cabinet. Few names will live longer in Texas history than that of Senator Eeagan. 358 A SCHOOL HISTOE? OF TEXAS Texas, Governor Hogg was re-elected by a substan- tial majority. This ended the fight on the commission, and nearly everybody now agrees that it has done a valuable work for the people of Texas. A year or two later the commissioners were made elective by popular vote, instead of being appointed by the governor, and their term of ofiS,ce was increased to six years. At the same time they were given power to control the issuing of railroad stocks and bonds. Many features of the Texas railroad commission have jbeen studied and copied by other states. Anti-trust laws. — Closely connected with the reg- /ulation of the railways are the attempts that Texas has made to suppress the trusts and monopolies that have grown up in recent years. These trusts are combinations formed by a number of manufac- turers or merchants for the purpose of crushing out their rivals in business and securing control of the markets. To prevent the growth of such monop- olies stringent anti-trust laws were passed in 1889, and again in 1899, and in 1903. Under these laws a number of suits were brought and some of the combinations were fined and broken up and others were driven from the state. By far the most impor- tant of these anti-trust suits was that against the Waters-Pierce Oil Company, which was a branch of the Standard Oil Company, one of the greatest monopolies that has ever existed. Attorney-General THE STATE SINCE EECONSTEUCTION 259 E. V. Davidson brought suit against this company for violating our anti-trust law. He fought the case through the United States Supreme' Court, and in 1908 finally succeeded in collecting a fine of about two million dollars, one of the largest fines on record. The company was also forbidden to do business in the state. The Spanish War. — In the spring of 1898, during the second administration of Governor Culberson,^ the United States declared war against Spain. One cause for this war was the general dis- gust felt by the American people at the continued cruelty practiced by the Spanish commanders on the Cuban revolutionists. An- other cause was the blowing up of the American battle- ship "Maine" in the harbor of Havana. The people of the United States believed that the Spanish authorities in Havana were guilty of this great Governor C. A. Culberson (1895-1899) ' Charles A. Culberson came to this state from Alabama with his parents when he was only two years of age. His father, David B. Culberson, was for many years a member of the Texas delegation in congress and was recognized as one of the profoundest jurists that this state has produced. Young 260 A. SCHOOL HISTOEY OF TEXAS crime, and they practically demanded that Congress should declare war. The war was a very short one, and Spain was speedily worsted both on the land and the sea. As a result Cuba was freed from Spain and the United States government- helped the Cubans to establish a free government of their own, and then withdrew from the island. The part played by Texans in the Spanish War. — Upon the outbreak of the war. President McKinley issued a call for volunteers, and Texas came forward with her full quota of four regiments of infantry and one of cavalry. In addition to this a regiment of "immunes," or men who had had yellow fever, was raised at Galveston and sent to Cuba. The most famous regiment recruited in Texas was Colonel Eoosevelt's Eough Eiders. However, it would be unfair for Texas to claim all the credit for this noted regiment, for, although, it was organized at San Antonio, it was composed of cowboys and frontiers- men from many of the Western states. The readi- ness with which the Texans responded to the call to arms and the valor shown by them on the battle- field proved, if proof were needed, that the fighting Culberson graduated from the Virginia Military Institute before he was twenty years of age. He studied law at the University of Virginia, and soon won distinction among the young lawyers of Texas. He was twice elected attorney gen- eral, and served two terms as governor. He is now serving his third term as United States Senator from Texas. THE STATE SINCE EECONSTEUCTION 261 ■blood of the revolutionary fathers still courses in the veins of their sons. The Brazos floods; — In the summer of 1899, and again in 1902, there were destructive floods on the Brazos and its tributaries. All the lands south of Waco were overflowed, and tremendous damage was done to crops and live stock. Eailroads running through this part of the state were so badly dam- aged that for many days the running of trains was entirely aban- doned. These great floods led the legislature to pass a law allow- ing the bottom land farmers to form themselves levee work neab bkenham into levee districts and sell bonds for the purpose of building embankments to keep the rivers from overflowing. As a result several large tracts of land have now been protected. In Burleson county, for instance, a levee district has been formed and an embankment some twenty or thirty miles long has been completed. This saves from overflow many thousands of acres of very valuable land. The Galveston gtnrm— On pJAptPTinhAT 8^ 1900, a furious tropical hurricane swept over the entire coast country of Texas, doing tremendous damage 362 A SCHOOL HISTOEY OF TEXAS to life and property. The greatest damage was done at Galveston, wMeli, on its low sandy island, was totally unprotected from the waves of the Gulf. The wind attained a velocity of more than a hun- dred miles an hour and rolled huge billows clear across the island, crushing the smaller houses like egg-shells and using the timbers of the wrecked houses as battering rams for working further destruction. The loss of life wa^ esti- mated at six thousand, while the property losses amounted to many millions of dollars. This was the greatest dis- aster that has ever befallen the state of Texas, and one of the worst in the history of modern times. Governor Sayers^ acted with great promptness in organizing committees of relief and in issuing calls for help for the stricken city. From all parts of the state, from every section of the United States, and from many lands beyond the sea, came liberal contributions in money and supplies, while ^ Joseph D. Saj'ers is a native of Mississippi. When he was a lad of ten, his parents moved to Bastrop, Texas, wliere he grew up and received liis education. Entering the Confederate army as a private he rose step by step to the rank of major. GOVEKKOE J. D. SAYEKS (1890-1903) THE STATE SINCE EECONSTEUCTION 263 the ricli men of Galveston poured out their wealth for the relief of the homeless. The restoration of Galveston. — With wonderful energy and courage the people of Galveston set to work to rebuild their city. For weeks they labored to clear away the wreckage and to restore their homes. Then they determined that such a disaster should never occur again, if it was possible to prevent it. So they built a solid concrete sea-wall, sixteen feet wide at the bottom and seventeen feet high, extending for a distance of three miles along the Gulf front on the south and east sides of the island. Then, by lifting the houses up on pillars and filling in beneath them with sand and earth, they raised the surface of the city up to the level of the sea-wall. Finally, to keep from He was twice wounded, and served two years on crutches. In 1873, he was a member of the state senate. During Governor Eoberts's first administration, Sayers served as lieutenant- governor. Then for fourteen years he represented his district in congress. In 1898 he was elected governor and was re- elected two years later. At the end of his term in January, 1903, Governor Sayers resumed the practice of law, first at San Antonio, and later at Austin, where he now lives. His administration was a time of great prosperity to the state. The Galveston Sea Wall 264 A SCHOOL HISTOEY OF TEXAS being cut off from tlie mainland by tlie destruction of tbe bridges across the bay, the county of Galves- ton with the assistance of the railroads, has built a massive concrete causeway connecting the island with the mainland at Virginia Point. This cause- way furnishes space for a good wagon road, and for four railway tracks and the interurban electric railway. The sea-wall tested, — Hardly had the sea-wall Copyright by J. M. Maurer The Galveston Causeway and the grade raising been finished before they were put to a practical test that proved their value. This test was the tropical hurricane of July 21, 1909. Although the wind attained a velocity of seventy- five miles an hour, no lives were lost within the limits of the city, and the damage to property was very slight. This victory over the elements pro- duced great rejoicing, and gave the people of Gal- veston an added sense of security and an increased confidence in the future of their city. ; •THE STATE SINCE EECONSTRUCTION 265 Tl fhe commission form of city government. — Out of Galveston's disaster came what lias proved to be a real blessing in tbe form of a new sort of city government. Prior to the storm the city govern- ment consisted of a mayor and a city council. This form of government had never been successful in Galveston and, now in the hour of calamity, the people were unwilling to entrust to it the welfare of the city and the spending of the great sums neces- sary for protecting the city. They persuaded the legislature to allow them to establish a new form of government consisting of a board of five commis- sioners. All the power of the city was placed in the hands of these five men, and so well did they use it that they soon began to attract the attention of other cities. First Houston asked the legislature to give it the same form of government. Dallas followed, and then Fort "Worth, "Waco, Austin, and other Texas cities adopted the commission govern- ment. From Texas the new plan has spread to other states, and cities in every part of the country have followed Galveston's example. The commis- sion plan bids fair to become the American form of city government. Political parties in Texas. — It seems wise at this point to give some account of the political parties that are now playing a part in the public affairs of 266 A SCHOOL HISTOKY OF TEXAS Texas, or that have done so in the past. The two principal parties in Texas are the Democrats and the Eepublicans. The Democratic party and its work. — Since its return to power with the inauguration of Coke and Hubbard in 1874, the Democratic party has been in complete control of public affairs in Texas. This party, then, is the one that must be held responsible for the good and the bad in our laws, and for the administration and enforcement of these laws. On the whole, the state has been honestly and wisely governed. Public order has been maintained, and the state has enjoyed almost uninterrupted pros- perity. For this condition the Democrats are largely responsible. But it may well be doubted whether they have done all that might have been done for the growth of the state and for the upbuilding of our public schools and our higher institutions of learning. The Republican party. — In spite of its numerous defeats in state elections the Eepublican party has kept up its organization in this state and has always named candidates for governor and for most of the other state offices. Although these candidates for the higher offices are always defeated, the party usually elects a few members of the legislature. The vote polled by the party in Texas has varied greatly, but has seldom been less than fifty thousand and rarely more than one hundred thousand. In THE STATE SINCE EECONSTEUCTION 2&7 1910, however, the vote was only twenty-six thou- sand, or a little more than one-seventh of the vote cast for the Democratic candidate for governor. Other parties. — During the seventies an organiza- tion of farmers, known as the Patrons of Husbandry, spread all over the country, including Texas. The local lodges were called "granges," and the move- jaaent was frequently spoken of as the "granger movement." The members of the organization became interested in political questions and were mainly instrumental in organizing what was known as the "Greenback" party, so called because it favored a large use of paper money and opposed the retirement of the greenbacks by the Federal govern- ment. The party gained strength in Texas until 1882, when its candidate, Hon. George W. Jones, of Bastrop, polled a hundred and tWo thousand votes,, against a vote of one hundred and fifty thousand for John Ireland, the Democratic candidate. From that time on, however, the party declined, and most of its members became members of the Populist party, which was now coming into prominence. The Populist party was closely connected with the Farmers' Alliance, a new organization of farm- ers that gradually absorbed the strength of the Grange. This party believed in the use of paper money instead of gold and silver, and thought the United States government should own and manage the railroads. It reached its maximum strength in 268 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF TEXAS 1894 when its candidate, Judge Thomas L. Nugent, received a total of one hundred and fifty thousand votes, against two hundred thousand for Governor Culberson. In recent years the Farmers' Alliance and the Populist party have declined and are now almost unknown. Two other parties that have nominated candi- dates for office for several years are the Prohibition party, which believes in stopping the manufacture and sale of intoxicating liquors throughout the entire country, and the Socialist party, whose mem- bers believe that the government should own and carry on all productive industries, such as mines and factories. Neither party has polled a large vote in this state. The primary election law. — ^During the adminis- tration of Governor Lanham,^ in 1905, an important laAV was passed for controlling political parties and regulating elections. This was known as the Ter- ^ S. ^Y. T. Lanliaiii was the last gallant ex-confederate soldier to occupy the governor's chair in Texas. He was a South Carolinian by birth, 'but came to Texas in 1866 at the age of twenty, bringing with him his young wife, whom he had married upon his return from the war. He settled at "Weatherford, and after teaching school for a time, took up the practice of law. He was elected district attorney, and later served sixteen years in Congress. He was elected governor in 1903, and was re-elected in 1904. At the close of his term of office he retired to his home in Weatherf ord, where he died in 1908. t I ■^ - 1.IIHE STATE SINCE EECONSTEUCTIOM- 269 voii •p,]or>tir.y^ j,j^Y'^^ f^nrr. the fact tliat it was intro- duced into the House of Eepresentatives by Judge A. W. Terrell,^ a member of the legislature from Travis county. It has two main objects. In the first place, its aim is to prevent the buying and selling of votes; and in the second place, its purpose is to give all members of a party an equal voice in nomi- nating candidates for office. The first object is accom- plished by requiring all vot- ers to register and pay a poll tax before the first of Febru- ary of each year. Each voter must pay his own poll tax with his own money, and must show his receipt at the polls when he offers his vote. The second object is accomplished by providing for primary elections for the purpose of selecting .candidates for office, instead of leaving their selec- tion to state and county conventions as was formerly ^ No more interesting personage is to be found in Texas than Alexander "W. Terrell. He was born in Virginia in 1827. His parents came to Texas in 1832, three years before the outbreak of the Texan revolution. He received his education at the University of Missouri, and has a,lways been one of the strong- est supporters of the University of Texas. He held various GOVEKNOK S. W T. Lanham (1903-1907) 270 A. SCHOOL HISTOKY OF TEXAS the practice. As many men as care to may now become candidates for their party's nomination. A primary election is then held and only members of the party are allowed to vote. The man receiving the highest number of votes is declared the party's candidate. The men nominated in this way for the various offices are voted on by all the voters in a second or final election. The primary election is v ^eld jn ^Tnlv and the final election m November. The Democratic party is required by law to hold such a primary election. The smaller parties may do so if they choose, provided their vote for gov- ernor at the last preceding election was not less than ten thousand. While this law is far from being perfect, it has done much to purify elections and to give the ordinary voter a voice in the control of his party. The election of 1906.— The first use made of the new law was in the election for the year 1906. There were four candidates for the democratic nomination, Judge C. K. Bell, of Fort "Worth; Judge M. M. Brooks, of Dallas; Railroad Commissioner 0. B. Colquitt, and Thomas M. Campbell,^ of Palestine. offices in Texas, and when Cleveland became president for the second time, in 1893, he sent Judge Terrell to Constanti- nople as minister to Turkey. In every position, he has served his country with a true devotion to the public welfare. ^ Thomas Mitchell Campbell, the second native Texan to be elected governor, was horn at Eusk on April 22, 1856. He attended Trinity University for a time but was forced to stop THE STATE SINCE EECONSTEUCTION 37x The latter received a plurality of the votes and was declared the nominee by the state convention which met in Dallas. He was elected at the general elec- tion in November. The election of 1910.— Again in 1910, there were four candidates for the dem- ocratic nomination. They were Attorney General E. Y. Davidson, of Galveston; Hon. Cone Johnson, of Tyler ; Hon. William Poindexter, of Cleburne, and Eailroad Com- missioner O.B. Colquitt.^ Mr. Colquitt won the nomination by a large plurality, and was elected governor over his re- publican opponent by a ma- jority of one hundred and fifty thousand votes. school on account of financial difficulties at home. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1878. In 1891 he was appointed receiver for the International and Great Northern Eailroad, and was later made general manager of that road. He had never held a public office until he was elected governor in 1906. He was re-elected in 1908. Upon retiring from office in January, 1911, Governor Campbell removed with his family to his old home in Palestine, where he is now engaged in the practice of law. ^ Though Oscar Branch Colquitt comes of old Virginia stock, he was born in the town of Camilla, Georgia, in 1861. Governor T. M. Campbell. (1907-1911) 273 A SCHOOL HISTOET OF TEXAS The prohibition question. — At the present time the question most keenly agitating the public mind in Texas is whether or not the existing local option laws shall be maintained, or shall be replaced by laws forbidding entirely the manufacture and sale of in- toxicating liquors within the limits of the state. Those who favor the latter method of dealing with the liquor traffic are known as state- wide prohibitionists. Some of those who oppose state- wide prohibition are in favor of the present local option system, by which each county or precinct can settle the question for itself, while others are opposed to all prohibitory laws. Twice during the last quarter of a century the people of Texas have been called upon to vote on this question. First in 1887, when a prohibition amendment to the state constitution was defeated At the age of sixteen he came to Texas with his parents and settled at Daingerfield. Here for a time he attended the old Daingerfield College, paying his board by making fires, chop- ping wood and caring for the stock. After leaving school he worked for a time at the Daingerfield railway station, and then found employment in a furniture factory. Later he went into the printing business and published a newspaper in Kauf- GovEENOE O. B. Colquitt (19U- ) THE STATE SINCE EECONSTEUCTION 27B by a majority of nearly one hundred thousand votes; the second time in 1911, when, after a stirring cam- paign, the amendment was beaten by about six thousand votes. Summary. — Texas was re-admitted to the Union in 1870, and the democratic party was returned to power with the inauguration of Coke and Hubbard in 1874. In 1876 the last step in the reconstruction of the state government took place when the present constitution was adopted. The governors under the new constitution brought about public order by punishing land forgers and by suppressing fen,ce cutting and other forms of violence. Governor Eoberts's policy of strict economy soon brought the expenses of the government within its income, and the state debt has since been almost entirely paid. The old capitol burned in 1881 and the new one» built at a cost of three million acres of land, was dedicated in 1888. In 1896 the United States Supreme Court decided the Greer county question by holding that the disputed territory belonged to Oklahoma. On account of many abuses on the part of the companies a demand grew up for the regula- tion of the railroads, and in 1891 Governor Hogg secured the creation of the railroad commission, man county. In 1895 he was elected to the state senate and served four years. In 1902 he was elected to succeed Judge Eeagan on the Eailroad Commission. He was re-elected in 1908, but resigned in January, 1911, to become governor. 274 A SCHOOL HISTOET OF TEXAS with Senator Eeagan as the first chairman. In 1899, 1900, and 1902 the state suffered from the Brazos floods and the great storm at Galveston. The people of Galveston have rebuilt their city and protected it against future storms, and have given to the country the commission form of city government. The Terrell election law for the regulation of political parties and elections was first used in 1906. The prohibition amendment was defeated in 1887 and again in 1911. QUESTIONS 1. When was Texas readmitted to the Union ? 2. When did the democratic partj^ regain control oi the state government? Who was then elected governor? 3. When was the present constitution drawn up and ratified ? 4. What was the condition of the state's finances in 1876? 5. Tell of the offer of state bonds to certain railroads. How was this matter settled ? 6. What motto did Governor Eoberts adopt? 7. What changes were made during his term in the amount of the state debt and the tax rate ? 8. What brought about the fence cutting and how was it suppressed ? 9. When did the old capitol burn? How was the new one paid for ? Of what material was it built ? 10. What was the boundary between Texas and the Indian Territory' as fixed by the treaty of 1819 ? 11. How did the dispute arise over Greer county? How was it settled; THE STATE SINCE RECONSTRUCTION 375 12. Make a map showing the forks of the Eed Eiver and the location of the disputed territory. 13. Who was the father of the Eailroad Commission law? Tell what you know about him. 14. What were some of the complaints against the railroads at the time the commission was created ? Who were the first commissioners ? 15. Tell of the fight made on the commission by those who opposed the regulation of the railroads. 16. What efforts has Texas made to suppress the trusts ? 17. What were the causes of the war with Spain? What part did the people of Texas have in that war ? 18. Tell of the great overflows on the Brazos river. What means are now being used to guard against future overflows? 19. Give an. account of the Galveston storm. What three measures have been adopted by Galveston to prevent future disasters of a similar kind? 20. What new form of city government grew out of the Galveston disaster ? Describe it. Tell of its spread to other cities. 21. "V\Tiat form of government has your city or town? 22. Xame the leading political parties in Texas. "What parties that have been prominent have now passed away ? 23. What law has been passed for the purpose of con- trolling political parties? What two objects does this law seek to accomplish? How? 24. Give an account of the election of 1906 and 1910. 25. What were the results of the two prohibition elections that, have been held in Texas ? CHAPTER XI MATEEIAL DEVELOPMENT SINCE 1870 1. INCEEASE IN POPULATION AND WEALTH The object of this chapter. — In the preceding Chapter an account was given of the leading events in the history of Texas during the last forty years. In this Chapter we must learn something of the growth during the same period of the state's popu- lation and material interests, its wealth, its indus- tries, and its .commerce. Growth of population. — The population of the state in 1870 was eight hundred thousand. In 1910 it was slightly less than four millions, or nearly five times as great as it was forty years before. In 1870 there were eighteen states with a population greater than that of Texas; but in 1910 Texas stood fifth, fourteen states having been passed during the forty years. At the present time only New York, Penn- sylvania, Illinois, and Ohio have a larger population than has Texas, and there is a possibility that Texas may some day be the "empire state" of the Union. Character of the population. — ^In character the population of Texas is thoroughly cosmopolitan; that is, it is composed of many different kinds of 276 MATEEIAL DEVELOPMENT Z77 people. About four-fiftlis of the people are wMte, and most of these are made up of native Texans or immigrants from other states of the Union. There are, however, a good many foreign immigrants, and of these the Mexicans, scattered through the Eio Grande region from El Paso to San Antonio and Brownsville, are the most numerous. Less numer- ous, hut far more important than the Mexicans, are the Germans. These are found in many parts of the state. Still other foreign nations represented in our population are Bohemia, England, Austria, Ire- land, Italy, Sweden, and France, in about the order named. Growth of Texas cities. — Up to the present time Texas has not developed any large cities. As most of the people live on farms or depend on the soil for a living, the state is still classed as an agricul- tural commiuiity. But these conditions are rapidly changing. Several of the larger Texas cities are becoming important commercial and manufacturing centers, while smaller towns and cities are springing into existence on every side. Already thirty per cent of the people live in incorporated towns and cities, and the city population is increasing much more rapidly than the rural population. This drift to the cities is strikingly illustrated by the census returns for 1910. These figures show that during the last ten years our city population has increased at the rate of seventy-seven per cent, while the 278 -A- SCHOOL HISTORY OF TEXAS in,crease for the remainder of tlie state was less than fourteen per cent. Galveston and San Antonio.— The most striking illustration of the rapid growth of our city popula- tion is found when we look at a few of the largest cities. In 1870, Galveston, with a population of less than fourteen thousand, was the largest city in the state, and the chief commercial center. In spite of the awful calamity that almost blotted out the The Dallas — Oak Cliff Viaduct Ackoss the Trinity Rivbe Bottom (A part of the general plan for beautifying the city) city in 1900, its population in 1910 was nearly thirty-seven thousand. San Antonio was second in size in 1870, with a population of twelve thousand ; in 1910 it had ninety-six thousand, a gain of seven hundred per cent. It was in 1910 our largest city, though probably not the most important commercial center of the state. Houston and Dallas. — The honor of being the most important commercial city in Texas doubtless belongs either to Houston or to Dallas. Houston is the older town, and has extensive railway connec- MATERIAL DEVELOPMENT 379 tions, while Dallas has experienced the more rapid growth, and is the trading center for the most popu- lous section of the state. Houston was founded soon after the battle of San Jacinto. In 1870 its population was nine thousand. In 1910 the census gave it nearly seventy-nine thousand, without including Houston Heights, Harrisburg, and other populous suburbs. That was a gain of nearly eight hundred per cent. Dallas, on the other hand, was only a straggling village of five hundred inhabitants in 1870, with no railroad within a hundred miles of it. In 1910, with ninety-two thousand inhabitants, it was our second largest city, and was one of the most important railroad and manufacturing centers in the state. Fort Worth and El Paso.— Fort Worth and El Paso are two other cities that hardly existed before 1870. The former is now Houston's rival in popula- tion, as well as her chief rival for first honors as a railway center. Fort Worth's growth during the last ten years has been due in large part to the open- ing of the great meat-packeries established there in 1903. The city's population in 1900 was twenty- six thousand, while in 1910 it was seventy-three thousand, a gain of one hundred and seventy-five per cent. This decade was also the period of El Paso's most rapid development. Her population increased from less than sixteen thousand to more 280 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF TEXAS than tliirty-nine thousand, or a gain of one hundred and forty-seven per cent. Austin and Waco. — Austin and Waco are older than the three cities last mentioned. Their growth has been steady but not so remarkable. They each had a population of about four thousand in 1870, while in 1910 Austin had thirty thousand inhabi- tants and Waco twenty-six thousand. Civic improvement. — ^With the increase in wealth and population has come an increase in civic pride and an improvement in the appearance and character of the larger ,cities of the state. The streets have been better paved and better lighted, and water, sewer, and street railway conveniences have been extended and greatly improved. Parks have been laid out and beautified. Play grounds for the children have been established and supplied with swings and other apparatus for games and sports. New school buildings are gradually replacing the unsightly buildings of earlier times, and many towns and cities have good libraries which the people are each year putting to a larger use. With the increase in the value of city lots business men have found it profitable to build taller buildings, until now all the larger cities boast of their "sky- scrapers,'' some of which attain a height of more .than twenty stories. ^V^rowth of taxable wealth. — ^Along with the growth in the population of the state has gone an i ,7,7 ■.^-, ^*-- lei ~. ''V/ ,'/•'' >(-- Mabshall High School Building Fobt Wobth High School Buildino COEPUS Cheisti High School Building Waco High School Building Galveston High School Building 283 A SCHOOL HISTORY Or TEXAS even greater increase of wealtli. Thus, in 1870 tlie assessed wealth, of the state amounted to only one hundred and seventy million dollars. In 1890 it had increased to eight hundred and fifty million dollars, a gain of four hundred per cent in twenty years. In 1910 it was two billion four hundred million dollars, or almost three times the assessed values for 1890. Not only has the total wealth increased very greatly, but the average amount of property owned by each inhabitant is now three times as valuable as it was in 1875. Causes for the increase of wealth. — This large in,crease in the wealth of the state is not altogether due to the thrift and industry of the people. Some of the increase is more apparent than real, due to the fact that property is now taxed at more nearly its full value, than it was in earlier years. This change in the practice of taxation is due in large measure to the "full-rendition law," passed during Governor Campbell's administration. This law requires property owners to tell the tax assessor the real value of their property. Another cause of the large increase in assessed values is the rapid rise in the value of farming lands. The supply of good unim- proved lands is now nearly exhausted, and the demand for land is steadily increasing as the popu- lation grows. As a result of the increasing demand and the diminishing supply, land values have risen rapidly and are sure to go higher in the future. MATERIAL DEVELOPMENT 383 2. DEVELOPMENT OF AGEICULTUEE ^/Conditions favorable to agriculture. — For many years past farming lias been the leading industry of Texas, and it will doubtless continue to be so for a long time to come. This results naturally from the fine fertile lands of the state and the favorable seasons for growing and harvesting the crops. As the state is very large in area and possesses a very great variety of soils and climates, almost all kinds of crops can be successfully grown within its bor- ders. Thus wheat and other cereals do well in the northern part of the state and in the Panhandle, while rice and sugar cane and the semi-tropical fruits, such as figs and oranges, are grown in the Gulf coast region. Cotton does well in almost every section of the state, and deserves mention as the most important crop produced. Cotton culture. — In the early history of agricul- ture in Texas, cotton growing was confined mainly to the eastern and southern parts of the state and to the lands lying along the creeks and rivers. It was not then believed that the prairie lands were suited to raising cotton. During the seventies and early eighties, however, it was discovered that the prairie lands were well adapted to cotton growing, and as a result the black land country in the .central part of the state became the greatest cotton produc- ing region in the world, and Texas quickly took rank as the leading cotton state of the Union. Since 284 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF TEXAS that time the area devoted to cotton raising has steadily increased. In 1910 ten million acres of Texas lands were planted in cotton, and the yearly- yield is from three to four million hales. The average value of the cotton crop for a year, not including the cotton seed, is about one hundred and fifty million dollars. The boll weevil. — At one time the cotton industry in Texas was seriously threatened by the rav- ages of the boll weevil. This pest came into the state from Mexico about the year 1900 and has since spread, not only over the cotton lands of Texas, but over all the cotton region of the United States, as far east as Mississippi and Alabama. By the use of early maturing varieties of cotton and of better methods of cultiva- tion the farmers have learned to produce good crops in spite of the presence of the boll weevil, and, except in rainy seasons, the crop usually escapes with only slight injury from this source. The cotton seed. — ^An important addition to the value of the cotton crop was made some thirty years ago, when a method was discovered of extracting the oil from cotton seed. Prior to that time cotton A Boll Weevil (Greatly enlarged) MATERIAL DEVELOPMENT 285 seed were practically worthless, and in many cases the disposition of the decaying seed was an actual expense to the cotton ginners. Now, the seed are worth about twenty-five dollars a ton, and add about forty million dollars a year to the vstlue of tKe farmers' crop. The grain crop. — Although corn and the small grains have long been grown in the state in consid- erable quantities, Texas cannot be said to rank as a great grain-producing state. The acreage devoted to cotton culture in the state is equal to that devoted to all the cereals combined and the total value of the annual grain crop is less by fifty million dollars than the value of the cotton crop. Corn.— Of the grains grown in Texas, corn is by far the most important both in quantity and value. In fact, the corn crop is worth about four times as much as all the other cereal crops combined. It is worth something more than one hundred million dollars each year to the Texas farmer. "Wheat and oats are grown principally in the northern part of the state and the crops produced annually are valued at from ten to .twenty million dollars each. Rice - growing. — It is in the production of rice, however, that Texas has made the most remarkable advance during recent years. Twenty years ago there was practically no rice grown within the state. Now Texas produces nearly three times as much rice as all the other states of the Union combined, 286 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF TEXAS except Louisiana. The crop is grown on tlie level lands of the coastal plain, where water can be had for flooding the fields during the growing season. Great pumping plants have been built on the streams, and immense irrigation ditches, sometimes many miles in length, carry the water to the farms. Beaumont and Houston are the principal markets for the Texas rice grower. The forage crops. — Considerable progress has also been made in the production of hay and other forage crops. The growing of these crops has been made necessary by the dis- appearance of the open range and the introduction of the finer breeds of cattle. As a result, thousands of acres are now being sown to alfalfa and other hay crops, while in the western part of the state sorghum, milo maize, and kaffir corn are being extensively grown for stock feed. Fruit growing and market gardening. — Truck gardening and fruit growing is another industry that has made great progress in Texas in recent years. The mild winters and early springs in this state make it possible for the south Texas truck growers to reach the market ahead of the producers Rice Iekigation in South Texas MATERIAL DEVELOPMENT ^87 from • other sections of the country and to secure thereby the highest price the market affords. Some idea of the extent of the fruit and truck business may be gained from the f a,ct that in 1908 more than fourteen thousand car loads of fruits and vegetables were shipped from the gardens and orchards of Texas. Counting twenty cars to the train, that would make a total of seven hundred and twenty- five solid train-loads of fruit, or a single train jetween twenty and thirty miles in length. , Irrigation. — During the last twenty years Texas made rapid progress in the use of the waters of its streams and wells for purposes of irrigation. The use of irrigation was only just beginning in Texas twenty years ago, but statistics collected for the year 1909 show that about six hundred thousand acres were then being irrigated. Nearly half of this acreage is sown to rice in the southern part of the state, while the other half consists of arid lands in the west, principally along the Eio Grrande and the Pecos Elvers. The time is probably not far distant when all the regular flow of the Texas rivers will be utilized for irrigation purposes, and great reservoirs will doubtless be built to store the flood waters of the spring months for use during the dry season of the Texas siimmers. Better methods of agriculture. — ^Much is being done to spread among the farmers a knowledge of scientific agriculture and of the best methods of 288 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF TEXAS cultivating, harvesting, packing, and marketing their .crops. The state, through the board of direc- tors of the Agricultural and Mechanical College, maintains ten or a dozen experiment farms and spreads the knowledge thus gained among the farmers by means of lectures and printed bulletins. BOTS' COKN CLUEj Tyleh (United States Department of Agriculture) A similar work is being done in the state by the United States Department of Agriculture. Farmers' aid societies. — In addition to these official agencies there are a number of private organ- izations and societies that are doing much toward the improvement of farming methods. Thirty or forty years ago the Patrons of Husbandry, or ' ' The MATERIAL DEVELOPMENT 289 Grange," as it was usually called, had many local chapters and a large membership in Texas. It was followed during the eighties and nineties by the Farmers' Alliance. More recently the Farmers' Union has become a powerful factor in the agricul- tural affairs of the state. All Of these organiza- tions have had for their primary purpose the better- ment of the conditions of life of the farming .classes. Other organizations worthy of mention are the truck and fruit growers' associations, which assist the grower in packing and marketing his crop; the Farmers' Congress, a gathering of men interested in agriculture, which meets annually at the Agricul- tural and Mechanical College; and the boys' corn clubs, which have been formed in many parts of the state under the supervision of the Department of Agriculture to stimulate the interest of the farmer boys in the best methods of corn culture. 3. THE LIVE STOCK INDUSTRY The cattle industry. — Cattle raising was the first industry in Texas to gain commercial importance. The broad prairies furnished pasturage for vast herds of "long horn" cattle in the early days when wire fences were unknown and grass was free to all. Before the days of the railroad cattle could be made to transport themselves to market, and, as there was almost no accessible market for farm crops, cattle constituted the principal money-producing 390 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF TEXAS product of the state. New Orleans and Galveston were tlie markets for the cattle of the southeastern part of the state, but for the great prairie regions of the central and western portions of the state, the markets were in the North, and the cattle were driven overland in great herds, sometimes as many as five and ten thousand in a single herd. Eegular trails were established, the most famous being the old "Chisholm Trail" leading from Fort Worth through the Indian Territory into Kansas. This movement of Texas cattle "up the trail" began soon after the close of the Civil War and reached its height in the early seventies. At that time it is estimated that as many as a half million steers were driven north in a single season. With the opening of railroad .connection with the Northern markets this overland movement of cattle began to decline and had about disappeared by 1890. The railroads are now used instead of the slower but more pictur- esque cowboy and cattle trail. Breeding fine cattle. — As the population and the demand for land increased, the open range and the round-up began to give way to the wire fence and the inclosed pasture. The larger ranches, in turn, have been cut up in many parts of the state into small stock farms and cotton fields. This process of enclosing the ranges and subdividing the large ranches has benefited the cattle industry in two ways. In the first place, a larger number of cattle MATERIAL DEVELOPMENT 291 ,can be cared for on the same amount of land, where liay and other forage crops are raised for winter feed. In the second place, the stockmen are able to improve the breed of their cattle, a thing that was almost impossible as long as the cattle were allowed to run at large over the open range. Horses. — ^For a long time prior to the coming of the Anglo-American colonists, the prairies of Tesas Successors of the "Longhoen" were stocked with wild horses. These mustang ponies, as they were called, were small in body but were wonderfully tough and wiry, and were well suited to the uses of the cowboys. But with the development of the farming industry large draft animals were needed and there has come about a gradual change in the ,character of the horses pro- duced. The mustang pony, like the long-horn steer, is practically a thing of the past, though consider- 292 A SCHOOL HISTORY OP TEXAS able numbers of them are still bred and shipped to New York where they are prime favorites for use in playing polo. Texas is now third in the number and value of the horses produced, Illinois and Iowa ranking first and second. Mules. — ^For a long time Missouri was the leading state in the production of mules, but as far back as 1900 Missouri was forced to yield that distinction to Texas. But the average price of the Missouri mule is somewhat greater than the price of his Texas cousin. A few years ago mules were imported into Texas by the train load; now the local market is fully supplied with home-grown mules, and many are sold to other states, and even to foreign lands. Sheep. — The sheep industry in Texas reached its maximum development about 1890. At that time Texas was the leading wool-producing state in the Union. During the next ten years, however, there came a sharp decline in the number and value of the sheep owned by Texas stockmen. This decline was due, in part, to the cutting up of the sheep ranches into farms. Goats.^The goat industry, on the other hand, is rapidly increasing, and some stockmen expect to see it outrank the sheep business. The reason given by one writer is that the Angora goat "has found among the hills of Texas, which have heretofore been considered as waste lands, a natural home, food to his taste, and a climate adapted to his hap- MATERIAL DEVELOPMENT 293 piness. Tlie animal is hardy, can adapt himself to almost any condition, eats what other animals pass by, requires little care or attention, is easily handled, and is withal most profitable." San Angelo and San Antonio are the leading markets for wool and mohair. Hog raising. — Probably no domestic animal can be grown with less trouble and with more profit than the hog. This industry in Texas has grown very rapidly since the packing houses at Fort Worth have furnished a stable market for pork. The old "razor back," lean and athletic and voracious beyond belief, has, like the long-horn steer and the mustang pony, become a thing of the past, and in his place we have the Berkshire, Poland-China, and other well-known breeds. Only three states in the Union, all situated m the corn belt, surpass Texas as hog producing states. 4. DEVELOPMENT OF MEANS OF COMMXTNICATION Early means of transportation.-T-Prior to the rail- road era goods were transported to' and from market in ox- wagons, and "wagoning," or "freightmg," as it was called, was a regular occupation in which a large number of teamsters were engaged. The freight charges were about twenty times as great as they are on the railroads today. The principal mar- kets were Galveston and Jefferson, and from many parts of the state it took two or three months to 294 A SCHOOL HISTOET OF TEXAS make a trip to market and return. It was this lack of transportation facilities more than anything else that prevented the development of the central and northern parts of the state until the coming of the railroads at the close of reconstruction. The rail- road builder is the advance agent of civilization. Stage travel. — Travel in the early days was accom- plished either by private .conveyance or by means of stage coaches drawn by teams of four horses or mules. The stage-fare was ten cents a mile, or about four times the average rate now charged by the railways. There were many regular stage lines in the state, some of them two or three hundred miles in length, while still longer lines connected the Texas lines with Memphis and St. Louis. The long- est line, however, and one of the longest stage lines ever established, was the mail line from San Antonio to San Diegoi California. It took twenty-five days, traveling night and day, to make the trip, and the fare for the trip one way was two hundred dollars. Twenty years later the engineers of the Southern Pacific railroad mapped out the line for that road along the route followed by the old San Diego stage. A Stage Coach MATERIAL DEVELOPMENT 395 Beginning of railroad building. — As we liave seen in a former Chapter, railroad building in Texas began during the ten years between 1850 and 1860. There had been earlier attempts to build, but the necessary money could not be raised and they all ended in failure. Even in the fifties progress was very slow, because of financial difficulties, and only about five hundred miles of track had been com- plgted before the outbreak of the Civil "War. Nearly all of this mileage consisted of short lines centering in Houston and Galveston. Effect of the Civil War. — Not only was there no new railroad building during the Civil War and the early years of the re,construction period, but there was an actual decrease in the mileage operated, for one road was torn up by the military forces, and two more were abandoned for lack of patronage and for want of funds to keep the road-beds in repair. One line, the Texas and New Orleans, from Houston to Orange, was abandoned entirely and was not rebuilt until 1876, eleven years after the close of the war. Revival of railway building. — ^Active railroad building began again in 1868, and rapid progress was made during the next five years. Then came the great financial panic of 1873, and during the three or four years of hard times that followed very little building was done. But by 1880, the state had three thousand miles of railway in actual opera- 296 A SCHOOL HISTOEY OP TEXAS tioii. That amount was almost doubled during the next two years, and the present railway mileage of Texas is about fifteen thousand miles. This is a larger mileage than that of any other state in the Union, but on account of the great area of Texas, there are still many parts of the state that are sadly in need of railroads. Public aid to the railroads. — ^Before passing from the subject of railway building a word should be said of the aid given by the public to hasten rail- way construction. Besides the large, donations Early Passenger Train raised by private subscription, counties and cities sometimes voted to give their bonds to assist the companies in building their lines. Altogether, somewhat more than a million dollars of county and city bonds were so donated. Another method of aiding the railroads was by lending them money from the state school fund. Nearly two million dol- lars were loaned in this way prior to the Civil War. A part of these loans was afterwards lost, but most of them have been repaid with interest by the rail- roads. At one time the legislature passed a law MATERIAL DEVELOPMENT 297 granting state bonds to certain railroads, but, as already explained, the bonds were never issued, and lands -were granted instead. But by far the most important aid given to the railways was the public lands granted to them by the state. The railroad companies were allowed to survey thirty-two sec- tions of public land for every mile of track built by them. Every alternate section so surveyed became the property of the railway company, while the other sections were given to the public schools. This FoETi Yeaes Ago and To-day policy of granting lands to railways was discon- tinued in 1882. Altogether nearly thirty-six million acres of land were patented to the railroads, but large amounts of it were afterwards forfeited by them because of their failure to comply with the laws under which the grants were made. River improvement. — Not only was the state greatly interested in providing railway facilities in the early days, but by improving the rivers and harbors it also actively engaged in efforts to pro- mote water transportation. During the period of industrial development just before the Civil War 298 A SCHOOL HISTOET OF TEXAS the state spent about three hundred thousand dol- lars in clearing the rivers of snags and sand bars, and small steamers ascended the Sabine and the Trinity for long distances and carried to market a considerable portion of the cotton crop of the adjoin- ing counties. During the confusion of the war, how- ever, the .channels again became obstructed and navigation nearly ceased. The rapid building of railways after 1870 furnished other means of trans- portation, and the state did not again enter seriously upon the task of river improvement. In more recent years, however, the United States government has taken up the work, and is spending large sums on some of the Texas rivers. Harbor improvements. — ^In harbor improvement the Federal government has accomplished much for the ports along the Texas coast, including Sa- bine Pass, Port Arthur, Port Lavaca, and Corpus Christi. But the most notable suc,cess that has yet been attained is the improvement of the Galveston harbor. Here the government has spent some twelve million dollars in building the jetties and dredging the harbor. Galveston is now the second export city in the country, doing a larger export business than _^Boston, Philadelphia, and Baltimore combined. T!he Houston ship canal. — One of the important ertterprises undertaken by the United States govern- MATERIAL DEVELOPMENT 299 ment in Texas is the opening of a sMp canal extend- ing through Galveston Bay and np Buffalo Bayou, a distance of forty-six miles, to the city of Houston. Considerable sums of money have been spent on the canal and a depth of nine feet and more has been secured. The Harris County Navigation Dis- trict has voted a million and a, quarter dollars for continuing the work and Congress has given an Copyright by Tbe B. W. Irish. Photo Co. TuKNiNQ Basin, Houston Ship Canal equal amount. A large turning basin, a' quarter of a mile across, has been dug a few miles below Hous- ton, and at that point the city has built free docks and warehouses for the use of shippers. Houston is already a great railroad center, and if it can secure deep water so that great ocean-going vessels can come up to its wharves, it will become one of the greatest commercial cities in the country. The good roads movement. — Until recently very 300 A SCHOOL HISTOEY OF TEXAS little attention was given to the question of building permanent highways in the state, but at the present time there is not a state in the Union that is giving more thought or spending more money for good roads than Texas is doing. This movement was stimulated by a law which was passed in 1907 allowing counties and parts of coun- ties to organize themselves into road districts and to sell bonds for the pur- pose of building roads. Since that time a large number of road districts have been formed and several million HOW GOOD ROADS AHB madb <^o^^^^« of bonds (Near Abilene) i^avo bccu soM and the money put into good macadamized roads. 5. MINING AND MANUrACTUEING Minerals produced in Texas.— The most important mineral products of Texas are coal, iron, quicksilver, and crude oil and natural gas. The principal coal mines are at Thurber, Strawn, Eock Creek, and Bridgeport in the northwestern part of the state, and MATEEIAL DEVELOPMENT 301 the annual product is valued at about two million dollars. Lignite, which is an inferior kind of coal, is produced in large quantities near Eockdale and Milano and in many other parts of the state. For many years a small quantity of iron has been pro- duced near Jefferson, and a furnace has been run most of the time within the walls of the state peni- tentiary at Eusli. The industry has developed slowly on account of the difficulty of securing cheap coke for fuel and the limestone necessary in smelting the ore. Arrangements have recently been made for ship- ping the iron ores- from east Texas by way of Galveston to the great smelters in Pennsylvania. In Brew- ster county, in the mountainous country west of the Pecos Eiver, quicksilver mines have been worked since 1897, and are the second best producers in the United States. Since the discovery of oil at Beau- mont in 1901, Texas has been one of the leading oil producing states in the Union. Valuable fields of oil have since been discovered at Sour Lake, Bat- son, Saratoga, Humble, and other places in the coastal plane near Houston and Beaumont, and at Henrietta and Wichita Falls in the northwestern part of the state. Natural gas from the Henrietta An Oil Gusheb, Beaumont 302 A SCHOOL HISTOEY OF TEXAS oil field is being piped into Fort Worth, and Dallas, where it is used for fuel. Growth of manufacturing. — The manufacturing industries have developed slowly because of the lack of cheap fuel and of cheap, well-trained labor to handle the machinery. With the development of our coal and oil industries the fuel problem is being solved, and the gowth of the cities is furnishing an increasing supply of skilled labor. As a result there has been a rapid growth during the last few years in all lines of the manufacturing business. In 1909 the total capital invested in manufacturing enter- prises in Texas amounted to over two hundred and sixteen million dollars, and they gave employment to about eighty thousand persons. Dallas and Houston are the leading manufacturing cities. The most important products manufactured are flour and grist-mill products; cotton seed oil, meal, and hulls; produ,cts of lumber and planing mills; meat products from the packing houses; railroad cars; and the products of the printing and publishing houses. The lumber industry. — This is one industry that has reached its largest proportions and will grad- ually decline as the fine forests in the southeastern part of the state are felled and sawed into lumber. These forests of yellow pine are among the most valuable in the entire country, but at the present rate of cut it is estimated that all the old trees will MATERIAL DEVELOPMENT 303 he gone witliin the next twenty-five or thirty years. It is very important, therefore, that all the young trees should be protected from fire and from the woodman's ax until they reach maturi- ty, and steps should be taken to re-forest the areas from "which all the timber has already been cut. As a result of the growing scarcity of the timber sup- ply, the price of lumber has doubled within the last twenty years. Summary. — Dur- ing the forty years since Texas was re-admitted to the Union, its popula- tion has increased from eight hundred thousand to nearly four million. The state has moved up from the nineteenth to the fifth among the states of ther Union. The population is made up of people from every section of the United States and from many foreign coutries. Of these the Mexicans and Pine Fokest in East Texas 304 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF TEXAS Germans are most numerous. In recent years there has been a very rapid growth of the cities, and thirty persons out of every hundred now live in incorpo- rated cities and towns. San Antonio, Dallas, Hous- ton, and Fort Worth are the four leading cities, while El Paso, Galveston, Austin, and Waco have a popula- tion of more than twenty-five thousand each. With the growth of the cities has come an increase in civic pride, and many improvements have been made in the appearance and the comforts of the cities. Tax- able wealth has increased even faster than popula- tion, and in 1910 it was about fifteen times what it was in 1870. Farming is the leading industry of the state, while stock raising, manufacturing, and mining give employment to a large niTmber of people and contribute much to the wealth of the state. Texas is the leading state in the production of cotton, cattle, and mules. It ranks high in the production of fruits, rice, crude oil, and quicksilver, and in the number. and value of its horses, hogs, sheep, and goats. Texas also ranks first in railway mileage, a condition naturally resulting from the state's great area. The building of railways began before 1860, but it was stopped for nearly ten years by the Civil War. The period of most rapid build- ing was from 1879 to 1883. The railroad companies were aided by contributions from private persons, by gifts of city and county bonds, by loans from the state school funds, and by grants of public lands, MATERIAL DEVELOPMENT 305 usually at the rate of sixteen sections for every mile of track built. Although Texas is far behind as a manufacturing state, labor and fuel conditions have improved and rapid progress is now being made. In the eastern part of the state are very valuable forests of yellow pine, but they are rapidly being cut, and the price of lumber has steadily risen. The preservation of our timber supply is now a pressing problem. QUESTIONS 1. What was the population of Texas in 1870 ? In 1910 ? What was the state's rank in population at those dates ? 2. From which states and foreign countries has the popu- lation of Texas come? What per cent of the population is white? What are the most important foreign races repre- sented ? Where do they live ? 3. Are you a native of the state? From what state or foreign country did your family come ? See how many states are represented in your class. 4. What are the eight largest cities in Texas ? What was the population of each in 1870 and in 1910? 5. What is the population of your city or nearest town? When was it settled ? 6. Can you find out how large it was in 1870 ? In 1890 ? In 1900? 7. What are its leading industries ? 8. Which is growing the fastest, the population of the cities or of the country districts ? Can you think of any rea- sons for this? 9. What improvements are being made in the appearance of the cities and their public buildings ? 306 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF TEXAS 10. What was the assessed wealth of Texas in 1870? In 1890? In 1910? 11. What was the average wealth for each person at those dates ? 12. What are some of the reasons for the great increase in wealth ? 13. What is the state's leading industry ? 14. What are the most important crops in Texas ? 15. What is the extent and value of the cotton crop? What use is now made of cotton seed? How were they formerly disposed of? 16. Tell what you know of the corn crop. Of the wheat and oat crops. 17. How is rice grown, and in what part of the state ? 18. What advantage has the Texas fruit and truck' grower over those of other states ? 19. What fruits are grown for the market in your county ? When do they ripen and where are they shipped to ? 20. Why was cattle raising the earliest money-producing industry of Texas? 21. Where were the markets for Texas cattle in the early days ? How were they taken to market ? Where are the mar- kets now? And how are they shipped? 22. How does Texas rank as a horse breeding state ? As a mule state? 23. What do you know of the sheep and goat industries in Texas? Which of the live stock industries is carried on in your county? 24. How were goods transported in the early days in Texas? At what price? 25. Tell of stage travel in those days. When did rail- way building begin in Texas? 36. What was the effect of the Civil War on the rail- MATEEIAL DEVELOPMENT 307 way business? When did railway building begin again. after the Avar? 27. What were the different sorts of aid received by the railways to help them in building their lines? 28. TMiat has been done toward making the Texas rivers navigable. 29. Tell of the present good roads movement. What has your countj' done along this line? 30. What are the chief mineral products of Texas ? Wliere are the mines located? Do you know of any mines that are being operated in your part of the state? 31. What difficulties have been in the way of our manu- facturing enterprises ? 33. What are the principal products manufactured in the state ? What are the leading factory cities ? 33. Are there any factories in your town or county? 34. Tell what you know of the lumber industry of eastern Texas. CHAPTEE Xn EDUCATION AND PUBUC CHAIMTT The object of this chapter, — The object of this chapter is to give a brief account of what Texas has done and is doing to educate its children and to care for the helpless and unfortunate classes. The subject divides itself into four parts: (1) the public free school system; (2) the state's higher institu- tions of learning; (3) the private educational insti- tutions; and (4) the state's charitable and penal institutions. The need of public free schools. — It is a well- settled principle that the state should provide free schools for the education of all the children living within its borders. In a free country practically all men are voters, and they must have some educa- tion in order to know how to vote intelligently and to discharge their other duties as citizens. We cannot be sure that good men will be elected to office and that wise laws will be passed if the voters them- selves are either ignorant or corrupt. This was well understood by the fathers of Texas when they stated in their declaration of independence, as one 308 EDUCATION AND PUBLIC CHABITY 309 of the causes of the revolution, that Mexico had failed to establish a system of public education, and then added that "it is an axiom in political science that unless a people are educated and enlightened it is idle to expect the continuance of civil liberty or the capa,city for self-government." The same sentiment was well expressed by President Mira- beau B. Lamar when he said, "Cultivated mind is Class in Agkicultdke^ Bonham High School the guardian genius of democracy. It is the only dictator that freemen acknowledge and the only security that freemen desire." Early attempts to establish a public school system. — In the constitution drawn up in March, 1836, a month before the battle of San Jacinto, it was made the duty of the congress of the republic to provide by law for a system of public free schools. But the new government was so hard pressed for money and was so beset with dangers and difficul- 310 A SCHOOL HISTOEY OF TEXAS ties on every side that it was unable to give mucli attention to tlie subject of education. In 1839, how- ever, .congress, upon the advice of President Lamar, gave to each organized county, as an endowment for its free schools, three leagues of public land, and another league was added the next year, making a total of nearly eighteen thousand acres. But so great was the confusion of the time that little prog- ress was made until after Texas became a state of the Union. The constitution of the state, adopted in 1845, provided that the legislature should establish a system of free schools, but the sparseness of the population and the confusion caused by the Mexican War resulted in another long delay. Development of the school system. — Finally in 1854 Governor Elisha M. Pease persuaded the legis- lature to set aside for the schools two million dollars' worth of the United States bonds that Texas had received in partial payment for her claim to the eastern half of New Mexico. With the income from these bonds the state was able to begin a system of public schools, which made fair progress until inter- rupted by the Civil War. After the war was over another start was made, and by 1875 a hundred and twenty thousand pupils were enrolled in the public schools. Since that time the schools have made very substantial progress. In 1910 over eight hundred and twenty thousand children were enrolled in the EDUCATION AND PUBLIC CHAEITY 311 public schools of the state, and the financial condi- tion of the schools was greatly improved. The permanent school fund. — In one particular the school system of Texas surpasses that of any other state in the Union. Its permanent endow- ment in lands and bonds is probably the largest permanent school fund in the world.^ This fortunate condition resulted from the fact that when Texas entered the Union it was allowed to keep its public lands, instead of giving them to the United States government, and the state has given these lands in large quantities to the public schools. For example, when the state gave lands to railroad companies to encourage them to build their lines, it required them to survey two sections of land for every sec- tion that they were to receive. One of these was given to the railroads and the other was given to the public schools. Finally, by the constitution of 1876, one-half of all the public land remaining was given to the schools, and other lands were added by the legislature a little later on. Much of these lands haA^e been sold and the money has been invested in interest bearing bonds which are held by the state treasurer for the benefit of the schools. ^In 1910 the total value of the permanent school fund was estimated at the enormous sum of eighty-three million dollars. This total was made up of the following items : 313 A SCHOOL HISTOEY OF TEXAS The available school fund. — The available school fluid is the fund that is iised each year for the sup- port of the schools. In 1910 it amounted to thirteen million dollars. About one-half of it comes from the state and the other half from the counties and the local school districts. The state's half is in part derived from the interest on the bonds and land notes belonging to the permanent school fund, and in part from certain taxes levied and collected un- der state law. These taxes are a poll-tax of one dol- lar paid by all men between twenty-one and sixty years of age, and a tax of twenty cents on each one hundred dollars' worth of property owned in the state. One-fourth of the money received from a state tax on certain occupations, for example, keep- Yalue of lands unsold $■ 4,000,000 Interest bearing land notes given by purchasers . . . 49,000,000 Interest bearing bonds in the state treasury 19,000,000 Lands and bonds held by counties 11,000,000 Total $83,000,000 The school lands are sold on long time payments and the purchaser pays interest on what he owes for the land at the rate of three per cent. The interest as paid becomes part of the available school fund and is used for the support of the schools, but the principal when paid is invested in inter- est bearing bonds and becomes a part of the permanent fund. The lands and bonds held by the counties were given to them by the state, beginning with the grant of four leagues to each county in 1839-1840. EDUCATION AND PUBLIC CHAEITT 3I3 ing a store, is also added to the state 's available school fund. A part of the other half of the avail- able fund comes from the lands and bonds held by the counties, but a far larger part of it comes from the taxes which the people in the local school dis^ tricts have voted upon themselves. )^ Defects of our school system. — ^We must not siip- ' pose that Texas has one of the best school systems in the United States. Because the permanent en- dowment of our schools is so large, and because our progress during the last forty years has been so great, many patriotic Texans have made the mis- take of thinking that this is the case. The truth is that our public school system is far behind that of the more progressive states. It ranks above that of only a few of the poorer and more backward states of the Union. The reason for this is that while the people of Texas have too often depended entirely on the permanent fund to maintain their schools, peo- ple in other states have not hesitated to tax them- selves heavily to improve their schools. In the amount of money spent on the schools, in the char- acter of the school buildings, in the length of the school term, in the salaries paid the teachers, and in the preparation and efficiency of the teachers, Texas stands far below the average of the other states of the Union. Then, too, there are many chil- dren who are not enrolled in the schools at all, and many more who attend so irregularly that they ob- 314 A SCHOOL HISTOEY OF TEXAS tain but little good from tte schools. In 1910 more tlian forty-two per cent of the children of Texas were out of school every day and were getting no benefit from the money that was being spent for them. This is a very serious defect of our school system, and should receive the earnest considera- tion of our law makers and our other public men. Recent progress in the public school system. — ^But in spite of these defects, there is no reason for the friends of education to be discouraged. There has never been a time in the history of the state when so many forces were at work for the improvement of our schools. The State Department of Education, directing and leading in educational progress, enjoys the cordial co-operation of the newspapers, the women's clubs, the farmers' organizations, the State Teachers' Association, and an organization of public spirited men known as the "Conference for Educa- tion in Texas," and is working hard to secure better buildings, better teachers, and longer terms for the public schools. As a result of this work a large num- ber of districts have voted bonds and special taxes and are making great improvements in their schools. Many good laws have already been secured. One of these permits the small rural districts to consolidate and erect good country schools for the farmer boys and girls. During 1911, two hundred such schools were organized and put into operation. The University of Texas. — A great university free to all the people of the state was one of the cherished dreams of the founders of the Texas Republic. JMU ili m .1 ■l « l ]lMl i l i l ll l > iWL.UWM^^ Consolidated Rural School (The dilapidated small houses have been replaced by the comfortable new building) §16 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF TEXAS In 1839, President Lamar urged congress to estab- lish, a "university for instruction in the highest branches of science," and that body set aside fifty leagues of land, amounting to two hundred and twenty thousand acres, for the purpose of estab- lishing two universities, one in the eastern and the other in the western part of the state. But no ac- Thb Univeesitt op Texas, Main Building tive steps were taken toward starting the university until 1858. In that year the idea of two universities was given up, and an act was passed confirming the grant of fifty leagues of land and adding a great deal more land to this endowment. It also provided for the appointment of a board of trustees and for the immediate establishment of the university. But before anything was done the Civil War came on and another twenty-five years passed before the EDUCATION AND PUBLIC CHARITY 317 dream of tke fathers was realized. Finally, in 1883, the doors of the main university at Austin were thrown open and during the first year two hundred and eighteen students were enrolled. The medical department at Galveston was established in 1891.^ Although a number of the other states of the Union have larger and richer universities than ours, the University of Texas is now coming to be recognized as one of the great state universities of the country, and it may some day rank with the best. The Agricultural and Mechanical College. — Dur- ing the Civil War the United States government offered a large grant of land to each state that would agree to establish and maintain a college for in- struction in agriculture and the mechanic arts. Most of the Northern states accepted the offer at once and established the new colleges as branches of their state universities or as separate schools. When Texas was readmitted to the Union after the War, the legislature in 1871 voted to accept the grant, and the state received one hundred and eighty thousand acres of land from the Federal government. The school was located on the main line of the Houston and Texas Central Eailroad, four miles south of Bryan. Here buildings were * The main university at Austin consists of four depart- ments or schools. They are the College of Arts, the Depart- ment of Law, the Department of Engineering, and the De- partment of Education for the training of teachers. 318 A SCHOOL HISTORY OP TEXAS erected and tlie first session began on October 4, 1876, with six students in attendance. It grew rap- idly, however, and was soon crowded with students. In 1911, it had an enrollment of eleven hundred. It gives courses in agriculture, horticulture, and the live stock industries, in addition to courses in what are known as the mechanic arts. These embrace Engineering Building, A. and M. College courses in civil, mechanical, electrical, and architec- tural engineering, and in the science and art of spinning and weaving. There are also a number of experiment farms managed under the direction of the college authorities. Farmers are informed by means of printed bulletins of the results of the ex- periments carried on on these farms. College of Industrial Arts. — This institution, lo- cated at Denton, was created by an act of the EDUCATION AND PUBLIC CHAEITY 319 Twentj'-seventli Legislature and opened its doors in September, 1903. The college offers four courses leading to graduation, — Literary Course, Household Arts Course, Fine and Industrial Arts Course, and Commercial Art Course. It also offers vocational or trade courses for young women who have limited College of Industrial Arts for Girls time and means. The primary purpose of the insti- tution is to train young women in the art and science of home-making. The college plant now consists of ten buildings located on a beautiful campus of seventy acres. In 1912 the college enrolled over four hundred students. ~--?- The State Normal Schools. — Texas has estab-/ lished four schools for the special purpose of pre- The Denton State Normal School The Sam Houston State Noemal The San Marcos Statb School Normal School The Canyon State Normal School EDUCATION AND PUBLIC CHAEITY 321 paring young men and women to teach in the public schools in the state. The oldest of these schools is the Sam Houston Normal Institute, which is located at Huntsville, in the southeastern portion of the state. It was established in 1879, and during its thirty-odd years of existence has sent out a large number of efficient teachers for the public schools. In 1911 it had an enrollment of about six hundred students. Next in point of age is the North Texas State Normal College at Denton. It opened its doors to students in September, 1901, and was crowded with students from the beginning. Its enrollment in 1911 was about seven hundred. Two years later the Southwest Texas State Normal School was opened. It is situated on a beautiful hill over- looking the town of San Marcos, and has made steady progress from the first. Its enrollment in 1911 was about six hundred. To meet the needs of the rapidly developing Panhandle section of the state, the fourth state normal school was opened at Canyon, in 1910. It is called the West Texas State Normal College, and during its first year it enrolled some two hundred and fifty students. In 1911 an important law was passed for the government of the state normal schools. It created a special board of five persons, with the state super- intendent of education as chairman, into whose hands the selection of teachers and the general control of the four normal schools was placed. This 322 A SCHOOL HISTOEY OF TEXAS board can give the normal schools much more time and attention than it was possible for the state board of education, — consisting of the governor, the secre- tary of state, and the comptroller, — to give, and it relieves those busy officials of a burden which they were glad to place in other hands. The Prairie View Normal and Industrial College. In this school the state furnishes to the negro race some of the advantages that the whites receive from the Agricultural and Mechanical College, the College of Industrial Arts, and the state normal schools. Some of the negro boys and girls who attend this school are given instruction in agriculture, .cooking, sewing, laundering, and other occupations, while others are prepared to teach in the negro schools of the state. The school was opened in 1879, and its management was entrusted to the board of di- rectors of the Agricultural and Mechanical College. Church schools and colleges. — ^Besides the schools which the state has established and maintained, many church schools and private institutions are doing excellent work in the cause of education in Texas. The oldest of the church schools is Baylor University, which is supported by the Baptist Church. It was founded at the old town of Inde- pendence during the stormy days of the republic. Later it was moved to Waco, where it has had a very successful career. In recent years new build- ings have been added, a large endowment fund has EDUCATION AND PUBLIC CHAEITY 323 been collected, and the enrollment in all depart- ments has increased to nearly fifteen hundred. Other Baptist schools are the Baylor Female College at Belton and Simmons College at Abilene. The Methodist Church has also been very active in establishing schools. Southwestern University was located at Georgetown in 1873 and has had a very useful career. In 1911 it had an enrollment of more than eleven hundred. Another important Methodist school is the Polytechnic College at Fort "Worth. In 1911, the several conferences of this church decided to establish a great university to be called the Southern Methodist University. A valuable tract of land has been secured near the city of Dallas, a large endowment fund is being raised, and the buildings are being erected in prepa- ration for an early opening of the school. The principal school of the Christian Church is the Texas Christian University at Fort Worth. It began its career in 1873 as the Add-Ean College at Thorp's Springs. Later the name was changed and the school was moved to Waco. After a disastrous fire that destroyed the main building in 1910, the school was moved to its present location. In 1911 it had nearly four hundred students. Among the other important church schools are Trinity University at Waxahachie and Austin Col- lege at Sherman, which are supported by the Presby- terian churches of Texas. The Episcopal Church 324 A SCHOOL HISTOEY OP TEXAS and the Catholic Chnrch have a number of schools in the state, of which St. Mary's College at Dallas, belonging to the former, and St. Edward's College at Austin, belonging to the latter, are probably the best known. The Rice Institute. — Another educational institu- tion that promises to do a valuable work for Texas is the Eice Institute at Houston. The establishment of this school was made possible by a large endow- ment from the estate of William Marsh Rice, who died in 1900. The value of the endowment is now estimated at ten million dollars. The school first opened its doors to students in September, 1912. The state's care of the unfortunate classes. — In addition to educating the normal youth of the state, Texas makes provision for its unfortunates, who are regarded as the wards of the state. First are the orphan children, for whom a home has been estab- lished at Corsicana. Second are the blind and the deaf and dumb. For these, three schools are sup- ported at Austin, one for the blind children, one for the deaf and dumb, and another for the negro deaf and dumb and blind. The third class are the insane. For them three asylums have been estab- lished, one at Austin, one at San Antonio, and an- other at Terrell. The state also maintains a colony at Abilene for the treatment of people suffering from epilepsy, and a state sanitarium for consumptives has just been located near San Angelo. EDUCATION AND PUBLIC CHARITY 335 Homes for Confederate Veterans and Widows of Confederate Soldiers.— The state of Texas, in re- membrance of the sacrifices made by the men and women who fouglit and suffered for the Southern cause during the Civil War, maintains at Austin a home for poor and disabled Confederate veterans, and another home for the wives and widows of Confederate veterans. The home for the veterans was originally established as a private enterprise by the John B. Hood Camp of Confederate Veterans, at Austin, but in 1891 it was turned over to the state, and since that time it has been managed as a state institution. The number of veterans in the home has grown from fifty-three at the time the state took charge of it to more than four hundred. The estab- lishment of the Confederate Woman's Home came as a result of several years of patient and persistent effort by the Texas Division of the United Daugh- ters of the Confederacy, who raised sufficient funds to start the home in 1908. In 1911 it was taken over by the state and has now been enlarged to care for about seventy-five women. Thus the men and women who dared and suffered for the cause they loved are protected from want and enabled to spend their declining years surrounded by the comforts supplied by a grateful people. How the state handles the criminal classes. — There is still another class of unfortunates that must be regarded as the wards of the state. They 326 A SCHOOL HISTOEY OF TEXAS are the criminal classes. For the protection of society and the reformation of the criminals, they are confined in the state prisons. There are two penitentiaries, one at Huntsville and one at Eusk, besides a number of farms owned by the state on which criminals are kept and worked. For the reformation of wayward boys under sixteen years of age, a reformatory or industrial school is maintained by the state at Gatesville. Boys over sixteen go to the penitentiaries along with the men. This is an evil that ought to be corrected, and many friends of prison reform believe that a reformatory for the training and reformation of young men should be established. In recent years there has been a gen- eral awakening on the subject of prison reform, and many improvements have been made. The most important of these is the abolition of what is called the lease, or contract system, by which the labor of the convicts was sold by the state to railroads and planters. The convicts hereafter are to be worked entirely within the prison walls, or on lands owned or leased by the state. Summary. — Attempts to establish a public school system were made during the period of the republic and the early state, but with little success. Two million dollars of United States bonds were set aside for the schools in 1854 and a start was made, but the Civil War put a stop to all progress. After the war a second start was made, and after the close EDUCATION AND PUBLIC CHARITY 327 of reconstruction rapid progress was made. Alto- gether about forty million acres were given to the public schools, and the funds derived from their sale now amount to more than eighty million dollars. The total available income is more than thirteen million dollars per year. While great progress has been made, Texas is far from having one of the best school systems in the country. The University of Texas, a dream of the fathers of Texas, was put in operation in 1883. It now has more than two thousand regular students. The Agricultural and Mechanical College was begun in 1876, and the; College of Industrial Arts in 1903. The state main- tains four normals for training white teachers and one for negroes. There are many church schools in the state, of which Baylor and Southwestern Uni- versities are the most prominent. The state has established schools and asylums for the unfortunate classes, and prisons for the criminals, and a re- formatory for wayward boys. -^ QUESTIONS 1. Why should the state support a system of public free schools ? 2. What did the Texans say about education m the declaration of independence? 3. What law in regard to schools was passed in Presi- dent Lamar's administration? 4. What was done toward establishing a system of free schools in 1854? 5. What land grant was made to the schools in the con- stitution of 1876? 328 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF TEXAS 6. What are some of the principal defects of our school Eiystem ? How may they be remedied ? 7. What are some of the good school laws recently passed ? 8. Give a brief history of the University of Texas. 9. What subjects are taught in the Agricultural and Mechanical College? 10. When was the College of Industrial Arts established? 11. Where are the four state. normal schools located? 13. Tell what you know of the church schools. 13. For what unfortunate classes does the state provide? What provision does it make? Where are these state insti- tutions located? 14. How does the state deal with the criminal classes? APPENDIX I THE UNANIMOUS DECLARATION OP INDEPENDENCE MADE BY THE DELEGATES OP THE PEOPLE OP TEXAS IN GENERAL CONVENTION AT THE TOWN OP WASHINGTON ON THE 2nd DAT OF MAECH 1836 When a government has ceased to protect the lives, liberty and property of the people, from whom its legitimate powers are derived, and for the advancement of whose happiness it was instituted, and, so far from being a guarantee for the en- joyment of those inestimable and inalienable rights, becomes an instrument in the hands of evil rulers for their oppression : When the Federal Republican Constitution of their country, which they have sworn to support, no longer has a substantial existence, and the whole nature of their government has been forcibly changed, without their consaat, from a restricted federative republic, composed of sovereign states, to a con- solidated, central, military despotism in which every interest is disregarded but that of the army and the priesthood — both the eternal enemies of civil liberty, the ever-ready minions of power, and the usual instruments of tyrants : When, long after the spirit of the constitution has departed, moderation is, at length, so far lost by those in power that 329 330 A SCHOOL HISTOEY OF TEXAS even the semblance of freedom is removed, and the forms, themselves, of the constitution discontinued ; and so far from their petitions and remonstrances being regarded the agents ■who bear them are thrown into dungeons; and mercenary- armies sent forth to force a new government upon them at the point of the bayonet : When in consequence of such acts of malfeasance and abdication, on the part of the government, anarchy prevails, and civil society is dissolved into its original elements — In such a crisis, the first law of nature, the right of self-preservation — ^the inherent and inalienable right of the people to appeal to first principles and take their political affairs into their own hands in extreme cases — enjoins it as a right towards themselves and a sacred obligation to their posterity to abolish such government and create another, in its stead, calculated to rescue them from impending dangers, and to secure their future welfare and happiness. Nations, as well as individuals, are amenable for their acts to the public opinion of mankind. A statement of a part of our grievances is, therefore, submitted to an impartial world, in justification of the hazardous but unavoidable step now taken of severing our political connection with the Mexican people, and assuming an independent attitude among the nations of the earth. The Mexican government, by its colonization laws, invited and induced the Anglo-American population of Texas to colonize its wilderness under the pledged faith of a written constitution that they should continue to enjoy that constitu- tional liberty and republican government to which they had been habituated in the land of their birth, the United States of America. In this expectation they have been cruelly dis- appointed, inasmuch as the Mexican nation has acquiesced in the late changes made in the government by General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, who, having overturned the constitu- tion of his country, now ofEers us the cruel alternative either THE DECLAEATION OF INDEPENDENCE 331 to abandon our homes, acquired by so many privations, or submit to the most intolerable of all tyranny, the combined despotism of the sword and the priesthood. It has sacrificed our welfare to the state of Coahuila, by which our interests have been continually depressed through a jealous and partial course of legislation carried on at a far distant seat of government, by a hostile majority, in an un- known tongue; and this too, notwithstanding we have peti- tioned in the humblest terms, for the establishment of a separate state government, and have, in accordance with the provisions of the national constitution, presented to the gen- eral Congress a republican constitution which was, without just cause contemptuously rejected. It incarcerated in a dungeon, for a long time, one of our citizens, for no other cause but a zealous endeavor to procure the acceptance of our constitution and the establishment of a state government. It has failed and refused to secure on a firm basis, the right of trial by jury, that palladium of civil liberty, and only safe guarantee for the life, liberty, and property of the citizen. It has failed to establish any public system of education, although possessed of almost boundless resources (the public domain) and, although it is an axiom, in political science, that unless a people are educated and enlightened it is idle , to- expect the continuance of civil liberty, or the capacity for self-government. It has suifered the military commandants stationed among us to exercise arbitrary acts of oppression and tyranny ; thus trampling upon the most sacred rights of the citizen and rendering the military superior to the civil power. It has dissolved by force of arms, the State Congress of Coahuila and Texas, and obliged our representatives to fly for their lives from the seat of government ; thus depriving us of the fundamental political right of representation. 332 A SCHOOL HISTOET OF TEXAS It has demanded the surrender of a number of our citizens, and ordered military detachments to seize and carry them into the interior for trial; in contempt of the civil authorities, and in defiance of the laws and the constitution. It has made piratical attacks upon our commerce, by com- missioning foreign desperadoes, and authorizing them to seize our vessels, and convey the property of our citizens to far distant ports for confiscation. It denies us the right of worshipping the Almighty accord- ing to the dictates of our own conscience ; by the support of a national religion calculated to promote the temporal interests of itp human functionaries rather than the glory of the true and living God. It has demanded us to deliver up our arms, which are essen- tial to our defense, the rightful property of freemen, and formidable only to tyrannical governments. It has invaded our country, both by sea and by land, with intent to lay waste our territory and drive us from our homes ; and has now a large mercenary army advancing to carry on against us a war of extermination. It has, through its emisaries, incited the merciless savage, with the tomahawk and scalping knife, to massacre the in- habitants of our defenseless frontiers. It hath been, diTring the whole time of our connection with it, the contemptible sport and victim of successive military revolutions; and hath continually exhibited every character- istic of a weak, corrupt, and tyrannical government. • These, and other grievances, were patiently borne by the people of Texas until they reached that point at which for- bearance ceases to be a virtue. We then took up arms in defence of the national constitution. We appealed to our Mexican brethren for assistance. Our appeal has been made in vain. Though months have elapsed, no sympathetic re- sponse has yet been heard from the Interior. We are, there- THE DECLAEATION OP INDEPENDENCE 333 fore, forced to the melancholy conclusion that the Mexican people have acquiesced in the destruction of their liberty, and the substitution therefor of a military government — that they are unfit to be free and incapable of self-government. The necessity of self-preservation, therefore, now decrees our eternal political separation. We, therefore, the delegates, with plenary powers, of the people of Texas, in solemn convention assembled, appealing to a candid world for the necessities of our condition, do hereby resolve and declare that our political connection with the Mexican nation has forever ended ; and that the people of Texas do now constitute a free sovereign and independent' republic, and are fully invested with all the rights and attri- butes which properly belong to independent nations; and, conscious of the rectitude of our intentions, we fearlessly and confidently commit the issue to the decision of the Supreme Arbiter of the destinies of nations. APPENDIX II SUGGESTIONri TO TEACHEES CHAPTER I See that the class has a definite idea of the geography of Spain, France, and England. Describe the condition of geo- graphical knowledge in Europe before Columbus discovered America. In discussing Spain's right to America explain the international agreement that allows a tentative title to the nation that makes a discovery. Show how this title is for- feited through failure to follow discovery by colonization and use of the new land. By reference to the map point .out the naturalness of Spain's exploration of Mexico from the West Indies, and of Texas from Mexico. In discussing La Salle's exploration of the Mississippi explain how Spain's right to this region had lapsed through disuse, thus enabling France to claim it. See that the class understands the significance of the map on page 9. Point out on the map the distant position of the English, but emphasize the necessity of keep- ing them in mind as the people who are finally to hold Texas. ADDITIONAL BEADING Cabeza de Vaca: Bancroft, North Mexican States and Texas, I, 61-70; Garrison, Texas, 16-18 (Houghton, Mifain, and Company, Boston) ; The Journey of Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca, translated by Fanny Bandelier (Barnes & Company, New York). This is Cabeza de Vaca's own narrative. La Salle: Bancroft, I, 391-399; Garrison, 20-25; Parkman, 334 SUGGESTIONS TO TEACHERS 335 La Salle and the Discovery of the Great West, Chapters XXIII-XXVIII (Little, Brown & Company, Boston) ; Win- sor, Cartier to Frontenac (Houghton, Mifflin & Company, Boston), Chapter XIV; Yoakum, History of Texas, I, Chap- ters I-III. CHAPTER n By reference to the map (p. 13) illustrate the king's motive in desiring a settlement on Matagorda Bay. Explain tlae strong missionary motives of the early explorers of America. By showing how the principle that "possession is nine points in law" applicb to the colonization of a new country, explain the alarm of the Spanish when they learned that the Trench intended to settle on the Gulf coast. See that the class knows the location of the Tejas Indians and understands the im- portance of the Spanish settlement there as an outpost against French expansion from Louisiana. ADDITIONAL BEADING Bancroft, North Mexican States and Texas, I, 399-406; Bolton, "Notes on Clark's, The Beginnings of Texas," in The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, XII, 148-158; Clark, The Beginnings of Texas, 168^-1718 (Bulle- tin of the University of Texas, No. 98), pp. 1-42; Garrison, Texas, .26-33; Father Massanet's Letter, translated by Pro- fessor Lilia M. Casis, in The Quarterly, II, 281-312; Yoakum, History of Texas, I, 44-46. CHAPTER III By a study of the map illustrate the danger to Spain of the French settlement of Louisiana. Compare the causes of the /second settlement of East Texas with those of the first, show- ing how fear of the French was the chief influence in both cases. Do not, however, neglect the missionary motive. See 336 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF TEXAS that the class has a clear idea of the general location of the missions near Nacogdoches and San Augustine. Emphasize their importance as signboards of the Spanish occupancy of Tezas. Emphasize the importance of the family in the mak- ing of a permanent settlement. Without reference to the map upon which it is shown, have the class draw the Old San Antonio Eoad. This can be done with sufficient accuracy as follows : Draw a line straight west from Nacogdoches to the Neches Eiver, thence southwest to Crockett, thence to Bas- trop, thence to San Antonio, and thence to a point about eight miles southeast of Eagle Pass. Dwell somewhat v.pon the im- portance of San Antonio as a halfway station between Mexico and the East Texas settlements, and particularly emphasize its importance as a permanent center from which other settle- ments were sent out. Dwell on the three-fold character of a SpanisTi settlement, and bring out the work of the missionaries. To convey a fair impression of the missionary work, it is well to emphasize the peculiarly untractable nature of the Indian, which has enabled him to withstand to a great degree the civilizing in- fluences of every nation that has come into contact with him. An instructive comparison may be made of the results of the friars' labors with those of modern foreign missionaries. By reference to the map which shows the advance of the Spanish frontier to the Mississippi, explain why the East Texas garrisons were no longer needed in 1763. Point out the importance of Nacogdoches as an outpost against the Amer- icans after Spain lost Louisiana. ADDITIONAL BEADING Saint-Denis and the Spanish Ee-occupation of East Texas: Bancroft, North Mexican States and Texas, I, 609-14 ; Bugbee, "The Eeal Saint-Denis," in The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, I, 266-81; Clark, The Beginnings of SUGGESTIONS TO TEACHEES 337 Texas, 1684-1718, pp. 43-69 ; Garrison, Texas, 34-49 ; Yoakum, History of Texas, 1, 46-52. The Early History of San Antonio : Austin, "The Munici- pal Government of San Fernando de Bexar, 1730-1800," in The Quarterhj, VIII, 377-338; Clark, 69-88; Cox, "The Founding of the First Texas Municipality," in The Quarterly, II, 317-36, "The Early Settlers of San Fernando," V, 143-60, "Educational Efforts in San Fernando de Bexar," VI, 1-36 ; Garrison, 67-74. Mission Life: Bolton and Barker, With the Makers of Texas, 61-66; Garrison,, 53-66; Yoakum, I, chapter V. Eelations between the Spanish and the French : Bancroft, I, 615-20; Garrison, 75-84; Yoakum, I, chapters VI-IX, passim. The Beginnings of Nacogdoches: Bolton, "The Spanish Abandonment and Ee-occupation of East Texas, 1773-1779," in The Quarterly, IX, 67-137. CHAPTER IV Review page 10 and follow the expansion of the English, pointing out the significance of the map in 1763, when the English and the Spanish met on the Mississippi, far from Texas, and in 1803, when the boundary between them was moved westward to the frontier of Texas. Explain the bound- ary dispute that grew out of the Louisiana purchase, noting the compromise settlement of 1806 which created the Neutral Ground, and the permanent settlement of 1819. Dwell upon the importance of the successive invasions as a means of mak- ing Americans acquainted with Texas. Show how the rela- tions between the Americans and their Mexican allies in the Gutierrez-Magee expedition tended to create mutual dislike and distrust. Compare Spain's exclusion of foreigners from Texas with the present exclusion of the Chinese from the United States. 338 -^ SCHOOL HISTORY OF TEXAS ADDITIONAL READING Nolan's Expedition : Bancroft, North Mexican States and Texas, II, 5-9 ; Brown, History of Texas, I, 35-49 ; Cox, "The Louisiana-Texas Frontier," in The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, X, 50-62; Garrison, Texas, 110- 16; Yoakum, History of Texas, I, 111-16, 156-61. The Gutierrez and Magee Expedition: Bancroft, II, 19- 33; Garrison, 116-31; McCaleb, "The First Period of Gutier- rez-Magee Expedition," in The Quarterly, IV, 318-29 ; Yoak- um, I, 143-56, 163-76. Long's Expedition : Bancroft, II, 47-53 ; Foote, Texas and the Texans, I, 198-316; Garrison, 121-243; Yoakum, I, 198- 202. Conditions on Galveston Island, 1816-21: Bancroft, II, 33-47; Garrison, 125-36; Yoakum, I, 193-209. The Neutral Ground: Bancroft, II, 9-16; Garrison, 128- 31; Yoakum, I, 131-34. CHAPTER V Compare the Mexican revolt from Spain with the American revolution, and emphasize the difEerence in their previous political training which enabled the Americans to inaugurate a successful independent government while the Mexicans were unprepared for self-government. Show how their lack of ex- perience made the government of the Mexicans unstable and inefficient, and exposed them to the scheming of politicians. Call attention to the fact that this same instability and in- efficiency gave the American colonists in Texas a contemptuous opinion of the government, and paved the way for the" Texas revolution. See that the class understands clearly the general outline of the government of Texas under Mexican rule — governor, legislature, political chiefs, alcaldes, and town coun- cils — ^but bring cut the point that in most matters each locality really governed itself. Present the American colonization of SUGGESTIONS TO TEACHEES 339 Texas as merely a step in the general movement of westward expansion of the United States, connecting it with the spread from the Appalachian mountains to the Mississippi, and with the purchase of Louisiana. Many Americans had become familiar with Texas through the filibustering expeditions, and it is doubtful whether Mexico could much longer have pre- vented their occupation of the country if it had tried. Call attention to the excellent judgment with which Austin selected the location for his colony. It was to be an agricultural set- tlement, and he chose unerringly one of the richest regions in the province. Emphasize the rapid development of Texas between 1824 and 1834, and contrast this decade with the three barren centuries of Spanish rule. Emphasize the close connection between the colonists and the United States, and the comparative absence of any ties between them and Mexico. This has an important bearing on the development of the Texas revolution. ADDITIONAL EEADING The War of Mexican Independence: Garrison, Texas, 97- 109 ; ISToll, From Empire to Republic, 1-109. (McClurg and Company, Chicago.) Yoakum, History of Texas, I, 204-9. Austin's Colony: Bancroft, North Mexican States and Texas, IT, 54-73 ; Garrison, 137-52 ; Yoakum, I, 209-29. Other Colonies : Bather, "De Witt's Colony" in The Quar- terly of the Texas State Historical Association, VIII, 95-192. Social and Economic Conditions in the Colonies: The references given above for young readers (p. 82) ; and The Quarterly, I, 297-302; II, 170-173, 227-232; IV, 85-119; V, 12-18; VI, 236-253. CHAPTER VI In order to give the class a somewhat personal appreciation of how race prejudice underlay and exaggerated the caiises of the revolution, remind them of their own feeling toward 340 A SCHOOL HISTOET OF TEXAS foreigners and let them see that between the colonists and the Mexicans this feeling was mutual. Explain further how the aggressiveness of the American pioneers and the rapid expan- sion of the United States naturally caused Mexico to suspect that the United States would seize Texas at the first oppor- tunity. This suspicion was powerfully strengthened by the fact that the United States had been trying ever since 1825 to purchase all or a part of the province. With this racial distrust as a background, and the added uneasiness of Mexico regarding the intentions of the United States, it is easy to understand how the events of 1825-35 were misunderstood. In justice to the Mexicans, remember that some of their short- comings were due to this consuming uneasiness, and some to their lack of experience in administering a republican gov- ernment. It was not their deliberate intention to oppress the colonists. Guard the class against the impression that the revolution, was a spontaneous and unanimous outburst of indignation on the part of the colonists. Until the war was actually precipi- tated by the battle of Gonzales the colonists were sharply divided on the questions of what they should do, and probably a majority of them were in favor of peace. Emphasize the fact that during the first period of the revolution the colo- nists were not fighting for independence but to preserve the republican constitution of 1824. There were two reasons for this: In the first place, the majority of the colonists either did not care to be independent of Mexico or thought it unwise to declare independence at that time ; and, in the second place, they believed that by fighting for the republican constitution they could get assistance from the Liberal party in Mexico. They failed to get this help, however, and as the war con- tinued there was nothing to do but declare independence. Cora- pare in a general way the Texan constitution of 1836 with the constitution of the United States : for example, the executive. SUGGESTIONS TO TEACHERS 341 legislative and judicial arrangements, and the provision con- cerning the African slave trade. Show the disastrous effects of the quarrel between Governor Smith and the council in paralyzing the action of the government and in discouraging the people. The lack of unity and co-operation among the various Texan forces in 1836 was chiefly due to the quarrel. It left Texas without any directing head, so that every man was, to a certain extent, thrown upon his own resources and judgment. From a study of the text, have the class trace on a map the route of General Houston and Santa Anna to San Jacinto. ADDITIONAL BEADING The Causes of the Eevolution : Bancroft, North Mexican States and Texas, II, 98-152; Garrison, Texas, 161-88; Yoakum, History of Texas, I, 274-379; The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, VI, 265-99 (Eowe, "The Disturbances at Anahuac in 1832"), VII, 1-28 (Turner, "The Mejia Expedition"). The Organization of the Eevolution : Bancroft, II, 152-65 ; Garrison, 189-91. The Battle of Gonzales: Bancroft, II, 165-68; Garrison, 191; Yoakum, I, 361-65; The Quarterly, VIII, 146, 149-58 (Eather, "De Witt's Colony"). The Capture of San Antonio by the Texans in 1835 : Ban-' croft, II, 175-89; Garrison, 192-94; Yoakum, II, 1-32; The Quarterly, XI, 1-55 ("General Austin's Order Book of the Campaign of 1835"). The Quarrel between Governor Smith and the Council: Bancroft, II, 192-95 ; Garrison, 194,204 ; The Quarterly, V, 269-345 (Smith, "The Quarrel between Governor Smith and the Council," etc.). The Alamo: Bancroft, II, 201-15; Brown, History of 342 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF TEXA.S Texas, I, 532-40, 550-51, 565-86 ; Garrison, 204-9 ; Kennedy, Texas, II, 181-93 ; Yoakum, II, 75-82. The Goliad Massacre: Bancroft, II, 219-37; Garrison, ^05-6; Kennedy, 199-216; Wooten (editor), A Comprehensive History of Texas, 1, 608-36. (This is Dr. Bernard's Journal, one of the most important sources on Fannin and the Goliad massacre) ; Yoakum, II, 83-101; The Quarterly, IX, 157-209 (Eoller, "Captain John Sowers Brooks." This is a collection of letters written by one of Fannin's men during January, February, and March of 1836.) The "Eunaway Scrape" : The Quarterly, IV, 162-69. The San Jacinto Campaign : • Bancroft, II, 238-78 ; Garri- son, 219-27; Yoakum, II, 102-176; The Quarterly, IV, 237- 345. (Barker, "The San Jacinto Campaign.") CHAPTEE VII See that the class understands the more striking differences between Texas as an independent nation and as a state of the American Union. As a state it has no army or navy to main- tain ; it has no custom officers, and no duties to collect ; it has no ministers at foreign courts, makes no treaties, and has no foreign relations. As an independent nation it had to have all of these. Independence greatly increased the responsibilities of Texas, and made its position more difficult in some respects than it had been while subject to Mexico. The people realized this, and it was partly this which caused them to vote for an- nexation to the United States. Illustrate the disorder of the time by the refusal of the vol- unteers to allow Santa Anna to return to Mexico, and by their refusal to accept General Lamar for their commander. In connection with Santa Anna's detention, point out that nations cannot afford to be influenced by personal emotions of revenge and spite. They must act for the good of all the people, and, above all, to hold the respect of other nations, they must keep SUGGESTIONS TO TEACHEES 343 their treaties. Santa Anna might not have aided Texas, if he had been allowed to return, but the government thought the experiment worth trying. Dwell somewhat upon the refusal of the people to allow congress to amend the constitution, and upon the provision in the constitution that no president should serve two terms in succession. These are partly to be explained by the demo- cratic character of the people and partly by their experience with the Mexican government. The object was to prevent anyone from getting permanent control of the country. Emphasize the importance of establishing order and of securing immigration as a means of making Texas strong and enabling it to win a respectable place among nations. Point out the means adopted to stimulate immigration, and show how social and economic conditions in Europe and the United States were favorable to Texan immigration. In this con- nection point out that much of the trouble with the Indians ■was due to the rapid settlement of the country, and to the consequent pushing back of the frontier. There is a somewhat natural temptation to think too harshly of Mexico's refusal to recognize the independence of Texas. Eemind the class that the Mexicans honestly believed that they had been badly treated by the Texans. Many believed that the Americans had come to Texas for the express pur- pose of seizing Texas. The Mexican government realized clearly enough at last that it would be impossible to reconquer the country, but the Mexican people did not realize it, and ■would have overthrown any government that recognized Texas. Explain England's interest in Mexico, and show how this at first affected its attitude toward Texas. When England became convinced that Mexico could never reconquer Texas, it shifted its policy in the hope of winning compensating advantages in Texas for those, that it might lose in Mexico. 344 A SCHOOL HISTOEY OF TEXAS Show how England's manifestation of interest in Texas stimulated the United States to annex it. Dwell upon the advantages of annexation both to the United States and to Texas. Emphasize Mexico's threat of war if the United States annexed Texas. . This is important in connection with the Mexican War. ADDITIONAL EEAIDING Santa Anna's imprisonment: Bancroft, 11, 268-277; Brown, II, 73-84, 119-122; Yoakum, II, 171-175, 179, 233- 235. The army of the Republic : Bancroft, II, 289-290 ; Brown, II, 86-89, 133-135; Garrison, 331-232; Yoakum, 183-188, 206- 207, 209. The Eepublic of the Eio Grande : Bancroft, II, 326-333 ; Brown, II, 172-175; Yoakum, II, 274-280, 288-298. The Santa Ee expedition: Bancroft, II, 333-337; Brown, II, 189-197, 220-221; Garrison, 344-346 ; Kendall, George W., Narrative of the Texas Santa Fe Expedition (2 volumes, Few York, 1844) ; Yoakum, II, 321-333, 330, 343-344. The Mexican invasions of 1843: Bancroft, II, 347-354, 357,360; Brown, II, 211-232; Garrison, 346-349; Yoakum, II, 348-368. The Mier expedition: Bancroft, II, 360-370; Brown, II, 233-353; Garrison, 248-351; Green, T. J., Journal of the Texian Expedition Against Mier. (New York, 1845). The Navy: Bancroft, II, 271-372, 283-384, 350-353; Brown, II, 85-86, 136-128, 198-300; Dienst, Alex., "The Navy of the Eepublic of Texas," in The Quarterly of the Tex is State Historical Association, XII, 165-203, 249-375, XIII, 1-44, 85-137; Garrison, 230-231; Yoakum, II, 134, 312-213, 216-218, 243, 371, 303, 380-384. Biographical sketches of early Texans (arranged alpha- betically) : Thrall, A Pictorial History of Texas, 477-637. SUGGESTIONS TO TEACHERS 345 Finances of the Eepublic: Bancroft, II, 312-313, 317-319, 344-3i7 ; Garrison, 335-236 ; Yoakum, II, 189, 206-207, 209, 214, 243-245, 349-250, 281-283, 314-318, 333-343. Indian Affairs : Bancroft, II, 310-311, 319-326 ; Brown, II, 129-130, 143-145, 154-164, 175-185, 263-379 ; Garrison, 333- 235 ; Thrall, 445-471 ; Yoakum, II, 327-228, 345-248, 257-370. Population and Wealth: Bancroft, II, 306-310, 388-393; Brown, II, 280-286, Garrison, 235-240, 269-271; Yoakum, II, 241-242, 285-287, 311-313. Eecognition of Texan Independence: Bancroft, II, 284- 289, 300-303; Brown, II, 71-72, 97-98; Garrison, Westward Extension, 85-97 (Harpers, New York, 1906) ; Eather, Ethel Z., "Eecognition of the Eepublic of Texas by the United States," in The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical As- sociation, XIII, 155-256 ; Yoakum, II, 177, 206-209. British Interest in Texas : Adams, E. D., British Interests and Activities in Texas (Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, 1910) ; Bancroft, II, 338-340, 374; Smith, Justin H., The Annexation of Texas, chapter 18 (Baker & Taylor Company, New York, 1911) ; "Worley, J. L., "The Diplomatic Eelations of England and the Eepublic of Texas," in The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, IX, 1-40. The Annexation of Texas : Bancroft, II, 372-383 ; Brown, II, 396-315; Garrison, Texas, 355-268; Garrison, Westward Extension, chapters 6-10; Smith, J. H., The Annexation of Texas; Yoakum, II, 345-347, 407-433. CHAPTER Vin Make clear to the pupils the changes in international rela- tions, and in powers and 'form of government, involved in the transformation of the republic into the state. Be sure that the pupils ckarly understand the close connection between the annexation of Texas and the Mexican War; and make 346 A SCHOOL HISTOET OF TEXAS clear to them the vast consequences of that war to the United States. It will be easier, then, to show them the importance of the American settlements in Texas. It may be possible to show the class that the slavery dispute had much to do with the refusal of the United States government to let Texas have part of New Mexico. Explain that the bonds and treasury notes, which constituted the public debt, were scaled down because they had been sold to speculators at a price far below their face value. See that the class gets a clear idea of the distribu- tion of the population between 1850 and 1860, and of the pushing westward of the frontier. The importance of railroad building can be made evident by showing how much we are ourselves dependent upon them to-day for the commonest necessities and how greatly they have reduced the cost of these necessities. It may be possible to show that the quarrel between the North and the South was not wholly over the slavery question; and the pupils should be made to under- stand that the Southern states seceded because the people thought they would not be able to preserve the rights of their states in the Union. ADDITIONAL BEADING The Organization of the State Government : Eoberts, 0. M., in A Comprehensive History of Texas, II, 7-21 ; Lubbock, Six Decades in Texas, 179-180; Thrall, 357-358; Brown, II, 308-318. The War with Mexico: Bancroft, II, 394-397; Compre- hensive History, II, 21-34; Brown, II, 318-340; Lubbock, 180-182 ; Fulmore Z. T., "The Annexation of Texas and the Mexican "War," in The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, V, 28-48; Garrison, 261-264; Brooks, S. P., "Texas in the Federal Union," in The South in the Building of the Nation, III, 383-386. The Boundary Dispute with the United States: Bancroft, SUGGESTIONS TO TEACHEBS 347 II, 399-401 ; Brown, II, 344-346 ; Garrison, 364-366 ; Lubbock, 190-193 ; Comprehensive History, II, 37-29 ; Thrall, 359-367 ; Brooks, in The South in the Building of the Nation, III, 386-388. The Public Debt: Brown, II, 353-354; Bancroft, II, 400- 404, 413-419; Garrison, 266; Brooks, in The South in the Building of the Nation, III, 391-393; Thrall, 361-372. The Frontier: Garrison, 371-275; Brown, II, 356,362, 377-383 ; Bancroft, II, 405-412. The Beginnings of Eailroads : Potts, C. S., Railroad Trans- portation in Texas (Bulletin of the University of Texas, No. 119), 9-36; Brown, II, 354-356; Briscoe, P., "The First Texas Eailroad," in The Quarterly of the Texas State His- torical Association, VII, 279-285. The Beginnings of the Public School System : Lane, J. J., A History of Education in Texas, 26-37; Kenney, M. M., "Eecollections of Early Schools," in The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, I, 385-396. The Approach of Civil War: Bancroft, II, 419-426; Com- prehensive History, II, 50-85 ; Garrison, 382-385. Any good history of the United States. CHAPTEB IX Show how the distance of Texas from the North, the lack of railroad communication, and the intervening Confederate States protected the Texans from invasion by land. Empha- size the importance, in consequence of this, of keeping control of the seaports and thus preventing an invasion by water. Show by means of the sketch map, on page 216, how the Federals had planned to seize Sabine Pass, Beaumont, Hous- ton, and Galveston, and thence invade the state. Explain that the Confederate armies could not have been kept up with- out constant supplies of food, clothing, and arms, and then g48 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF TEXAS show how important were the supplies sent from Texas and biDTight from abroad through Mexico. See that the pupils understand how the blockade and the depreciation of Con- federate papei money made prices high. Many of the children will be able to obtain from their grandmothers stories of hard- ship suffered during the war. In beginning the reconstruction period try to get the children to see clearly the two sides of the situation : (1) The South trying to get back into the Union at once; (3) the North distrustful and wanting to impose conditions, especially negro suffrage, as the price of reunion. Make it clear that President Johnson wanted to readmit the Southern states on easy terms, but that Congress, which represented the people of the North, repudiated the president's plan and forced the states back under military control, and required them to grant suffrage to the negroes. Explain that Texas fared somewhat better under this plan than did most of the other states. See that the children have some understanding of the difference between military rule, and ordinary civil government. As an illustration, show that under the former a person who was accused of a violation of the law had none of the safeguards which are ordinarily given an accused person {habeas corpus, bail, trial by jury, etc.). Explain that the Democrats opposed giving votes to the negroes because the latter were ignorant, inexperienced in political affairs, of a different race, and but lately slaves; while the radical Republicans favored negro suffrage partly as a fancied security to the negro, partly because they hoped to retain political power through negro votes. Call the attention of the pupils to the fact that the harshness of Eeconstruction converted practically all the whites in the South into Democrats, and that the South has been Democratic ever since. SUGGESTIONS TO TEACHERS 349 ADDITIONAL EEADING Secession: A Comprehensive History of Texas, II, 85-135; Bancroft, North Mexican States and Texas, II, 437-441 ; Eamsdell, Charles ^Y., Reconstruction in Texas, 11-20 ; Eeagan, John H., "A Conversation with Governor Houston," in The Quarterly of Texas State Historical Association, III, 279-281. Texas Troops in the Confederate Armies : A Comprehensive History, 571-650; PoUey, J. B., Hood's Texas Brigade. The Eecapture of Galveston: Lubbock, Six Decades m Texas, 432-454; Bancroft, II, 454-456; Eamsdell, "Texas in the Confederacy," in The South in the Building of tlie Nation, III, 411-412. Conditions During the War : A Comprehensive History, II, 142-146 ; Bancroft, II, 468-474. Supplies Furnished from Texas: Lubbock, 359-371, 478- 480, 667-673 ; Eamsdell, "Texas in the Confederacy," in The South in the Building of the Nation, III, 405-408. The Close of the War in Texas : Eamsdell, Reconstruction in Texas, 27-41 ; The South in the Building of the Nation, III, 415-417. The Provisional Government: Eamsdell, 55-84; A Com- prehensive History, II, 151-155; Bancroft, II, 478-482. The Eestoration of State Government in 1866: Eamsdell, 108-141; Bancroft, II, 482-487; A Comprehensive History, II, 155-163'; Eoberts, 0. M., "The Experiences of an Un- recognized Senator," in The Quarterly of Texas State His- torical Association, XII, 87-147. The Establishment of Military Government by Congress: Eamsdell, 145-170; A Comprehensive History, II, 163-168; Bancroft, II, 487-494. Hardships of Eeconstruction : Eamsdell, 171-199 ; Wheeler, T. B., "Eeminiscences of Eeconstruction in Texas," in The Quarterly of Texas State Historical Association, XI, 63-65. 350 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF TEXAS The Negroes, the Union League, and the Ku Klux Klan: Eamsdell, 44-51, 70-77, 166, 232; Wood, W. D., "The Ku Klux Klan," in Tlie Quarterly of Texas State Historical Association, IX, 262-268. The Convention of 1868: Eamsdell, 200-260; A Compre- hensive History, II, 173-179 ; Bancroft, 494-497. The Election of 1869 and Eeadmission to the Union: Eamsdell, 261-292 ; Bancroft, II, 497-500 ; A Comprehensive History, 179-188. The Character of Eadical Eule: Eamsdell, 295-308; Ban- croft, II, 601-507; Brown, II, 451-455; A Comprehensive History, II, 188-193 ; Miller, E. T., "The State Finances of Texas During Eeconstruction," in The Quarterly of Texas State Historical Association, XIV, 87-112. The Overthrow of Eadical Eule: Eamsdell, 309-317; Comprehensive History, II, 201-207; Bancroft, II, 508-511; Brown, History of Texas, II, 456-480 ; Wheeler, T. B., "Eemi- niscences of Eeconstruction in Texas," in The Quarterly of Texas State Historical Association, XI, 56-63. CHAPTER X The period since the close of reconstruction has been one of orderly development and there are few striking events to narrate. You should see that the student understands the transition from the turbulence of the period of radical rule to the orderly conditions following the return of the Democratic party to power. The organization of the government under the new constitution, the suppression of disorder, the financial reforms of Eoberts's administration, the causes and events connected with the creation of the railroad commission, and the recent efforts to purify elections and subject political parties to popular control are probably the mose essential things to impress upon the mind of the pupil. The details of a disaster like the Galveston storm are of far less importance SUGGESTIONS TO TEACHERS 35I than the protective measures that have since been adopted, or the new form of city government that resulted from the city's calamity. ADDITIONAL EEADING The Constitution of 1876 : Bancroft, II, 514-518 ; Brown, II, 485-487; Eoberts, "The Political, Legislative, and Judi- cial History of Texas for Its Fifty Years of Statehood," in Wooten's A Comprehensive History of Texas, II, 214-217. State Finances: Bancroft, II, 513, 522-524; Brown, II, 481-493 ; Eoberts as above, 218, 234, 235, 252-53. The Capitals of Texas: Eoberts as above, 239, 269-271; Eoberts, "The Capitals of Texas," in The Quarterly of Texas State Historical Association, II, 117-123; "Winkler, "The Seat of Government of Texas," in The Quarterly, X, 140-171 and 185-245. The Greer County Question: Bancroft, II, 525-526. Eailway Eegulation and the Eailroad Commission: Potts, Eailroad Transportation in Texas, University of Texas Bul- letin, No. 119, 106-174; Deussen, "Has the Eailroad Commis- sion Succeeded in Preventing Discriminations," in the Uni- versity of Texas Record, IV, No. 4, 422-462 ; Thompson, "The Eegulation of the Issue of Texas Eailroad Securities by the State Government," in Transactions of the Texas Academy of Science, V, 3-17 ; Eaines, Speeches and State Papers of James Stephen Hogg, 27, 32-50, 58-64,, 136-154, 156-159, 187-196, 201-208, 215-224, 296-301; Miller, "The Texas Stock and Bond Law and Its Administration," in Quarterly Journal of Economics, XII, 109-119. The Terrell Election Law : Lightfoot, The Terrell Election Law. (This is a pamphlet containing the election law and extracts from court decision, prepared for free distribution by Attorney General Lightfoot) . Biographies : Wooten, "The Life and Services of Oran Milo 353 A SCHOOL HISTOEY OF TEXAS Eoberts," in The Quarterly, II, 1-20; McCaleb, "John H. Eeagan/' in The Quarterly, IX, 41-50; Kaines, Speeches and State Papers of James Stephen Hogg, 5-19 ; Lane, History of Education in Texas, 292-293. (Sketch of the life of Governor L. S. Eoss). The Commission Form of City Government: Woodruff, City Government hy Commission (Appleton and Company, New York); Bradford, Commission Government in American Cities (The Macmillan Company, New York). CHAPTEE XI Give this chapter a local application whenever it can profit- ably be done. In connection with the growth of population, have the children learn the population of their own town and county for each decennial period. Also have them study the racial elements in the local population, and find out how many different states are represented in the class or the school. In connection with the various industries discussed in the text, have the children learn from their parents or elsewhere what is being done locally in each particular industry. It would be instructive to take the class to visit a farm or ranch, if they are city children, or to inspect a cotton gin, or an oil mill, or a coal mine, or a factory, or a packing house, or any other local industry. In this way the subject can be made a live and interesting one, not a dry recital of lifeless statistics. In connection with the subject of railroad building, explain how a bonus is raised to secure the building of a railroad. Have the children make maps showing the principal lines of railroads in the state, especially the lines in their part of the state. Maps of the roads can usually be found in the folders or time tables printed for distribution by the roads. Collec- tions of these folders can be secured in any first class hotel. Do not be satisfied with a mere committing to memory of the SUGGESTIONS TO TEACHERS 353 material in the text, but bring it into close touch with the actual life of the community about you. ADDITIONAL READING Population : United States Census Eeports for 1870, 1880, 1890, 1900; Bancroft, II, 539; Brown, II, 498-500; Garrison, 305-308. Agriculture and Stock Eaising: Census Eeports as above. Bancroft, II, 557-564; Texas Almanac for 1910 and 1911 (Galveston-Dallas News) ; Year Boole of the Department of Agriculture. (Sent free on application to the Department of Agriculture, Washington). Further material may be obtained without expense by applying to the United States Department of Agriculture, to the State Department of Agri- culture, at Austin, and to the Agricultural and Mechanical College, College Station. Transportation and Eailroad Building: Bancroft, II, 570- 576 ; Brown, II, 500-503 ; Garrison, 303-304 ; Potts, Railroad Transportation in Texas (Bulletin of the University of Texas, No. 119, issued for free distribution to citizens of the State). Briscoe, "The First Texas Eailroad," in The Quarterly of Texas State Historical Association, VII, 279-285; Deussen, "The Beginnings of the Texas Eailroad System," in Trans- actions of the Texas Academij of Science, IX, 43-74 ; Thomp- son, "The Development of the Present Texas Eailroad Sys- tem," Transactions of the Texas Academy of Science, IV, Part I, 57-80. Mining and Manufacturing: The Census Eeports; The Texas Almanac; Bancroft, II, 564-566. The University of Texas has issued a number of bulletins on coal, lignite, quick- silver, clays, and other minerals. Such of these as are in print may be secured upon application to the University. 354 -^ SCHOOL HISTORY OF TEXAS CHAPTER XII This chapter furnishes the teacher an excellent opportunity to arouse the interest of the children and, through them, the interest of the entire community, in the problem of securing better schools, better salaries, and better teachers. The teacher should emphasize the necessity of educating all the people in a country where all the people take part in public affairs. He should point out the defects of our school system no less earn- estly than its merits and where possible indicate the means by which improvements may be made. Special attention should be called to the necessity of erecting good school build- ings in place of the miserable "shacks" that are now used in raknj communities. In order to secure good buildings it will frequently be necessary to combine several small schools into larger ones and vote bonds for the erection of the central building. The result of such a movement is shown in the illustration in the text (p. 315). The necessity of school gardens for teaching agriculture and the desirability of making the school building a center for all sorts of social gatherings should also be pointed out. In fact, this chapter furnishes the teacher the best opportunity he will have for molding the opin- ions of the people of the community on educational and social subjects. ADDITIONAL BEADING Lane, History of Education in Texas (Published by United States Bureau of Education, 1903) ; Lane, "The Educational System of Texas," in Wooten's Comprehensive History of Texas, II, 424-470 ; Bancroft, II, 528-550 ; Brown, II, 506- 514; Garrison, 308-311; Eoberts, "Establishment of the Uni- versity of Texas," in The Quarterly of Texas State Historical Association, I, 233-265. APPENDIX III OUTLINE I. The Background of Texas History (1493-1689). 1. The Spanish. a. The basis of Spain's claim to Texas. (1) Columbus's discovery of America. (2) Exploration of Texas by Cabeza de Taca, Coronado, and others. b. Spain's early neglect of Texas. 2. The French. a. Late arrival and rapid spread of the French in America. (1) Over the St. Lawrence Valley and around the Great Lakes. (2) Over the Mississippi Valley. b. The basis of France's claim to Texas. (1) La Salle's settlement at Fort St. Louis. (a) The accident which brought La Salle to Texas. (b) History of his settlement. (c) Its importance. 3. The English. a. Their first settlements in America. b. Their slow spread. c. The permanence of their colonies. d. Their part in the history of Texas. XL Spain Begins to Occupy Texas (1690-1714). 1. The causes which aroused Spanish interest in Texas, a. The desire for a convenient route to New- Mexico. b. The missionary motive. c. The fear of French encroachment. 355 356 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF TEXAS 2. The search for the French. a. The condition of Fort St. Louis when found. b. The meeting with the Tejas chief. 3. The first Texas mission. a. Its location. b. Character and civilization of the Tejas. e. Causes of the failure of the mission. d. Its importance as an experiment in Texas colonization. III. Spain Takes Possession of Texas (1714-1800). 1. The French stimulate the Spanish to occupy Texas. a. The French settle Louisiana. b. The appointment of Saint-Denis to arrange for trade with northern Mexico through Texas. (1) His commerce with the Hasinai Indians. (2) His journey to Mexico and his arrest. (3) His conference with the viceroy. (4) The importance of Saint-Denis in the history of Texas. 2. The Spanish settlements in Texas. a. The East Texas settlements. (1) The preparations for the settlements. (2) The journey to East Texas, probably along the route of the Old San An- tonio Eoad. (3) The welcome of the Tejas Indians. (4) The missions, and their importance as signboards of Spanish occupancy. b. San Antonio. (1) Causes of the settlement, (2) Location of San Antonio. (3) Its importance . (4) The missions near San Antonio. e. Other Spanish settlements. (1) Goliad. (2) Nacogdoches. d. Life in the settlements. (1) In the mission. (2) In the fort. (3) In the village. OUTLINE 357 lY. The Americans Become AcqiTainted with Texas (1800- 1820). 1. The expansion of the Englisli-Americans to the frontier of Texas. a. The conquest of eastern Louisiana from France, 1763. (1) The English and the Spanish become neighbors on the Mississippi. b. The English colonies become independent as the United States of America. c. The purchase of western Louisiana in 1803, and the expansion to the Texas border. (1) The boundary dispute. (a) The Keutral Ground agreement, 1806. (b) The final settlement, 1819. 2. The invasions of the Americans. a. Nolan's expedition, 1800-1801. (1) Its object. (2) The story of the expedition. (3) The fate of Kolan's men— Ellis Bean. (4) The importance of the expedition. b. The Gutierrez and Magee expedition, 1812-13. (1) Its object. (2) Its early successes. (3) Its failure — the battle of the Medina. (4) Its importance. c. Long's expedition, 1819. (1) Its object and connection with the boim- dary settlement of 1819. (2) Its disastrous failure. (3) Its importance. d. The freebooters at Galveston Island, 1816-21 (1) Aury. (2) Lafitte. (3) Effect upon the reputation of Texas. V. The Americans Settle Texas — The Period of Colonization (1821-35). 1. The Mexican revolution (1810-21) frees Mexico (including Texas) from Spain. 338 A SCHOOL HISTOEY OF TEXAS a. The causes of the Mexican revolution. b. The incapacity of the Mexicans for self-gov- ernment. c. Efforts to establish a republican government. d. Their political troubles. e. The government of Texas as a Mexican province. (1) Union with Coahuila. (3) Governor and legislature at Saltillo. (3) Political chief and alcaldes' in Texas. 2. The American colouization of Texas. a. Moses Austin gets permission to found a colony. b. Stephen F. Austin establishes the colony. (1) Its location. (2) Inducements offered colonists. (3) Austin's reward. (4) Early difficulties of the colony. c. Other colonies established. ( 1 ) The principal empresarios, or contractors. (2) Their land premiums. (3) The rapid settlement of Texas. d. The character of the colonists. 3. The life of the colonists. a. Their homes. (1) The houses in which they lived. (2) Their furniture. (3) Their food. (4) Their clothing. (5) Their hospitality. b. Their amusements. c. Danger from the Indians. d. The occupation of the colonists. e. The prosperous condition of the colonies in 1834. (1) Agricultural products. (2) Trade. (3) Education. VI. The Texas Eevolution— the Americans Take Texas (1821- 1836). i. The general causes of the revolution. a. Difference of race and of previous political ex- perience the fundamental cause. OUTLINE 359 b. Misunderstandings growing out of: (1) The Predonian rebellion, 1826-7. (a) Causes of the rebellion. (b) Attitude of most of the colonists toward it. (c) Failure of the rebellion. • (8) Guerrero's emancipation decree, 1829. (a) Object of the decree. (b) Why the colonists objected to it, (c) Its withdrawal. (3) The law of April 6, 1830. (a) Its principal provisions. (b) Why the colonists objected to it. (c) Evasions of the law. (4) The disturbances of 1833. (a) Causes. (b) The attack on Anahuac. (c) Battle of Velasco. (d) Expulsion of the troops from Texas. (e) How the colonists explained their actions. (f) The effect of these disturbances on Mei^ican opinion. (5) The conventions of 1833 and 1833 petition for the separation of Texas from Coahuila. (a) The reasons assigned for this by the Texans. (b) What the Mexicans considered the real reason to be. (6) The imprisonment of Austin in Mexico. 3. The immediate causes of the revolution. a. Santa Anna sends troops and custom officers to Texas. (1) Why the colonists objected to this. (2) Travis drives Captain Tenorio from Anahuac. b. Santa Anna orders the arrest of Travis and other piominent citizens. 360 -A- SCHOOL HISTORY OP TEXAS c. Stephen F. Austin returns to Texas and tells the colonists that it is time for war. (1) Preparations of the colonists. kX 3. The campaign of 1835. a. The battle of Gonzales (October 3, 1835). (1) Its cause. (2) Its effect in uniting the colonists for the war. b. The capture of Goliad. c. The siege of San Antonio. (1) Austin elected commander. (3) The battle of Concepcion. (3) The "grass fight." (4) Burleson succeeds Austin as commander. ■ (5) Milam storms San Antonio. (6) The surrender of General Cos. 4. The government of Texas during the revolution. a. The consultation. ( 1 ) It organizes a provisional government. (2) It adopts regulations for the formation of a regular army. (3) It elects commissioners to the United States to solicit aid. b. The provisional government. (1) The quarrel between the governor and the council. c. The convention. (1) The declaration of independence March 2, 1836. (a) Eeasons assigned in the declaration. (2) The constitution. (a) The president. (b) The congress. (c) The judicial system. (d) The slave trade. (3) The temporary government. (a) President Burnet and his first cabinet. 5. The campaign of 1836. a. Military movements during the winter. OUTLINE 361 (1) The plan for an expedition to Mata- moros. (2) Johnson and Grant at San Patricio. (3) Fannin at Goliad. (4) Travis at the Alamo. (5) Failure to organize the regular army. b. The fall of the Alamo. (1) Travis calls for help. (2) Eeinforced by thirty-two men from Gonzales. (3) Fannin starts to his relief, but turns back. (4) Santa Anna storms the Alamo and kills its defenders. (5) The number of the Mexican force. (6) The results of the fall of the Alamo. (a) Arouses the Texans. (b) Makes Santa Anna reckless. C. General Houston's plan to relieve Travis. (1) He retreats from Gonzales to the Colorado. d. The fate of Johnson and Grant. e. Fannin at Goliad. (1) Fortification of Fort Defiance. (2) Delays obedience to General Houston's order to retreat to Victoria. (a) Waiting for Ward and King whom he had sent to Eefugio — the fate of these companies. (3) The battle of the Coleto. (4) His surrender to Urrea. (5) The Goliad massacre. (a) Santa Anna responsible for this. f. General Houston retreats to the Brazos. g. The "runaway scrape." h. Santa Anna recklessly separates himself from his main army and marches to Galveston. Bay. i. Houston blocks his return at San Jacinto. 363 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF TEXAS j. The battle of San Jacinto, April 31, 1836. (1) The capture of Santa Anna. (3) Number of the Texans and Mexicans engaged in the battle. k. The Treaty of Velasco, May 14, 1836. (1) Its principal terms. (3) Its observance by the Mexican army. (3) Its violation by the Texans. 1. The important results of the battle of San Jacinto. VII. The Eepublic of Texas: The Americans in Possession (1836-1846). A. Home affairs. 1. The Eestoration of order after the war. a. The return home. Condition of the country. The brave spirit of the settlers. b. The imprisonment of Santa Anna. His com- plaints to President Burnet. His release. e. The other Mexican prisoners. at Galveston. Their release. d. The Texan army. Its size. Character of the men. Why not disbanded. President Houston's policy. e. The election of 1836. (1) Approval of the constitution. Declara- tion against its amendment except by a constitutional convention. '(3) General Houston elected president. Other candidates. (3) The vote for annexation to the United States. 2. The regular government of the republic. a. President Houston's first term (1836-1838) (1) Sketch of his life. (3) His policy toward Mexico. (3) His policy toward the Indians. (4) His policy toward the army. (5) His economy. b. Death of Stephen P. Austin. His great services to Texas. OUTLINE 363 C. President Lamar's administration (1838-1841). (1) Sketch of his life. (3) His policy toward Mexico. (3) His policy toward the Indians. (4) His extravagance. d. President Houston's second term (1841-1844). (1) Eeversal of Lamar's policies. (2) Continuance of the policies of his first term. e. President Jpnes's administration (1844-1846). (1) Sketch of his life. (2) His short term prevents him from accom- plishing important results. The financial affairs of the republic. a. The debt of the republic in 1836. How it was incurred. b. The expenses of the government. c. Efforts of the government to get money. By sale of public land. By taxes. By customs duties. By borrowing. By making paper money. d. Why the government failed to get enough money, c. The debt of the republic in 1846. Indian troubles. a. The Indians kept auiet during the Texas Eevolution. b. President Houston's gentle policy keeps the Indians peaceable. His plan for stores and blockhouses. The rangers. c. President Lamar's aggressive policy. His poor opinion of Indian character. His experience with Indians in Georgia. The Mexicans stir up the Indians against the Texans. d. The removal of the Cherokees from Texas (1839). e. War with the Comanches. (1) The Council House fight (1840). (2) The battle of Plum Creek (1840). f. President Houston restores peace. 364 A SCHOOL HISTOEY OF TEXAS g. The importance of these Indian troubles. (1) They were expensive. (3) They checked the settlement of frontier. 5. The growth of population and wealth. a. Why settlers came to Texas. Prom Germany. From the United States. b. The rapid immigration between 1836 to 1846. c. Where the immigrants settled. d. The homestead law. e. Beginning of public school system. f. Prosperity of the settlers in 1846. g. Summary. B. Foreign aifairs. 1. Eelations with European powers. a. Eecognition of the independence of Texas. b. England's interest in Texas. (1) England's interest in Mexico delays recognition of Texas. (2) England desires Texas on account of its cotton fields. (3) England desires Texas in order to abolish slavery. S. Eelations with Mexico. a. Mexico's refusal to give up Texas. b. Trouble at home prevents Mexico from invading Texas. (1) President Houston's policy of letting Mexico alone. (2) President Lamar's aggressive policy. c. Texans help Mexican liberals try to establish the Eepublic of the Eio Grande. d. President Lamar sends out the Santa F6 expedition (1841). (1) Hardships of the expedition. (2) The Mexicans capture the expedition. (3) The imprisonment of the Texans. (4) The results of the expedition. (a) Expensive. (b) Angered Mexico. OUTLINE 365 e. The Mexican invasion of San Antonio in March, 1842. (1) President Houston moves the govern- ment to Houston. (3) The citizens of Austin refuse to allow the removal of the archives. The archive war. f. The Mexican invasion of September, 1842. (1) Capture of San Antonio. (3) Battle with Captain Caldwell's company. (3) Battle wjth Captain Dawson's men. g. The Mier expedition — the reply of the Texans to the invasion of September. (1) Houston's opposition to the expedition. (2) The attack on Mier. (3) The surrender of the Texans. The Mexicans violate the treaty. The march of the prisoners toward Mexico. (4) The escape of the Texans. Their re-cap- ture, and the drawing of the black (5) Imprisonment of the Texans. Escape of General Green. Eelease of the pris- oners by Santa Anna. h. The Snively expedition. i. The end of the war. j. The Texas navy. (1) Its services to Texas. (3) President Houston's attitude toward the ■navy. 3. Eelations with the United States. a. The United States refuses to annex Texas in 1837. (1) Eeasons for this: wished to avoid war with Mexico; many in United States opposed to extension of slave territory. b. The United States changes its mind and offers to annex Texas. 366 A SCHOOL HISTOEY OF TEXAS (1) Eeasons for this: saw commercial value of Texas; feared that England was trying to get it. (2) Mexico tries to prevent Texas from accepting annexation by offering to recognize its independence. (3) Texas accepts annexation. (4) The protest of Mexico. (5) Texas retains its public lands. The importance of this. (6) Summary. VIII. Early Statehood : Erom-annexation to secession (1846- 1861). 1. The organization of the state government. a. The changes in government made necessary by annexation. 2. The war between the United States and Mexico. a. The causes of the war. (1) Mutual dislike of Americans and Mexi- cans. (2) Mexico resents the annexation of Texas. (3) The boundary question, and the outbreak of the war (1846). b. The part of Texas in the war. C. The terms of peace (Guadalupe Hidalgo, 1848). (l)The Eio Grande fixed as the southern boundary of Texas. (3) A vast territory in the southwest ceded . to the United States. (3) The United States pays Mexico fifteen million dollars. 3. The New Mexico boundary dispute with the United States. a. Texas claims the country to the Eio Grande. b. The United States claims all the old province of New Mexico. c. Excitement in Texas ; threats of war. d. The compromise: Texas yields its claim for ten million dollars. OUTLINE 367 4. The payment of the public debt. a. The loss of customs revenues leaves Texas unable to pay the debt. b. The debt is paid with money received from the United States in the boundary settlement. c. The remainder of this money used for internal improvements. 5. The growth of population and industries. a. Immigration to Texas. (1) Where the immigrants came from. (2) The rapid increase of population. b. The removal of the Indians. c. The frontier is pushed westward. d. The chief occupations: stockraising and farm- ing. 6. The beginning of railroads in Texas. a. The need of railroads in Texas. b. The first railroad. c. The development of railroads before 1861. 7. The beginnings of the public school system. a. Lack of money delays the establishment of public schools. b. A start is made in 1854. 8. The approach of civil war. a. The North and the South disagree about slavery. (1) How slavery began in America. (3) Slavery disappears in the North and develops in the South. b. Some people in the North wish to abolish slavery — "abolitionists". c. The Southern states secede in 1860 and 1861. d. The North opposes secession. IX. Civil War and Eeconstruction (1861-1874). A. The Civil War (1861-1865). 1. Texas secedes and joins the Confederate States. a. The Ordinance of Secession: (1) adopted by the convention; (2) ratified by the people. 368 A SCHOOL HISTOET OF TEXAS b. Governor Houston opposes secession and is deposed. 2. The war in Texas. a. Volunteers from Texas in the Confederate army. b. The loss and recapture of Galveston. c. The repulse of Federal invasion at Sabine Pass. d. The Federals capture Brownsville. e. The repulse of Federal invasion by the Eed Eiver. 3. Politics and elections. a. Little attention given to politics during the war. b. Lubbock elected governor, 1861. e. Murrah elected governor, 1863. 4. Supplies furnished by Texas to the Confederacy. a. Foreign trade kept up through Mexico. b. The establishment of small factories in TexaSi c. Food supplies from farms and ranches. 6. Home life during the war. a. Scarcity of goods, and high prices. b. Anxiety and sorrow of those left at home. e. The women and children helped the soldiers. d. The loyalty of the slaves. 6. The end of the war. a. General Lee surrenders at Appomattox, April 9, 1865. b. The soldiers return home. B. Eeconstruction (1865-1874). 1. The occupation of Texas by the Federal forces. a. General Granger proclaims the slaves free, June 19, 1865. 3. President Johnson's plan of reconstruction. a. Whsit the Southern people were required to do. (1) Declare the ordinance of secession null and void. (2) Acknowledge the freedom of the slaves. (3) Annul the war debt of the state. b. Provisional government established by Governor A. J. Hamilton. (1) The difficulty of his task. OUTLINE 369 (2) The appointment of officials. (3) A convention called. c. Eegular civil government restored (1866), (1) The convention complies with the demands of the president. (2) The election of state officers — Throck- morton becomes governor. Congressional reconstruction. a. Congress rejects the plan of the president. (1) The radicals in Congress wish to place harder conditions on the South. (2) Southern senators and representatives are refused seats in Congress. b. Congress adopts a plan of its own. (1) The Southern states placed under mili- tary rule. (2) The negroes to be given the right to vote. (3) The South must ratify the fourteenth amendment to the constitution of the United States. c. Military rule under General Sheridan. (1) Eemoval of Governor Throckmorton; appointment of Pease. (2) Eemoval of state and county officials. (3) Increase of lawlessness. (4) The disfranchisement of ex-Confederates. d. The problem concerning the negroes. (1) The negroes quit work after emancipa- tion. (2) The work of the Freedman's Bureau. (3) The organization of Union Leagues to control negro votes. (4) The Ku Klux Klan and its work. e. A state government established. (1) The constitutional convention of 1868- 1869. (a) The radicals gain control of the convention. (b) A new constitution ratified by the people. 370 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF TEXAS (2) E. J. Davis elected governor, 1869. (3) The new legislature ratifies the four- teenth and fifteenth amendments to the constitution of the United States. (4) Texas readmitted to the Union. 4. Eadical rule under Governor Davis. a. The policies of Governor Davis. (1) His lack of confidence in the people. (3) Extraordinary powers given him by the legislature. (a) The state police. (b) Military powers exercised by Davis.. b. Heavy taxation. (1) Eecklees expenditures by the legislature. (3) The taxpayers' convention, 1871. 5. The overthrow of radical rule. a. The Democrats elect congressmen, 1871. b. A Democratic legislature elected, 1873. c. Davis defeated by Coke, 1873. d. Coke inaugurated as governor after resistance by Davis, January, 1874. e. The constitution of 1876. X. Affairs in Texas since reconstruction, 1874-1913. 1. Ee-election of Coke and Hubbard, 1876. 3. Financial condition of Texas in 1876. a. Public debt. Grant of state bonds to railroads. b. High tax rate. 3. How this condition was improved. a. Eeduction of running expenses. b. Lands given the railroads instead of bonds. c. Governor Eoberts's "pay as you go" policy. d. Eesults. 4. The restoration of public order. a. Land thieves and other criminals prosecuted. b. Fence cutting suppressed by Governor Ireland. 5. The new capitol building. a. Burning of old capitol, 1881. b. Few building completed and dedicated, 1888. c. Description of the new building. OUTLINE 371 6. The loss of Greer County. a. How the controversy arose from the treaty of 1819 with Spain. b. Decision of the Supreme Court against Texas, 1896. Y. Governor Hogg and railroad regulation. a. Why the railroads needed regulating. (1) High rates. (.3) Special rates to favored shippers and favored towns. (3) The free pass evil. (4) The railroad pool. b. Creation of the Eailroad Commission, 1891. (1) The first railroad commissioners. (3) The fight on the railroad commission: (a) in the courts; (b) in the election of 1892 ; the attempt to defeat Gov- ernor Hogg. 8. Trust regulation. a. The anti-trust laws. b. Prosecutions under the laws. The "Waters- Pierce Oil Company case. 9. The Spanish War, 1898. a. Causes of the war. (1) Spanish oppression in Cuba. (3) Blowing up of the Maine. b. The part played by Texans in the war. 10. Mood and storm. a. Overflows on the Brazos and other streams, 1899, 1903. b. The Galveston storm, 1900. (1) Loss of life and property. (3) The restoration of Galveston. The sea- wall. The grade-raising. The cause- way. (3) The sea-wall tested by the storm of 1909. 11. The commission form of city government. a. Its origin in Galveston after the storm. b. All powers given to five commissioners. 372 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF TEXAS c. Spread of commission government to other cities and states. 12. Political parties in Texas. a. The Democratic party and its work. b. The Eepublican party. c. Other parties. The Greenback party. The Populist party. The Prohibition party. The Socialist party. 13. The primary election law. a. The objects of the law. (1) To purify elections by requiring voters to register and pay a pool tax. (2) To nominate candidates by popular elections. b. "Working of the law in the elections of 1906 and 1910. 14. The prohibition question. Prohibition elections of 1887 and 1911. XI. Material Growth Since Reconstruction. 1. Increase in population and wealth. a. Growth of population. b. Character of population. White, foreign, colored. c. Growth of Texas cities. (1) The drift from country to city. (2) Galveston and San Antonio. (3) Houston and Dallas. (4) Fort Worth and El Paso. (5) Austin and Waco. (6) Civic improvements. Paving, water, light, and street railways. Parks and public buildings. d. Growth of taxable wealth. (1) Taxable values in 1870, in 1890, and in 1910. (3) Causes of the increase of wealth. (a) Apparent increase due to increased assessment. (b) Increase in land values due to growth of population OUTLINE 373 2. Development of agriculture. a. Conditions favorable to agriculture. (1) Fertile soils of many varieties. (2) Favorable climate of varied temperature and rainfall. b. Cotton culture. (1) Spread of cotton growing to the prairie regions. (2) Extent and value of the cotton crop. (3) Eavages of the boll weevil. (4) Value and uses of cotton seed. c. The grain crops. (1) All the grains combined of less value than cotton. (2) Corn the most important cereal. Extent and value of the crop. (3) Wheat and oats. (4) Eice. Eapid increase in acreage. d. The forage crops. Hay, sorghum, milo maize, and kaffir corn. e. Fruit growing and market gardening. (1) Conditions favorable for early growing and marketing. (3) Extent of the fruit and truck business. f. Irrigation. Extent and location. g. Better methods of agriculture. (1) Work of the Agricultural and Mechanical College. (2) Work of the United States Department of Agriculture. (3) Farmers' aid societies. 3. The live stock industry. a. The cattle industry. (1) Early development of cattle raising. The cattle trails to the Korth. (2) Breeding fine cattle made possible by fencing the range and cutting up the large ranches. b. Horses. The mustang pony gives place to the draft horse. 374 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF TEXAS c. Mules. Texas the leading mule producing state. d. Sheep. Decline of sheep industry since 1890. e. Growth of the goat industry. Eeasons. f . Hog raising. 4. Development of means of communication. a. Early means of transportation. (1) The ox- wagon. Distance to market. (3) The stage coach. Stage lines. The San Diego stage line. b. Beginning of railroad building (1850-1860). c. Effect of the Civil War. (1) Building of railways stopped. (2) One road torn up and two abandoned. d. Revival of railway building after the war. (1) Building from 1868 to 1873. (3) Mileage in 1880. (3) Present mileage the largest in the Union. e. Public aid to the railroads. (1) Private subscriptions in money and lands. (2) Bonds given by counties and cities. (3) Loans from the state school fund. (4) Grants of public lands by the state. f. Eiver improvement. (1) Early attempts by the state to improve the rivers. (3) Eecent work of the Federal government. g. Harbor improvement at Galveston and other ports, h. The Houston ship canal. , Expenditures. Eesults. i. The good roads movement. 5. MiniEg and manufacturing. a. Minerals produced in Texas. Coal, iron, quick- silver, crude oil and natural gas. b. Growth of manufactures. (1) Eeasons for slow growth. (3) Products manufactured. c. The lumber industry. Timber supply limited. OUTLINE 375 XII. Education and Public Charity. 1. Need of public free schools in a republic. 3. Early attempts to establish a public school system. a. Provision for free schools in the constitution of the republic, 1836. b. Lands set apart during Lamar's administration, c. Eeasons for failure of early attempts. (1) Lack of funds to support the schools. (2) Sparseness of population. (3) Wars with Mexico and the general con- fusion of the time. 3. Development of the school system. a. Beginning of permanent school fund, 1854. b. Public school system organized, 1854. e. Effect of Civil War. Schools stopped. Funds lost. d. Enrollment in the schools in 1875 and 1910. 4. The permanent school fund. a. Derived from sale of public lands. b. Amount of the permanent fund. 5. The available school fund. a. Amount of the available fund. b. Sources from which derived. (1) One half derived from the state. (a) Income from lands and bone's belonging to the permanent school fund. (b) State taxes. Poll tax. Ad valorem tax. Occupation tax. (2) One half derived from coimties, cities, and school districts. (a) Income from lands and bonds held by counties. (b) Local property tax for school pur- poses. <6. Defects of our school system. a. Poor buildings. b. Short terms. c. Small salaries and poorly prepared teachers. 376 A SCHOOL HISTORY OF TEXAS 7. Eeeent progress in the public school system. 8. The University of Texas. a. Early attempts to establish a university. b. University opened for students, 1883. c. Its growth to 1912. 9. The Agricultural and Mechanical College. a. Federal land grant for agricultural colleges accepted by Texas, 1871. ' b. The college opened 1876. c. Courses of study ofEered. 10. The College of Industrial Arts established, 1903. 11. The State Kormal Schools. a. Sam Houston Normal Institute established, 1879. b. North Texas State Normal College, 1901. c. Southwest Texas State Normal School, 1903. d. West Texas State Normal College, 1910. e. Management of the normal schools placed in the hands of special board, 1911. 12. The Prairie View Normal and Industrial College. 13. Church Schools and Colleges. a. Baylor University and other Baptist schools. b. Southwestern University and the Southern Methodist University. c. Texas Christian University. d. Other church schools. 14. The state's care of the unfortunate classes. 15. How the state handles the criminal classes. APPENDIX IV PRESIDENTS AND GOVERNORS OF TEXAS Presidents of the Republic 1836— March-October, David G. Burnet 1836— Sam Houston 1838— Mirabeau B. Lamar 1840— David G. Burnet (Acting President) 1841 — Sam Houston 1845 — Anson Jones Governors of the State 1846 — James P. Henderson 1847— George T. Wood 1849— P. Hansborough Bell 1853— E. M. Pease. 1857— Hardin E. Eunnels 1859 — Sam Houston 1861— Edward Clark 1861— Francis E. Lubbock 1863— Pendleton Murrab. 1865 — Andrew J. Hamilton (Provisional Governor) 1866 — James W. Throckmorton 1867 — E. M. Pease (Provisional Governor) 1870— Edmund J. Davis ,^1874— Eichard Coke 1876— Eichard B. Hubbard 1879— Oran M. Eoberts 1883— John Ireland 1887 — Lawrence S. Boss 1891— James S. Hogg 1895— Charles A. Culberson 1899— Joseph D. Sayers 1903— Samuel W. T. Lanham 1907— Thomas M. Campbell 1911 — Oscar Branch Colquitt 377 INDEX Abolitionists, 205. Adaes (X-dy'-as) Mission, 39. Agriculture, development of since 1870, 283-289; favorable con- ditions for, 283; better meth- ods of, 287. Agricultural and Mechanical Col- lege, 317. Aguayo (A-gwa'-yo), Marques de, 40, 41, 43. Alamo, 31, 79; fall of, 118. Annexation of Texas, 182 ; causes war Tvith Mexico, 189. Anti-trust laws, 258-259. Apache Indians, 33, 37. Archer, Branch T., 108, 137. "Archive War," the, 174. Arrendondo (Ar-ra-don'-do) , Gen- eral, 51, 56. Arroyo Hondo (Ar-ro'-yo 6n'-do), 49. Austin, growth of, 280. Austin College, 324. Austin, Moses, 66, 67, 80. Austin, Stephen Fuller, estab- lishes his colony, 67; opposes Fredonian rebellion, 86; sent to Mexico by colonists, 94; im- prisonment, 95; return to Texas, 100 ; services during the revolution, 101, 105, 106, 137; candidate for president, 149; death, 153; sketch of, 153-155. Bastrop, Baron, 67. Baylor University, 323. Bay of the Holy Spirit (Mata- gorda Bay), 12. Bean, Peter Ellis, 53, 86, 91. Bell, Governor P. H., 194. Black beans, drawing of, 177. Boll weevil, 284. Boundary settlement with the United States, 195. Bowie, James, 103, 115, 119. Boys' Corn Club, 288-289. Bradburn, Colonel John, 91, 92, 97. Brazos floods, 261. Brownsville, capture of, 217. Burleson, General Edward, 105, 192. Burnet, David G., 70, 111, 112 136, 147, 149, 150. Cabeza de Vaca (Ka-ba'-sa da Va'-ka), 3, 4. Caldwell, Captain Matthew, 175. Campbell, Governor T. M., 270 and note. Capitol, old capitol burned, 249; new capitol erected, 249-251. "Carpet-baggers," 229. Cattle raising, 289-290. Cherokee Indians, 86; removal from Texas, 162. "Chisholm Trail," 290. Church schools and colleges, 322. Cities, growth of, 277-280. Civic improvement, 280. Civil War, causes of, 203-208; Texas in, 214; supplies fur- nished by Texas, 218; home life during, 219. Clark, Governor Edward, 212, 217. Coal, 300. Coke, Governor Eichard, 237 note; governor, 238, 243; senator, 245. Coleto, battle of, 126. College of Industrial Arts, 319. Collinsworth, George M., 103. Colquitt, Governor O. B., 270- 271 and note. 379 380 INDEX Comanche Indians, 37; wars, 163-164. Commission government estab- lished at Galveston, 265. Concepcion, battle of, 104. Coneepcion Mission, 29, 32, 33. Confederate States of America, Texas joins, 210-211 ; volun- teers from Texas for, 213; sup- plies from Texas for, 218; Pall of, 222. Conference for Education, 314. Consolidation of rural schools, 314. Constitution of 1836, 111; of 1845, 188; of 1869, 232; of 1876, 238. Consultation, 1835, 108. Convention of 1833, 94; of 1836, 109; of 1866, 225. Corn growing, 285. Coronado (Ko-ro-na'-do), Cap- tain, 4, 12. Cos, General M. P., 106. Cotton, culture, 283; seed, 284; damage to by boll weevil, 284. "Council House Eight," the, 163. Criminal Classes, 325. Crockett, Davy, 115, 119. Culberson, Governor C. A., 259 and note. Dallas, growth of, 279. Davidson, E. V., Attorney Gen- eral, 258-259. Davis, Governor Edmund J., 233 and note; oppressive govern- ment of, 235-236; defeated for re-election, 236-238. Davis, Jefferson, 206. Dawson, Captain Nicholas, 175. Declaration of Independence, 109; text of, 329-333. De-Witt, Green 70. Democratic party, 267. Dolores, (Do-lo-ras) Mission, 29. Dowling, Dick, 216. Education and Public Charity, 308-326. Edwards, Benjamin W., 85, 86. Edwards, Hayden, 70, 85, 86, 87. Emancipation proclamation, 223. El Paso, growth of, 279. England, 10, 47; interest in Texas, 170. Farmers' aid societies, 288-2S9. Farmers' Alliance, 267, 289. Farmers' Congress, 289. Farmers' Union, 289. Federal invasion attempted, by way of Galveston, 215; by way of Sabine Pass, 216; by way of Brownsville, 217. Fence cutting suppressed, 248. Financial conditions, 157-160, 196, 245-247. Fisher, Colonel William S., 177. Forage crops, 286. Fort Saint Louis, 7, 15-17. Fort Worth, growth of, 279. Foster, L. L., railroad commis- sioner, 256. Franciscans, 15. Fredonian Rebellion, 84-87. Freedman's Bureau, 229. Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments, 234 note. French settlements, in America, 5-6; in Texas, 7-9, 15, 39-40; in Louisiana, 22; end of, 41. Fruit growing in Texas, 286. Galveston, capture and retaking of, 214; swept by storm, 261- 263; restoration of, 263-264; adopts commission government, 265; growth of, 278; harbor, 298. ■ Galveston causeway, 264. ,'Galveston sea-wall, 263; sea-wall tested, 264-265. • General Council, 108. 'Germans in Texas, 165, 197, 277. Goat Eaising, 292. Goliad; founding of, 41; cap- ture of, 102; the Goliad Mas- sacre, 128-130. INDEX 381 Gonzales, battle of, 100; burned, 11:2. Grain crops in Texas, 285-286. Grange, 267, 288. Granger, General Gordon, 223. Grant, Dr. James, 112, 115, 122. "Grass fight," the, 105. Green, General T. J., 178. Greenback party, 267. Green County Controversy, 251- 253. Guadalupe Hidalgo, treaty of, 19?. Guadalupe (Gwa-da-loop'-y) Mis- sion, 29. Gutierrez, Bernardo (Ber-naar'- do G6o-te-ar'-ras), 53, 54. Hamilton, Governor A. J., 225 and note. Harbor improvements, 298. Harrisburg, 79 ; burned, 133. Hasinai (Ha-see'-ny) Indians, 24, 25. Hays, Jack, 192. Henderson, Governor J. Pinek- ney, 192. Hidalgo (E-dal'-go), Father, 23, 24, 25. Hogg, Governor James Stephen, 253 and note ; champions the railroad commission and is elected governor, 255-256 ; ap- points first railroad commis- sioners, 256-257; re-elected governor, 257-258. Hog raising, 293. Horse raising, 291. Houston, growth of, 278; ship canal, 299. Houston, Sam, writes Constitu- tion of 1833, 94; Commander- in-chief, 108 ; campaign of 1836, 121-122, 130-136; at San Jacinto, 134-136; elected presi- dent, 150; sketch of, 150,152; second term as president, 156 ; Indian policy, 160, 164; tries tc prevent secession, 212; death, 212 Homestead lavp, the, 167. Hubbard, Governor Eichard B., 244 note; elected lieutenant governor, 237; becomes gov- ernor, 244. Immigration to Texas, 66-73, 164-168, 197. Indians, removal from Texas, 198. Ireland, Governor John, 247 and note. Iron, 300-301. Irrigation, 286, 287. Iturbide (Ee-toor-bee'-da), Gen- eral, 64. Johnson, President Andrew, 224. Johnson, E. W., 112, 115, 122, Johnston, Albert Sidney, 192. Jones, Anson, president of Texas, 156, 182. Karankawa (Ka-rank'-a-way) In- dians, 33, 40. Ku Klux Klan, 231-232. Lafitte, Jean (Zhiin La-fit'), 58. Lamar, Mirabeau B., sketch of, 155; president of Texas, 155- 156 ; Indian policy, 161 ; sends expedition to Sante Fe, 172. Lanham, Governor S. W. T., 268 and note. La Salle, Eobert de la, 5-10; IS- IS. Law of April 6, 1830, 89. Lee, General Eobert E., 222 and note. Le6n, Alonso de (A-16n'so da La- 6n'), Capt., 14-17. Lefln, Martin de (Marteen' da La-6n'), 70. Levee districts, . 261. Lignite, 301. Lively (schooner), 68. Live stock 'industry, 289-293. Long, Dr. James, 56, 57, 59. Lopez, Nicholas (Nick-o-las' Lo'- pes), Father, 13. 383 INDEX ' Lubbock, Governor F. E., 217, 218 note, 252. Lumber industry, 302-303; McCuUoch, Ben, 192. McKinney, Thomas F., 79. McLean, Judge W. P., railroad commissioner, 256. McMullen and McGloin, 70. Magee, Lieutenant Augustus, 53, 54, 56. Magruder, General J. B., recap- tures Galveston, 215. Manufacturing, 301. Martin, Captain Albert, 116. Massanet (Ma-sa-nef), Father, 15-19. Mata, Francisco de la (Fran- eees'-c6 da la Ma'-ta), 38. Material development since 1870, 276-305. Medina, battle of, 55. Mendoza (Men-do'-sa), Captain, 13. Mexican "War, 188-193. Mexican prisoners, 148. Mier Expedition, the, 175. Milam, Benjamin E., 70, 103; storms San Antonio, 106. Military occupation of Texas in 1865, 223; military govern- ment, 227. Mining, 300, 301. Missionaries, 12, 13, 19, 21, 35, 36, 43. Missions, 17, 18, 19, 29, 34, 35. Moore, Commodore E. W., 180. Moore, Colonel John, 164. Mule raising, 292. Murrah, Governor Pendleton, 218 and note. Musquiz (Mus-kees'), Lieutenant, 51. Nacogdoches, founding of, 41. Navy, the Texas, 179. Negroes, conditions of during re- construction, 230 ; in the "Union League, 231; frightened by the Ku Klux, 231-232; in the Convention of 1868-1869, 232- 233; given the right to vote, 232, 234 note. Neutral Ground, 50-54. Nolan, Philip, 51. Normal Schools, 319. North Texas State Normal School, 321. Oil, crude, 300-301. Olivares (O-lee-vA-res), Father, 30. Outline, 356-376. Paper money, 159. Patrons of Husbandry, 267, 288. Peace-pipe, 28. Pease, Governor E. M., 202, 229. Piedras, Colonel, 92. Plum Creek, battle of, 163. Political parties, 265-268. Population of Texas, in 1835, 71 ; in 1846, 166; in 1850, 197; growth since 1870, 276-280. Populist party, 267. Prairie View Normal and Indus- trial College, 322. Primary election law, 268. Prohibition party, 268. Prohibition elections, 272. Provisional ' government estab- lished, 225. Public lands, 183. Quicksilver, 300-301. Eadical government in Texas, its oppressive character, 235; its extravagance, 235-237 ; oivar- thrown, 236-238. Eailroads, need of, 200; begin- ning of railroad building, 200, 294; at the outbreak of Civil War, 201; effect of Civil War on, 295; revival of railroad building, 295; public aid to, 296-297. Eailroad Commission, 253-255 ; first railroad commissioners, 256-257; commission law up- INDEX 383 held, 257; control over stocks and bonds, 258. EamOn, Diego (Dee-a'go Eii- mon'), Capt., 25. EamOn, Domingo (Do-meen'go Ea-mon'), Capt., 27-30. Ee-admission of Texas to the Union, 234. Eeagan, Judge John H., 206, 256 and note. Eeconstruction, 223-240; the problem of, 223; the presi- dent's plan of, 224; accepted by Texas, 225-226; rejected by Congress, 227; hardships of, 229; condition of negroes dur- ing, 230; reconstruction con- Tention of 1868-69, 232-234; Texas re-admitted to the Union, 234; oppressive character of reconstruction government, 235; end of reconstruction, 236-239. Eepublican party, 266. Eepublic of the Eio Grande, 171. Eevolution, general causes, 83. ; immediate causes, 97 ; aided by the United States, 137-138; conditions at the close of, 144- 146. Eice culture in Texas, 285. Eice Institute, 324. Eice, William Marsh, 324. Eiver improvement, 297. Eoads, good roads movement, 300. Eoberts, Governor O M., 246 note; his financial reforms, 245-246; 252. Eobinson, James W., 108. Eoosevelt's Eough Eiders, 260. Eoss, Governor Lavcrence Sulli- van, 250 and note, 252, "Eunaway Scrape," the, 131. Eunnels, Governor Hardin E., 210 note. Eusk, General Thomas J., Ill, 148. Sabine Pass, battle of, 216. Saint-Denis (San Den-ee'), 23-28, 39. Saint Francis of Assisi (is-see'- zee), 15. Sam Houston Normal Institute, 319. San Antonio, founding of, 30- 32; early school in, 38; cap- ture of, 107; invasions of in 1842, 174, 175; growth of since 1870, 278. San Antonio Eoad, 27, 28. San Felipe de Austin (San Fa- lee'-pa-da), 79, 81, 132. San Fernando Cathedral, 32. San Francisco of the Neches, Mission, 29. San Francisco of the Tejas, Mis- sion, 17-19. San Jacinto, battle of, 133; re- sults of, 137. San Joseph (San Ho-sef) Mis- sion, 29. San Jose (Ho-sa') Mission, 32. San Juan (San Whaun') Mis- sion, 32, 33. San Miguel (Mee-gel') Mission, 29, 39. Santa Anna, 64; causes Texas revolution, 97; orders Goliad massacre, 130; trapped at San Jacinto, 132-133; imprison- ment, 146. Santa F6 Expedition, 172. Sayers, Governor J. D., 262 and note. "Scalawags," 229. Schools, early schools, 38, 80; beginning of public school sys- tem, 167, 202, 309-810; need of public schools, 308 ; perma- nent school fund, 311; avail- able school fund, 312; defects of the school system, 313; re- cent progress, 314. Secession, 205; the North op- poses, 206; Ordinance of, 211. Sheep industry, 292. Sheridan, General Philip, 227, 228, 229. 384 INDEX Slavery question, the beginning of, 203. Slaves, loyalty of, 221. Smith, Deaf, 104. Smith, Henry, 108, 114, 150. Snively expedition, 178. Socialist party, 268. Southwestern University, 323. Southwest Texas Normal, 321. Spanish-American War, 258-260. Spanish settlements, 33, 34-39. Stage travel, 294. Suggestions to teachers, 334-355. Taxable wealth, growth of since 1870, 280; causes for increase of, 292. Tax-payers ', Convention of 1871, 236 and note. Tejas Indians, 16-19, 28, 42. Terrell, Judge A. W., 269 and note; election law, 269. Texas Christian University, 323. Texas, origin of name, 16. Throckmorton, Governor J. W., 226 and note, removed from office, 228. Toledo (To-la'-do), Colonel, 55. Tonkawas (Tonk'a-ways), 78. Travis, W. B., drives Mexicans from Anahuac, 98 ; Santa Anna orders his arrest, 99; at the Alamo, 115-120. ' Transportation, 293-300; early- means of, 293. Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, 192. Treaty of Velasco, 136. Trinity University, 324. "Twin Sisters" (cannon), 131. Ugartechea (U-giir-te-cha'-a), Domingo de, 92, 107. Union League, 231. United States, interest in Texas, 83, 138, 139, 181; annexation of Texas, 182. University of Texas, 314. Urrea (Ur-ra'il), General, 123, 128, 129. Velasco, battle of, 92; treaty of, 136. Waco, growth of, 280. Waters-Pierce Oil Company, 258. West Texas State Normal, 322. Wharton, William H., 108, 137. Williams, Samuel M., 79. Wood, Governor George T., 192, 194. Ybarbo, Gil (Heel E-bilr'-bo), 42, 44. Zavala, Lorenzo de, 70, 111. Retail Price 50 cents Exchange Price 25 cents CFOR P^^^-oE0FT5^IS BOOK SEEJNSSDE C-k ""•; THE PRiCr: MARKED HEREON tS FJXED BY 'mil STATE, AK'iJ AMY DEVIATJOJ^ THERt'FROW SHOHID Bfc RiC PORTHO TO THE STATE 5UFE:R}f^Tr?JDENT OF PUBLIC mSTWCHQH AT AUSTIN, leX AS.