The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 41, July 1937 - April, 1938 Page: 205
383 p. : maps ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Almonte's Inspection of Texas in 1884
civilization made it impossible for them to comprehend coloniza-
tion requirements.15
A most interesting conference was held about forty miles north-
east of Nacogdoches on June 1, between Almonte, accompanied
by Colonel Bean, and some five hundred members of the Cherokee,
Choni, Kikapoo, Creek, Delaware, Chacta, and Nacogdoches tribes.
The plaint of the Chief of the Cherokees was that Mexico had
failed to allocate permanently lands to his people in conformity
with a promise made eight years earlier, and that consequently
they were exposed to the danger of being despoiled of their cul-
tivated lands by the Anglo-Americans, who had secured grants
from the state governments. Almonte diplomatically allayed the
fears of the Indians by assuring them that their welfare was a
matter of concern to the government, and that his visit was an
indication of the interest which Mexico and the Presidenit felt in
them. Rather naively he reported: "They seemed well satisfied."
Estimating that the membership of the aforesaid tribes on Texas
soil totaled 3,400 in 1834, Almonte concluded his report of the
conference by submitting a farsighted recommendation to the
Mexican government. He advised that these tribes be settled,
but not in the manner used with the white settlers; rather, that
they be assigned lands whose limits were marked by natural
features, such as rivers or hills, because they could understand
no other delineation.1
As had been anticipated by the ministry when Almonte's instruc-
tions were drawn, the arrest and imprisonment of Austin had
important bearing upon the inspection of the province of Texas.
All evidence points to an agreeable relationship of long standing
between Austin and Almonte, but personal considerations neither
blinded Almonte to his duties as Mexican commissioner nor tem-
pered his recommendations. Nevertheless, it is pleasing to note
that Austin rightly placed confidence in the fairness of the inspector
and that their friendship was renewed after Almonte's return to
Mexico in the fall of 1834. In his earliest reports from Nacog-
doches, Almonte referred to the official reproof of Austin issued
by the ayuntamientos of San Felipe, Brazoria, and Harrisburg.
How surprising it seems that Austin's innumerable services to
l5Almonte to Secretary of Foreign Relations, May 5, 1834, ibid., No. 17.
16Almonte to Secretary of Foreign Relations, June 16, 1834, ibid., No. 31.205
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 41, July 1937 - April, 1938, periodical, 1938; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101103/m1/227/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.