VOLUME X. JANUARY, 1907. NUMBER 3. THE QUARTERLY OF THE TEXAS STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION PUBLICATION COMMITTEE: David F. Houston. George P. Garrison. Bride Neill Taylor. Z. T. FuLMORE. W. J. Battle. EDITOR: George P. Garrison. ASSOCIATE EDITORS: Herbert Eugene Bolton. Eugene C. Barker. CONTENTS. The Seat op Govbknment of Texas Ernest William Winkler A Study of the Route of Cabeza de Vac a. James Newton Baskett Book Reviews and Notices. AUSTIN, TEXAS. published quarterly by the association. Prtccy FIFTY CENTS per number. lEntered at the Poatoflace at Austin, Texas, as second class matter.! The Texas State Historical Association. PRESIDENT: David F. Houston. VICE-PRESIDENTS : *W. D. Wood, R. L. Batts, Beauregard Bryan, Milton J. Bliem. RECORDING SECRETARY AND LIBRARIAN: George P. Garrison. CORRESPONDING SECRETARY AND TREASURER: Eugene C. Barker. EXECUTIVE COUNCIL: President David F. Houston, Ex-President Dudley G. Wooten, First Vice-President *W. D. Wood, Second Vice-President Beauregard Bryan, Third Vice-President R. L. Batts, Fourth Vice-President Milton J. Bliem, Recording Secretary and Librarian George P. Garrison, State Librarian E, W. W^inkler. ( Z. T. Fulmore for term ending 1909. Fellows \ John C. Townes for term ending 1908. ( Herbert E. Bolton for term ending 1907. / Bride Neill Taylor for term ending 1911. Is. P.Brooks for term ending 1910. Members ! S. H. Moore for term ending 1909. J W. J. Battle for term ending 1908. I Dora Fowler Arthur for term ending 1907. The Association was organized March 2, 1897. The annual dues are two dollars. The Quarterly is sent free to all members. Contributions to The Quarterly and correspondence relative to historical material should be addressed to GEORGE P. GARRISON, Recording Secretary and Librarian, Austin, Texas. Business communications should be addressed to HERBERT E. BOLTON, or LUTHER E. WIDEN, Austin, Texas. All other correspondence concerning the Association should be addressed to EUGENE C. BARKER, Corresponding Secretary and Treasurer, Austin, Texas. ^Deceased. FELLOWS AND LIFE MEMBERS OF THE ASSOCIATION The constitution of the Association provides that "Members who show, by published work, special aptitude for historical investigation, may become Fellows. Thirteen Fellows shall be elected by the Association when first org-anized, and the body thus created may thereafter elect additional Fellows on the nomination of the Executive Council. The number of Fellows shall never exceed fifty." The present list of Fellows is as follows: Bakker, Mr. Eugene C. Kleberg, Rudolph, Jr. Batts, Judge R. L. Lemmon, Prof. Leonard Bolton,Prof.Herbert Eugene Looscan, Mrs. Adele B. Casis, Prof. Lilia M. McCaleb, Dr. W. F. Clark, Prof. Robert Carlton Miller, Mr. E. T. Cooper, President O. H. Pennybacker, Mrs. Percy V. CooPwooD, Judge Bethel Rather, Ethel Zivley Cox, Dr. I. J. Shepard, Judge Seth Estill, Prof. H. L. Smith, Prof. W. Roy FuLMORE, Judge Z. T. Townes, Prof. John C. Gaines, Judge R. R. Williams, Judge O. W. Garrison, Prof. George P. Winkler, Mr. Ernest William Gray, Mr. A. C, Wooten, Hon. Dudley G. Houston, President D. F. The constitution provides also that "Such benefactors of the Association as shall pay into its treasury at any one time the sum of thirty dollars, or shall present to the Association an equivalent in books, MSS., or other acceptable matter, shall be classed as Life Members." The Life Members at present are: Brackenridge, Hon. Geo. W. Cox, Mrs. Nellie Stedman THE QUARTERLY OF THE TEXAS STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION Vol. X. JANUARY, 1907. No. 3. Th« publication committee and the editors disclaim responsibility for views expressed by contributors to Thb Quarterly, THE SEAT OF GOVERNMENT OF TEXAS. ERNEST WILLIAM WINKLER. II II THE PERMANENT LOCATION OF THE SEAT OF GOVERNMENT. 1. CHOOSING THE SITE. (1) Probable Reasons for Dissatisfaction with the Location at the City of Houston. The inconvenience and discomforts suffered by the members of the first congress at the adjourned session in the city of Houston, were, perhaps, inevitable, springing as they did from the newness of the location and the recent removal of the government to that place. That these circumstances, however, did not allay but rather foment the discontent occasioned by the selection of the city of Houston is apparent. This dissatisfaction found expression in the progress of the campaign for congressional office during the summer of 1837. In the Telegraph for August 9, 1837, appeared a contribution, signed "Many Voters" and dated "Houston, August 9, 1837," m which the candidates of that district for seats in congress were called upon to define their positions upon the "most prominent measures upon which they . . • [would] probably be called to act— the opening of the land office; the division of the county; the location of the seat of government; and the policy of carrying on an offensive war with Mexico." 136 Texas Historical Association Quarterly. By the time fixed for the assembling of the second congress, one might reasonably have expected to find removed many of the causes for complaint that had existed during the adjourned session of the first congress. As a matter of fact, however, it seems that those who had undertaken to provide buildings for the accommodation of congress and the executive departments did little or nothing to carry out their promise during the intervening months. Take, for instance, the facts as stated by Secretary of the Treasury Henry Smith, in his letter of October 1, 1837, addressed to the speaker of the house of representatives : When the Government officers were removed to this point, the proprietors of the Town induced me to believe that I would be fur- nished with a good office. On my arrival however, I found that none had been provided and I was compelled to occupy a temporary shed, as entirely unfit for an office, as it was unsafe for the security of books and papers. This great inconvenience I submitted to without a murmur, under a promise however, that the evil should 1)6 remedied in a few weeks. — Months have elapsed, and instead of being furnished with the anticipated office 1 am now deprived of the temporary shed. I have called on his Excellency the President who informed me that I should have a room in the purlieus of the Capitol, that the upper rooms were finished and that I was entitled to my privilege in choice. On examination however I found the rooms all occupied and was informed that the President had no (ontrol over them as they were intended for the use of the two bouses of Congress, and that the rooms composing the wings of the Capitol were intended for the heads of Department. These rooms seem to be yet unfinished and in all probability cannot be occupied for some time to come. Information on various subjects will be ex- pected from this Department by your hon[ora]ble body, which I am anxious to lay before you at as early a period as circumstances will possibly permit, which however cannot be done until I am pro- >-ided with a suitable office. T therefore ask the favor of your hon[ora]ble body to co-operate with the other house and, if con- sistent, to assign to my Department some suitable room to occupy where the business of the office can be properly conducted, and the books and papers securely kept.^ ^Letter filed with Papers of 2 Tex. Conir.. 1 Sess.. :\IS.. State Depart ment. The petition of the Secretary of the Treasury was y the president on the 19th. It read aa follows : Eesolved b}^ the senate and house of representatives of the re- public of Texas, in CongTCSs assembled, That there shall be elected .by joint vote of both houses of congress, five commissioners (any three of whom shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business) whose duty it shall be forthwith to proceed to select a site for the permanent location of the seat of government of this re- public ; and that they be required to give piiblic notice of their ap- pointment, and receive such propositions for the sale of lands as may be made to them, not less than one, nor more than six leagues of land ; and also examine such places as they may think proper on vacant lands; and that they be authorized to enter into condi- tional contracts for the purchase of such locations as they may think proper, subject to ratification or rejection by this congress, and that they be required to report to congress, by the 1 oth Novem- ber, the different selections, with an accurate and full description of the same, to congress, and that in making the selections, they be confined to the section of country between the Trinity and Ouad- alupe rivers, and that they select no place over one hundred miles north of the upper San Antonio road, nor south of a direct line "■Senate Journal. 2 Tex. Cono-., 1 and 2 Sess., 20, 22. The Seat of Government of Texas. 191 running from the Trinity to the Giiadahipe river, crossing the Brassos at Fort Bend.^ The five commissioners provided for by the above resolution were elected by joint vote of the two houses on October 24th. Messrs. J. A. Greer, John (1. McGehee, Horatio Chriesman, J. W. Bunton, and William Seurlock were chosen.- Xone of them was a member of congress. Would "a direct line running from the Trinity to the Guadalupe river, crossing the Brassos at Fort Bend" exclude the city of Hous- ton? The writer of the article that appeared in the Telegraph. October 11, which was quoted above, as well as the editor of the Telegraph in the article that is quoted below treat the subject as if the city of Houston was barred from consideration; nor does the city of Houston appear as a candidate for the permanent seat of government. The editor of the Telegraph, October 14. 1837, says: Many of the members of congress seem determined to remove tlie seat of government from this place immediately. We believe the people of Texas have too high a regard for justice, to sanction this measure. The public faith we think is in some degree pledged to retain the seat of government at Houston until the year 1840. ^lost of the citizens who have purchased lots in this city and erected l)uildings have considered the act "locating temporarily the seat of government" a secure guarantee that their property here would con- tinue valuable at least three years. The stability of the contracts they have made was wholly based upon that law. We trust there- fore that this congress will not be so unjust as rashly to deprive these citizens of what they may properly consider — vested rights. c. The Report of the Commissioners. The commissioners elected to select a site for the permanent seat of government made their report November 20, 1837.^ To the honorable Senate and House of Eepresentatives : Your Commissioners, to select a site for the permanent location of the tSeat of Government, beg leave, after the time re- quired, to report to your honorable bodies the result of their exam- inations. ^Laics of ihe I'epuhlic of Texa.^ \Py the metropolis of Texas. '"^ The- next da}- — January 19th — an anonymons writer at Houston stated I am confidently of the opinion that the commissioners will select some point on the Colorado, ... If the seat of Government should be on the Colorado or near it, the improvement of W. Texas will be unprecedented in the annals of the world. . . . It is certainly a new idea in the history of the world that the seat of Gov- ernment should be situated on the frontier, that we should invade the country of the enemies of the white man with the archives of the nation, but any man who is acquainted with the situation of that beautiful country to which the commissioners are confined, will be satisfied that the prosperity of Texas will be rapidly ad- vanced by a location in that section of the country. It will cause the immediate settlement of one of the most desirable countries on the continent of America. I have no doubt that the new city will contain one or two thousand inhabitants by the first of October next. There will lie citizens enough around the spot to defend it from the attacks of all the forces which can be brought against it.- d. Report of the Coniiiiissioners. Congress adjourned January 24, 1839. It was made the duty of the commissioners to take up their work immediately thereafter. The anonymous writer of the letter, quoted above, states that the commissioners had agreed to start on the 10th of February next to select a site for the seat of government. Fully two months elapsed Ijefore anything was learned in regard to their proceedings. The Morning Star of April 15th printed the following account of their final meeting at Houston: City of Houston, April 13, 1839. We the commissioners appointed for locating permanently the seat of government of the republic of Texas, having met this day by appointment at the Capital, the question was put by the chairman, A. C. Horton, as to which river, the Brazos or Colorado with the respective selections on each had the highest claims to our consideration in the discharge of the duty assigned us. The vote stood as follows: for the Colorado, Messrs. A. C. Horton, William Menifee, and L. P. Cooke; for the Brazos, Messrs. I. W. Burton and Isaac Campbell. The question was then put by the chair, as to which of the selec- tions on the Colorado river, viz : Bastrop or Waterloo was entitled ^Matagorda Bulletin, January 24, 1839. ^Letter dated Houston, Texas, January 19, 1839, reprinted by the Texas Monument, October 16, 1850, from the Alabama Observer. The Seat of Government of Texas. 217 to their preference. It was unanimously determined that Waterloo, and the lands condemned and relinquished around it, was the proper site and was therefore their choice. A. C. Horton, Chairman. I. W. Burton, L. P. Cooke, Wm. Menifee, Isaac Campbell. Of even date with the above is the "full and complete return and report of all their actings and doings as commissioners" required by law^ to be made to the president : City of Houston April 13th A. D. 1839 To, His Excellency. Mirabeau B Lamar, President of the Republic of Texas, The Commissioners appointed under an act of Congress dated January 1839, for locating the permanent site of the Seat of Gov- ernment for the Eepublic, have the honor to report to your Excel- lency. That they have selected the site of the Town of Waterloo on the East Bank of the Colorado Eiver with the lands adjoining as per the Deed of the Sheritf of Bastrop County bearing date March 1839, and per the relinquishments of Logan A'andever, James Rogers, G. D. Hancock, J. W. Herrall, and Aaron Burleson by Edward Burleson all under date of 7th ]\Iarch 1839, as the site combining the greatest number of, and the most important advan- tages to the Republic by the location of the Seat of Government thereon, than any other situation which came under their observa- tion within the limits assigned them, and as being therefore their choice for the location aforesaid. We have the honor to represent to your Excellency that we have traversed and critically examined the country on both sides of the Colorado and Brazos Rivers from the Upper San Antonio road to, and about the falls, on both those rivers and that we have not neg- lected the intermediate country between them, but have examined it more particularly than a due regard to our personal safety did perfectly warrant. We found the Brasses River more central per- haps in reference to actual existing population, and found in it and its tributaries perhaps a greater quantity of fertile lands than are to be found on the Colorado, but on the other hand we were of the opinion that the Colorado was more central in respect to Ter- ritory, and this in connection with the great desideratums of health. 218 Texas Historical Association Quarterly. fine ^ater, stone, stone coal, water power &c, being more abundant and convenient on the Colorado than on the Brasses river, did more than counterbalance the supposed superiority of the lands as well as the centrality of position in reference to population, possessed by the Brasses river. In reference to the protection to be afforded to the frontier by the location of the Seat of Government, a majority of the Com- missioners are of the opinion that that object will be as well at- tained by the location upon the one river as upon the other, being also of the opinion that within a very short period of time follow- ing the location of the Seat of Government on the Frontier, the extension of the Settlements produced thereby, will engender other theories of defence, on lands now the homes of the Comanche and thfc Bisson. The site selected by the Commissioners is composed of five thirds of leagues of lands and tv/o labors, all adjoining and having a front upon the Colorado river somewhat exceeding three miles in breadth. It contains seven thousand seven hundred and thirty five acres land and will cost the Eepublic the sum of Twenty one thousand dollars or thereabouts, one tract not being surveyed. Nearly the whole front is a Bluff of from thirty to forty feet elevation, being the termination of a Prairie containing perhaps two thousand acres, composed of chocolate colored sandy loam, intersected by two beau- tiful streams of permanent pure water, one of which forms at its debouche into the river a timbered rye bottom of about thirty acres. These rivulets rise at an elevation of from sixty to one hundred feet on the back part of the site of the tract, by means of which the contemplated city might at comparatively small expense be well watered, in addition to which are several fine bluff springs of pure water on the river at convenient distances from each other. The site is about two miles distant from and in full view of the Mountains or breaks of the Table Lands which, judging by the eye, are of about three hundred feet elevation. They are of Limestone formation and are covered with Live Oak and Dwarf Cedar to their summits. On the site and its immediate vicinity, stone in inexhaustable quantities and great varieties is found al- most fashioned by nature for the builders hands; Lime and Stone coal abound in the vicinity, timber for firewood and ordinary build- ing purposes abound on the tract, though the timber for building in the immediate neighborhood is not of so fine a character as might be wished, being mostly Cotton wood. Ash, Burr Oak, Hack- berry, Post Oak and Cedar, the last suitable for shingles and small frames. At the distance of eighteen miles west by south from the site, on Onion Creek, "a stream affording fine water power" is a large body of very fine Cyprus, which is also found at intervals up the Eiver The Seat of Government of Texas. 219 for a distance of forty iiiiles, and together with immense quantities of fine Cedar might readily be floated down the stream, as the falls two miles above the site present no obstruction to floats or rafts, being only a descent of about five feet in one hundred and fifty yards over a smooth bed of limestone formation very nearly re- sembling colored marble. By this route also immense quantities of stone coal, building materials, and in a few years Agricultural and Mineral products for the contemplated city, as no rapids save those mentioned occur in the River below the San Saba, nor are they known to exist for a great distance above the junction of that stream with the Colorado. Opposite the site, 'at the distance of a mile, Spring Creek and its tributaries afford perhaps the greatest and most convenient water- power to be found in the Republic. Walnut Creek distance six miles, and Brushy Creek distant sixteen miles both on the east side of the river, afford very considerable water power. Extensive de- posits of Iron ore adjudged to be of very superior quality is foimd within eight miles of the location. This section of the Country is generally well watered, fertile in a high degree and has every appearance of health and salubrity of climate. The site occupies and will effectually close the pass by which the Indians and outlawed Mexicans have for ages past trav- eled east and west to and from the Rio Grande to Eastern Texas, and will now force them to pass by the way of Pecan Bayou and San Saba above the Mountains and the sources of the Guadalupe river. The Commissioners confidently anticipate the time when a great thoroughfare shall be established from Santa Fe to our Sea ports, and another from Red River to Matamoras, which two routs must almost of necessity intersect each other at this point. They look forward to the time when this city shall be the emporium of not only the productions of the rich soil of the San Saba, Puertenalis Hono^ and Pecan Bayo, but of all the Colorado and Brasses, as also of the Produce of the rich mining country known to exist on those streams. They are satisfied that a truly I^ational City could at no other point within the limits assigned them be reared up, not that other sections of the Country are not equally fertile, but that no other combined so many and such varied advantages and beauties as the one in question. The imagination of even the romantic will not be disappointed on viewing tb.e Valley of the Colorado, and the fertile and gracefully undulating woodlands and luxuriant Prairies at a distance from it. The most sceptical will not doubt its healthi- ness, and the citizens bosom must swell with honest pride when standing in the Portico of the Capitol of his Country he looks abroad upon a region worthy only of being the home of the brave ^Probably intended for Llano. 220 Texas Historical Association Quarterly. and free. Standing on the juncture of the routs of Santa Fe and the Sea coast, of Red Eiver and Matamoras, looking with the same glance upon the green romantic Mountains, and the fertile and widely extended plains of his country, can a feeling of Nationality fail to arise in his hosom or could the fire of patriotism lie dormant under such circumstances. Fondly hoping that we may not have disappointed the expecta- tions of either our Countrymen or your Excellency, we subscribe •ourselves Your Excellency's Most obedient Servants. A. C. Horton, Chairman I. W. Burton William Menefee Isaac Campbell Louis P. Cooke^ 2. THE CITY OF AUSTIN. (1) The Site. "They have selected the site of the Town of Waterloo on the East Bank of the Colorado River with the lauds adjoining.''^ This sentence summarizes the result of the examination and delibera- tion of the commissioners, chosen to select a site for the permanent location of the seat of government of the infant Republic of Texas. Many considered these the magic words that would call into ex- istence a new and thriving metropolis, situated at the head of navigation of the Colorado, an entrepot that would soon divert the commerce of the prairies from its established route, and the seat of a "splendid national college filled with able and distinguished pro- fessors.'"' The town of Waterloo, to quote the words of the editor of the Morning Star, "is situated in Bastrop county, about 35 miles above the city of Bastrop on the Colorado river, and nearly at the foot of the mountains. . . . There are in the town itself but four families at present, and in another settlement a few miles from it, about twenty. Such in brief is the description of the location given us by one of the commissioners."-'' The name of the town of Waterloo had never appeared among those of the candidates for the location of the seat of government. Perhaps, the only mention of its name heard in congress was at the ^Seat of Government Papers. ]MS. -See statement of eommissioners^ p. 217 above. ^Morning Star. April 15, 1839. The Scat of Government of Texas. 221 time of the passage of "An Act to Incorporate the To'.vns of Co- manche and Waterloo," ap])rove(! January 15, 183!). ' Various rea- sons have heen surmised why the commissioners should have se- lected this site.- To the student who has carefully scruti- nized the facts, the reasons stated by the commissioners in their report to President Lamar will appear both straight- forward and sufficient. The commissioners do not claim to have found the ideal location nor that "nature appears to have designated this place for the future seat of government;" they simply state that their selection is the best location within the limits assigned them. There was room for difference of opinion in regard to the fitness of the site for the purposes to which it was to be dedicated, without necessarily condemning the action of the commissioners. This fact, however, was not always kept in mind by the opponents of the city of Austin. Opposition to the site developed as soon as its location was ascer- tained. The Morning Star charged, first, that the commissioners had not performed their duties conscientiously; "we believe that as many as three sites have heen examined."^ Secondly, it stated that the only reason it was able to discover for selecting Austin was, that the commissioners there found "vacant lands to locate."* It further objected to the site of Austin on the ground that it possesses none of the advantages of a city — timber being scarce, water not too abundant, the situation remote from the Gulf, and there being no navigal)le stream near it, at least at present, the immediate surrounding country not being fertile, and the town being at the end of the road, beyond which there is nothing to see."^ These objections were effectually disposed of by a correspondent of the Telegraph. July 31, 1839, who was familiar with Austin and its vicinity. ^Laws of the Bepuhlic of Texas. Pa.s-.srr/ the Fir.sf »Sfr.s.si«H of Third Con- gress, 1839, p. 48. -The Quarterly. II 110. ^Morning Star, April 12, 1839. *Ibid., July 18, 1839. A. C. Horton replied to these or similar charges in the convention of 1845; see: Weeks, Debates of the Texas Convention [1845], p. 563. 'Jhid., July 27, 1839. 222 Texas Historical Association Quarterly. Another objection to Austin was raised by the Morning Star which perhaps has never presented itself to the minds of many, and that is the remoteness of the new location from the coast, and the delay which must thereby result in the transmission of im- portant information to the Executive department of the Eepublic. . . . Ours is almost entirely a country of foreign relations, and such being the case, it seems indispensable that the seat of govern- ment should be located near the coast, in order that all information may be received at headquarters as soon as possible. This objection to the new location may not always exist, it is true; but until we shall have become rich enough to have rail-roads, by means of which to transport news, it certainly must be regarded as a great one.^ No doubt there was much truth in this statement. But the truth- fulness was not the sole criterion by which to determine the part it should play in the discussion of this new question. It must be shown that the location of the seat of government near the coast would contribute more to the peace, security, settlement, progress and prestige of the country than its location at Austin. Texas pos- sessed a navy capable of protecting it's seacoast. "The propriety of placing the seat of government on the frontier was largely dis- cussed during the last session of congress. The reasons urged in favor of it were such as met the ap])robation of a large majority of the members, and of the nation. "- Again the Morning Star said : It seems not a little singular that it should have been thought advisable to locate the seat of government at a point where the public archives will be in an unsafe condition from its proximity to both of our enemies, the Indians and Mexicans. It cannot be supposed that in case of an invasion, the settlers on the lower Colo- rado, on the Brazos, or in any part of the lower country, will leave their families, and their homes defenceless, and rally around the seat of government: and that city, both from its situation and ac- cessibility, is probably the first to which the enemy would march, after having taken Bexar. ... Do not, then, good sense and sound policy combine, in urging the propriety of permitting the seat of government to remain where it is, at least till the war is over ?^ ^Morning Star. .June 12^ 18.^!^. ''Telegraph, July 31, 1839. 'Mornmg Star, July 1, 1839. The Seat of Oovernment of Texas. 223 The admission made by the Morning Star in the preceding para- graph, if true, was certainly most undiplomatic and well wuited to create a very unfavorable impression of the strength of the Republic of Texas. If true, all Texan diplomacy would have proved fruit- less, whether the seat of government liad been located on the coast or elsewhere. The mere suspicion in Europe that Texas could not protect her archives and the government at a point near the -geographical center of her imperial domain would have paralyzed all the negotiations of our ministers. Austin is at least two hundred miles from the nearest point on the Rio Grande. News of an in- vasion would outtravel any enemy sufficiently strong to endanger the seat of government. What portion of the frontier would be better prepared to meet an invasion than the seat of government with the executive, the secretary of war, and the postmaster general at hand to direct affairs ? And what of immigraflon ? Would new settlers risk their lives on the Texas frontier, after the facts alleged above were placed before them? And what did the infant Re- public of Texas need more than immigrants ? Now let the reader's attention be turned from what the oppo- nents had to say to the comments of friends of the West. On re- ceipt of the decision of the commissioners, the Matagorda Bulletin, May 2, 1839, said : We are almost every day seeing and conversing with persons who have visited Waterloo, the site selected for the recent location, and thus far, without a dissenting voice, all agree that it is a most judicious selection, and all speak in favorable temis of the beau- tiful country which surrounds it. . . . In a national point of view it will benefit us much, as it will be the immediate means of condensing population at a very important point of the frontier, and in such numbers as will put an end to the predatory incursions of small parties of Indians, whose numerical or physical force in the field is in reality nothing, but still whose inroads keep the frontier in constant alarm. Notwithstanding all the inquiries which we have made relative to the dangers which some persons think might be expected by the citizens of x^ustin from Indian warfare, we have been unable to discover that any cause of consequence for such fears exist, except in the imaginations of those parties who put such emphasis on them from pui-poses which the people can easily imagine. We espouse the course of active vigilance and the taking prudent means to prevent any cause of fear existing, by keeping an armed 224 Texas llistorical Association Quarterly. force sufficient to ward off any dangers that might occur, but we cannot, from any circumstance within our knowledge, see any justifi- cation for ourselves in becoming unnecessary alarmists. Other notices along this line appeared in various papers. Below are given a few of the more comprehensive. The Morning Star, May 9, 1839, stated : The population between Washington and Lagrange has increased fourfold [in eighteen months], and Lagrange which at [the beginning of] that time had never been thought of for a town, now contains a population of four or five hun- dred inhabitants, and Kutersville, only five miles from La- grange, which was laid otf only six months ago, now con- tains about three hundred souls. On the Colorado river, between Lagrange and Bastrop there was about a dozen houses ; now there is between two and three hundred. Bastrop at that time contained about twenty houses ; it has now about two hundred, and many of them equal to the best houses in Houston. The settlements above Bastrop on the Colorado river, then consisted of about eight or ten families. It is now one of the thickest settlements in Texas. The Telegraph of June 13, 1839, said : Until the permanent location of the seat of government in that quarter of the frontier, many of the citizens were undetermined about remaining; but the final settlement of that point, together with the assurance that a nnmber of regular forces will be kept up in the country, have removed any remaining doubts upon the sub- ject. The Matagorda Bulletin of August 1, 1839, reported: The most cheering accounts are daily received of the immense emigration to the Upper Colorado and western country. We have always been satisfied that it was only necessaiT that the beautiful country situated there should be known to render it very shortly the most densely populated part of the Eepublic. The location of the seat of government at its present site has had the effect to bring it into notice. Austin proved its efficiency as a frontier defence before the gov- ernment was transferred thither. The commissioners in their re- port called attention to the fact that "the site occupies and will effectually close the pass by which the Indians and outlawed Mex- icans have for ages past traveled east and west to and from the Eio Grande to Eastern Texa.«." In Mav, 1839. while the seat of The Seat of Government of Texas. 225 government was being surveyed. Manuel Flores and his band of Mexicans and Cherokees, who were on their way from Matamoras to Eastern Texas, were discovered while attempting to pass the Colorado by this old ford, pursuit was made, and they were over- taken a short distance from Austin. Flores was killed in the fray that ensued. The captured baggage of the party included several hundred pounds of powder and lead and documents that revealed or rather confirmed the fact that the Cherokees had entered into a plot with certain ^lexican officials for the extermination of the whites in Texas. ^ The discovery of these documents was the direct occasion for the steps leading to the expulsion of the Cherokees from Texas and in this manner frustrating their designs upon the lives of the white population of this Eepviblic. From the time of the removal of the government to Austin until the abandonment of that place, information of every large Indian foray and of the Mexican invasions in 1842 reached Austin at least a week earlier than it did those points situated near the Gulf coast. {2) Laying Out of the New City and the First Sale of Lots. The act for the permanent location of the seat of government also provided for the laying out of the site to be selected and for the sale of the lots. The sections relating to these subjects are as follows : Sec. 9. Be it further enacted. That immediately after the Presi- dent receives the report of the commissioners, it shall be his duty to appoint an agent, whose duty it shall be to employ a surveyor at the expense of the Government, and have surveyed six hundred and forty acres of land on the site chosen by the commissioners into town lots, under the direction of the President, which shall be, by said agent, advertised for sale for ninety days in all the public gazettes in the Republic, and also in the New Orleans Bulletin and Picayune, and said lots shall be sold at auction, to the highest bid- der, between the hours of ten A. M. and four P. M., and said sales may continue from day to day at the discretion of the agent; Pro- vided, however. That not more than one half of said lots shall be sold at the first sale; and that said agent shall cause to be made ten plots of said city, one of which shall be deposited with the President, one with the Commissioner of the General Land Office, one with the Texas Consul in New Orleans, one with the Texas Consul at Mobile, and the remainder of which shall l>e retained by 'Morning Star, May 2.5, 27, and 28, 1839. 226 Texas Historical Association Quarterly. the agent at said city; and the said agent shall receive a salary of eight dollars per diem, and a reasonable sum for purchasing sta- tionery, paying for printing, and a suitable office for the transac- tion of his business. Sec. 10. Be it further enacted. That said agent shall take and subscribe the following oath, (to be administered by any one au- thorized to administer the same,) that "I, A B, do solemnly swear (or affirm, as the case may be,) that I will truly, honestly and faithfully discharge my duties as agent; that I will neither directly nor indirectly, by myself or agent, in my own name, or in the name of another or others, either publicly or privately, purchase, bargain or contract for more than six lots, or be in any way interested in the purchasing, bargaining or contracting for any other lot or lots, lands, tenements, hereditaments included in or appertaining to that tract or parcel of country purchased or obtained by this government for the location of the seat of government, either to take effect dur- ing my agency, or at any time thereafter, so long as my agency shall continue, so help me God." And that said agent shall give bond and security, to he approved by the President, in the just and full sum of one hundred thousand dollars, which bond shall be de- posited in the office of the Secretary of State, payable to the Presi- dent or his successors in office, conditioned for the faithful perform- ance of his duties. Sec. 11. Be it further enacted. That said lots shall be sold for one-fourth payable at the time of sale, and the balance in three equal instalments of six, twelve and eighteen months; that upon failure of any purchaser or purchasers to pay said instalments, wdthin ten days after they become due, the property so purchased shall revert to the Republic, and such person or persons shall for- feit the sum or sums of money paid on said property; and the said agent shall issue his proclamation making known said reversion arid forfeiture, and the same shall thereafter be subject to sale, as though it had never been sold; and that said agent shall receive nothing but gold and silver, or the promissory notes of the govern- ment, or any and all audited drafts against this government, for said lots; all of which said agent shall make known in his adver- tisements, and on the day or days of sale. Sec. 13. Be it further enacted, That the said agent, before the sale of said lots, shall set apart a sufficient number of the most eligible for a Capitol. Arsenal, Magazine, University, Academy, Churches, Common Schools, Hospital, Penitentiary, and for all other necessary public buildings and pvirposes. Sec. 13. Be it further enacted. That said agent shall immedi- ately after each and every sale, report to the secretary of the treas- ury, and pay over to him all the proceeds of the same, and take his receipt therefor; and said agent shall be subject to the orders of The Seat of Government of Texas. 227 the President from time to time, and shall dispose of no other prop- erty belonging to the government except that laid off into town lots, until authorized by Congress.^ In compliance witli section 9 the President promptly selected the man to act as agent. Even before the commissioners made their report, we find the following letter from the President's private secretary addressed to Edwin Waller and dated IMarch 2, 1839 : Ilis Excellency the President has instructed me to inform you that he will confer on you the appointment of Government Agent, for the new City of Austin, the future Capital of the Republic, and that he solicits an interview with you upon the subject as soon as practicable, preparatory to the necessary arrangements, etc.^ Mr. Waller's bond is dated April 12, 1839.^ Before proceeding to the site of his labors, he placed the requisite advertisement in the newspapers, stating that the first sale of lots would take place about ninety days from that date, on August 1st next.'* Mr. Waller aet out for Austin in the early part of May. The Morning Star of April 22, 1839, noted the fact that "Busi- ness in this city [Houston] is rapidly reviving. The roads are filled with teams from La Grange, Bastrop, and all the towns in the neighborhood of the newly located seat of government, coming down to obtain supplies." Writing from Austin on May 20, Mr. Waller stated that he had concluded a contract for surveying and laying off the lots with Pilie & Schoolfield, that the surveyors were to commence surveying the next day, and that he would urge on the work with all possible despatch.^ The plan of the city of Austin as laid out and surveyed under Mr. Waller's direction is shown by the accompanying reproduction of the first map. It will show at once the accuracy of the work, and the lofty conception held by the agent of what the future capital of Texas should be. Of prime importance was the selection of the most eligible site within the 7,735 acres constituting the govem- ^Laws of the Republic of Texas, Passed the First Session of Third Con- gress, 1839, pp. 163-165. 'Seat of €k)vernment Papers, MS. The Quartekly, IV 44, 45. *A copy of the advertisement, dated April 22, appeared in th&Moming Star, April 23, 1839. 'Seat of Government Papers, MS. 228 Texas Hisiorical Association Quarterly. ment's reservation. Here was an opportunity of making or marring a naturally beautiful location. Mr. Waller possessed the good taste as well as sound judgment to make the best of it; he selected the land lying between the "two beautiful streams" referred to by the commissioners. Tlie broad streets, the excellent location of the eapitol space, the names of the streets extending north and south ■ — who would change them now? As the time for the first sale of lots (August 1) approached, the Morning Star attempted to defeat it entirely by republishing every argument that had hitherto been put forward against the new site. For instance, it stated that there is no reason to believe that the location will be a permanent one; but as this was made by nianagement, combined with self- interest, and as these components will exist in the next legislature, tJiere is not the slightest guarantee that that body may not find it to its interest to move again. There can be but two reasons why congress should have stricken out the word 'permanent''^ each equally affecting the investment of money in lots in the new seat of government ; and these are, either they hnew they were incompetent, or that if they had the right they could by leaving out the word, move the Capitol at pleasure, and thus maJ^e a series of specula- tions. The latter none would attribute to them :^ the former, then, must be the true one. Whatever was the cause, the location is not permanent, and the investment of money in lots in the city is not a safe one.^ Contrasted with the foregoing is the following from the Mata- gorda Bulletin for July 18, 1839: The time is fast approaching when the public sale of Lots at tlie City of Austin ... is to take place. . . . We under- stand that already numbers of persons are flocking to that point, ^It is generally supposed that tlie act provides for iis'^permanent" loca- tion which is an error. That word was stricken ont in the passaoe of the bill through the Senate, and can not be found in the body of it. Through an error of the clerk it still remains in the caption. — Mornivcf t^tar, April 20, 1839. ^The legislature has shown on so many occasions such a vascillating spirit, and too often a disregard of the plighted faith of the nation, !hat the confidence of many persons in our integrity is much impaired, and as the location of the seat of government is only a matter of speculation, the ensuing congress having equal power with the preceding one, may take it into their hands to cancel the act of that body, and make still another location. — Morning Star. June 26, 1839. ""Morninq mar,\l\\\y 27. 1839; cf. ibid.. April 20, June 20. 26, 27. July 5, 8, 77, and 30. ^ •« Kt 1 < ^ t •9 - •» •^ . -^ - * - 1 <■ - *- >. ^ - ^ (s* '^ - ? - 1 s; 1 ^ 2^ ^ ^ OQ ^ ^ V? - Sr ^ 1 < 1 - 1 im I ti ! s^ * JTomey C£n: ^ ■>■ ^ , , '- f * Centra^ I AND ornce % ^i_ l5 r ■f CO. px ^ " to f - ' ] 5 . X* °« - ■jf/Tsr ? — ;:: — " sr -n - nmiaorrsuousf ' ^ r-T- — i; — U- t-t n - °? '-' , -J ^ , »- < s 1_ "^ ^ »«> ^ h , vj - f ^ ■C 1 c. Plan of the City op Austin, Drawn by L. J. Pilie, 1839. The original is a lithograph 18x24 inches in size. The above repro- duction of a tracing omits the figures indicating the dimensions of the lots and blocks. The Seat of Government of Texas. 229 most of them with tlio intention of purchasing property on which to establish themselves as permanent settlers, others for the pur- pose of investing capital in the enterprise. . . . Man)' private individuals have their buildings already finished, with the purpose of immediately erecting them on their making a l)urchase, and we can scarcely inuigine a more lieart-stirring and cheering sight than will be jiresented at Austin during the time of the sale and after. Although the Cherokee War diverted attention from Austin and centered it upon the eastern portion of the Eepublic at the very time when the first sale of lots was to occur, an eager throng of purchasers gathered on the day fixed, August 1st. SheriflE Charles King of Bastrop county was the auctioneer. ^ The sale continued for one day. Two hundred and seventeen lots, one-third of the whole number, were sold at prices ranging from $120 for the lowest to $2,r00 for the highest. The total sales amounted to $300,000. The formal laimchiug of the new city was regarded as satisfactory and auspicious. 3. Erection of the Public Fhiildingi<. Section 14 of the act for the permanent location of the seat of government provided for the erection of the public buildings at the site selected by the commissioners. It reads thus: Be it further enacted. That the President be, and he is hereby duly authorized and empowered to contract for all necessary public buildings, offices, &c., and draw on the treasurer for all such sums of money as may be necessary for the completion of the same.^ Section 1 of a supplementary act is as follows : Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Eepresentntives of the RepuhUc of Texas in Congress assemhJed, That the President be, and he is hereby required to have erected at the point which may be selected for the location of the Seat of Government, agreeable to the provisions of the act to which this is a supplement, such buildings as he may -deem necessary for the accommodation of the fourth an- nual Congress of this Eepuldic. together with the President and cabinet and other officers of the Government : Provided. Such loca- 'IMrs. Julia Tips C4oet]i, The Fir.ft Hale of Town Lots in Austin, in The Austin Daily Statesman, March 19, 1905. ^Latcs of the Republic of Texas, Pa.