The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 2, July 1898 - April, 1899 Page: 157
[335] p. : ill. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Enduring Laws of the Republic.
The commissioners selected by the Senate were A. C. Horton and
1. W. Burton, and those selected by the House of Representatives
were William Menefee, Isaac Campbell, and Louis Cooke. Edwin
Waller was the surveyor. These gentlemen entered upon their
duties with all convenient dispatch in the designated territory. Ac-
cording to their report2 of April 1, 1839, to the president, the site
of the hamlet of Waterloo, on the left bank of the Colorado, was
selected as the proper place for the permanent seat of government,
and a tract of land consisting of one league and two-thirds of a
league and two labors, or about 7000 acres, was purohased at the
maximum price of three dollars per acre.
The report is lengthy and somewhat verbose and grandiloquent
in expression. The fertility of the soil, the beauty of the situa-
tion, the salubrity of the climate, and the grand mountain scenery
are all noted by the enraptured commissioners, and, while stating
that the chosen site for the capital is directly on the great trail
of Mexicans and Indians from East Texas to Matamoras and at its
intersection with the main route for trade between the Gulf of
Mexico and Santa Fe, they fail not to enlarge on the prospects of
building upon this spot a great national city.
Later on, an area of one mile square extending from the river into
the open prairie was surveyed by General Edwin Waller and laid
out in lots for the prospective city of Austin, and the public build-
ings were erected ,on contract in due time. In October the presi-
dent and cabinet approaching ,the new capital were welcomed by a
crowd of citizens headed by Ed Burleson and Albert Sidney John-
ston and ,escorted into the city. The distinguished officials were
royally entertained at Bullock's Hotel, where were gathered the
beauty 'and chivalry of the Republic. "The elegant dinner," (we are
told), "provided under the immediate supervision 'of Madame Bul-
lock reflected great credit on that lady's taste and superior judg-
ment, displayed in the arrangement of the table and the delicacies
which graced the festive board."3
The fourth congress convened at the new capital 'on November
11, 1839.
The present city hall on the northeast corner of Eighth and Colo-
8 Box No. 33, vault No. 2, archives Department of State, Austin.
8 Austin City Gazette, Oct. 30, 1839.157
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Texas State Historical Association. The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 2, July 1898 - April, 1899, periodical, 1898/1899; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101011/m1/161/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.