The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 70, July 1966 - April, 1967 Page: 30
728 p. : maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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30 Southwestern Historical Quarterly
Another case involved one John Williams, locally known as
"the famous drinker," which was no small distinction in those
days. He came careening into Tenoxtitlan on horseback with a
pistol in his belt, and, after rearing and plunging in all direc-
tions, attempted to shoot a peaceful Choctaw, who took out
through the brush for parts unknown. A group of indignant
Anglo-Americans set out in pursuit of Williams, tied him hand
and foot, and sent him down to San Felipe for trial. Thus a
group of whites sided against another white to, protect a help-
less Indian.29 Justice-not race, color, or creed-was the important
thing in those days.
The official ban against Anglo-Americans was not rigidly
enforced in Tenoxtitlan, for Francis Smith was operating a gen-
eral merchandise store there as early as July, 183130 His goods
came from Cincinnati and New Orleans to the firm of A. G. and
R. Mills in Brazoria, and from there were transported overland
up the Brazos to Tenoxtitlan. At first they were carried over the
last lap by pack horses or oxcarts, but by March, 1832, Smith had
saved enough money to order "a first rate large ox waggon for
the road with an English bed well turned up before" and tires at
least two inches wide, to support heavy loads through the Brazos
River bottoms.
Smith was making so much money that he literally did not
know what to do with it. He estimated that $40,000 worth of
Indian produce could be taken in during the following year, pro-
vided he could lay in a sufficient supply of Indian goods to trade
for it. His problem was how to, get his money down to Brazoria
to pay for new goods. He could not afford to close his store and
make the trip himself, since he was the only merchant in town
who had anything to sell of consequence, and transportation was
so uncertain that he did not dare send his money by anyone else.
By "Indian produce" Smith meant furs. The Cherokees, Shaw-
nees, Delawares, and Kickapoos had had an extremely successful
season at trapping beaver that winter. The extent of the territory
served by Smith's store and the drawing power of his merchan-
"gFrancisco Ruiz to Austin, August 18, 1832, ibid., 845.
8oNestor Clay to Stephen F. Austin, July 27, 183x (MS., Unpublished Austin
Papers, Archives, University of Texas Library).
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 70, July 1966 - April, 1967, periodical, 1967; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101199/m1/48/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.