The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 10, July 1906 - April, 1907 Page: 35

The Louisiana-Texas Frontier.

documents at New Orleans relating to the limits of Louisiana.1
In March, 1788, Don Angel Angelino prepared a map of the prov-
ince of Texas, evidently from data furnished by Evia's expedition,
but our authority contains no description of it.2 Later Mir6 urged
the adoption of the Sabine as the boundary and the establishment
of reciprocal commerce between his province and Texas. The Eng-
lish, meaning the people of the newly established United States,
would now be kept away from the Mississippi, so there would be no
danger in establishing free trade between the two provinces. This
suggestion is in keeping with the 'determination 'of the Spaniards
to deprive the United States of the use of the Mississippi, or of
any establishment upon its banks below the Ohio. Mir6's advocacy
of the Sabine as the boundary did not appear to make that sugges-
tion any more acceptable to the Spanish home government In
1799 the map of Don Juan de Langara4 was published, and upon
this the Sabine was given as the boundary. This map was later
criticised by a Spanish writer as purely maritime and prepared
when the question of limits was of little importance, and there-
fore a map that could not be cited upon that point.5 An American
criticises it as being on too small a scale, and like all others extant,
as failing to give an adequate idea of the coast between the Missis-
sippi and the Sabine.6
Comparatively little was added to the store of geographical
knowledge concerning the Louisiana-Texas frontier by travelers
and explorers during this period. Important visitas of the Texas
establishments occurred in 1762 and 1767.' The inspection of
Marques de Rubi in 1767 has already been mentioned, but this,
as in the case of the preceding, only incidentally touched upon
geographical details. The map of the engineer la Fora, who ac-
companied Rubi, is interesting as showing the position of Texas with
reference to its neighbors on the south and west, but it gives no ac-
curate information regarding the eastern boundary of that prov-
Hlistoria XLIII, Doc. LXXIII, Par. 16.
'Ibid, Pars. 8, 18. \
'Historia XLIII, Doc. IXXIII, Par. 19.
'Historia XLIII, Opicsculo I, Pars. 18, 71.
'Ibid.
'Claiborne Correspondence IV, D. Clark to Jefferson.
'Memorias de Nueva Espaa, XXVIII 170, XXVII 374.