The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 25, July 1921 - April, 1922 Page: 173

                                
The Last Treaty of the Republic of Texas

sired only to keep them back from the settlements; the Texans
wanted them removed or exterminated. And this serves to ex-
plain why the Texans soon substituted rangers in the place of
federal soldiers on the frontier. The rangers were Indian exter-
minators; the soldiers were only guards.
This swift and silent realignment of forces meant little to the
Indian. Such subtlety was not for his mind; his cunning was of
a different sort. Had not the Great White Chief given him       the
paper?   Had not all agreed to live in peace?      The Indian did
not know how quickly brush can grow in the road which the white
man has made and called clean. But as the warmth remains
after the fire is dead, so did the friendship of the Indian con-
tinue after the policy which had engendered it had been reversed.
The proof of this statement is found in two facts: (1)         The
Texas frontier enjoyed comparative peace from the time of an-
nexation until near 1850, due as much, no doubt, to the relation-
ship established by the Republic as to the presence of a few
clumsy dragoons on the border. (2)        The federal government
was able to conclude, almost immediately, a treaty with all Texas
tribes. The agents arrived at Post No. 2 in February, 1846.5"
Within three months the treaty was made and signed at the old
Council Ground on Tahuacarro creek.5" One cannot well believe
that this quick and effective work was due to the superior ability
and skill of the United States agents; it was due more to the
effective work which had been done in preparation by Sam Hous-
ton and Superintendent Thomas G. Western and the corps of
faithful agents and workers under their command.
Here ends the story of the last treaty. Coming as it did in
the twilight zone when Texas was losing her identity as a nation
to become a state, it has escaped so far the attention of the his-
torian. It marks the end of a policy and the birth of an attitude
towards the Indians. It affords a vantage point from which to
survey the Indian affairs of the Republic. From the same point
one can see the destiny and the doom of the Texas Indians.
"Williams to Western, February 21, 1846. Williams was doubtful as
to how he should receive these commissioners.
"U. S. Indian Treaty, May 15, 1846. The U. S. treaty was made be-
tween P. M. Butler and M. G. Lewis and 63 Indians, including chiefs of
the Comanches, Wacos, Keechies, Tonkoways, Wichitas, and Tahuacarros
It was amended and ratified by the U. S. senate February 15, 1847, and
signed by President Polk March 8, 1847.

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