The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 40, July 1936 - April, 1937 Page: 201
348 p. : maps ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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The First Newspaper of Texas: Gaceta De Texas
ritory, but it was also the first time that printing occurred within
the entire realm of Spain's colonies in North America without
censorship of the press.4 Hence the first Texas newspaper has an
added merit-that of being the first imprint made in Spain's
colonies in North America according to the principle of the free-
dom of the press. This asserted merit may be accepted, since, at
the time of the printing of the "Gaceta," Texas, although legally
remaining a Spanish colony had proclaimed independence and had
destroyed every vestige of Spanish authority.
The knowing editors of the "Gaceta" not only denied the sole
opportunity to later historians of proclaiming the importance of
the appearance of this newspaper in Spain's colonies in North
America but also withheld the privilege of praising and of con-
ferring distinction upon the first printer in Texas. In a separate
column they glorify him:
"A citizen of the United States of America, A. Mower,5 living
in Philadelphia and having a public press of considerable reputa-
tion . . . abandoned all his interests and tranquillity which he
enjoyed in the bosom of his family in order to come to offer his
services to the Mexican patriots . . . today he has the satisfac-
tion to be the first to give to the public a paper printed in the
state of Texas. . . . Mower will find eternal gratitude and
recognition in the generous hearts of the true republicans of this
country.""
Contrary to plans of the editors and Mower, the "Gaceta De
Texas," however, failed to achieve the final honor by thirty-seven
and a half leagues7 of being the first newspaper printed on Texas
4"Reflexions" in Gaceta De Texas, Nacogdoches, 25 de Mayo, de 1813,
p. 1.
"Aaron Mower. The name is verified by the letters of William Shaler
and a Mr. Cogswell. "Colonel Nathaniel Cogswell to General Guti6rrez
and Magee, Pittsburgh (State of Pennsylvania, U. S.), December 29,
1812, "an exact copy produced in the Public Testimony of Cogswell in
Natchitoches, May 28, 1813, Special Agents, William Shaler, .1810, II,
MS., State Dept.; William Shaler, Agent of the United States near the
constituted authorities of New Spain, received the testimonies of Aaron
Mower, H. A. Bullard and Samuel Alden, Nacogdoches, Province of Texas,
May 28, 1813, ibid.
"Noticias Extrangeras" in Gaceta De Texas, Nacogdoches, 25 de Mayo,
de 1813, p. 2.
7"A Topographical Report on Texas" enclosed by Shaler, in his letter
to Monroe sent from Natchitoches May 7, 1812, in Special Agents, William
Shaler, 1810, II, MS., State Dept.; Almonte, Juan N., "Statistical Report201
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 40, July 1936 - April, 1937, periodical, 1937; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101099/m1/223/?rotate=90: accessed May 8, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.