The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 60, July 1956 - April, 1957 Page: 350
616 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Southwestern Historical Quarterly
her vast public domain, she continued for years to give away land
only a little less prodigally than franc-prosperous GI's in Paris at
the end of World War II gave away their paper money.
Bowie's fidelity to the Texas colonists in their uprising against
Mexico remains clear and uncompromising. If he considered that
what was good for Bowie's land and military interests was good
for Texas also, he knew from intimate experience that the Mexican
system was not. He is constantly referred to as Colonel Bowie,
but evidence that he held a military commission is lacking."2 He
did not need a commission to lead. He belonged to the "war
party" before fighting actually began. He won the initial skirmish,
called the battle of Concepci6n, at San Antonio in October, 1835.
He is credited with having persuaded various Mexican citizens at
San Antonio to side with the Texans. The simplicity and direct-
ness of fighting must have been a great relief to him after years
of unsuccessful dealing with marked cards in the land game.
He had orders from General Sam Houston to demolish the
Alamo and abandon it, but on February 2, 1836, he wrote:
"Colonel Neill and myself have come to the solemn resolution
that we will rather die in these ditches than give it up to the
enemy." Neill left for the colonies, and then a bitter struggle
began between Colonel Travis and Bowie for the supreme com-
mand. Austin, of refined integrity and unflagging devotion to
the people for whom he felt responsible, but unfitted for military
command, opposed Bowie as an adventurer out for personal gain.
Primitive-fibered Houston valued him as a leader of "prompti-
tude and manliness" and rated him above other subordinates in
"forecast, prudence and valor." The volunteers voted for him
over Travis, a "regular."
For a brief time Travis and Bowie shared the command,
though Bowie became so dissentious that Travis and his command
moved to the Medina River, a few miles south, and camped,
temporarily. Bowie, according to an official report written by
270n January 12, 1836, a committee of the Provisional Council of Texas charged
the provisional governor with having "directed the commanding general of the
regular army of Texas to issue orders to James Bowie, ... said Bowie not being
an officer of the government nor army...." W. Roy Smith, "The Quarrel between
Governor Smith and the Council of the Provisional Government of the Republic,"
Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, V, 327.350
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 60, July 1956 - April, 1957, periodical, 1957; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101163/m1/379/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.