The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 26, July 1922 - April, 1923 Page: 12

12 Southwestern Historical Quarterly
militia; that he be given authority to establish blockhouses, forts,
and trading posts at his discretion; and that he be given power
to secure the peace of the Indians by sending agents among them,
by making treaties with the various tribes and by giving them
presents.29 In accordance with that part of the act authorizing
the president to employ such forces as he might deem necessary
for the protection of the frontier, the Secretary of War, William
S. Fisher, with the consent of Houston, detailed Lieutenant Colonel
Lysander Wells as commander on the frontier from the River
Guadalupe to the Sabine.30
During the winter and spring of 1837, the frontier of Texas
was in a very unsettled condition on account of Indian depreda-
tions.31 Some time in the spring Houston had sent Bowl, the
Cherokee chief, to try to conciliate the prairie Indians. Bowl
claimed that he was poorly received by the wild Indians and said
that he and his tribe would join in a war against them.32 It
seemed that further protection was required. Besides the natural
friction which existed between the Indians and the white settlers,
there was the additional disturbance caused by Mexican emis-
saries among the savages urging them to make war on the Texans.3"
The second session of the first congress met May 1-June 13, 1837,
at Houston. A joint committee on Indian affairs reported May
20, recommending active operations against the hostile Indians.
In describing the condition of the frontier the committee said:
that the several tribes near the extreme western settlements had
been and still were hostile; that murders and depredations were
of almost daily occurrence; that the Indians had penetrated even
below the San Antonio road, and had murdered several citizens
on the Brazos, Trinity and Neches Rivers; and that unless means
of repelling their aggressions were speedily increased, their at-
tacks, robberies, and murders would spread extensively and prob-
29Journal of the House of Representatives of the Republic of Texas, 1
Congress, 1 Session, 171-172; Gammel, Laws of Texas, I, 1113-1114.
"Winkler (editor), Secret Journals of the Senate of the Republic of
Texas, May 10, 1837, 47.
S"Yoakum, History of Texas, II, 213.
"Telegraph and Texas Register, June 20, 1837.
"Ilbid., II, 227; Journal of the House of Representatives, 1 Congress, 2
Session, 12. Manuscript: Vicente Cordova to Manuel Flores, July 19,
1838. Indian Affairs, Texas State Library.