Nesbitt Memorial Library Journal, Volume 9, Number 3, September 1999 Page: 160

Nesbitt Memorial Library Journal

which margined the bay suggested to my mother,
the name Evergreen, which name it has always
borne.
This part of the bay was the residence
of a number of old Texans. Opposite us was New
Washington, the home of Col. Jas. Morgan, com-
mandant of Galveston Island, and adjoining him
that of Gen. Sidney Sherman, who had com-
manded the left wing of the army at San Jacinto.
"Allenwood," the home of A. C. Allen, the
founder of Houston, was four miles below us on
the bay, and "Headquarters," the residence of
Col. Ashbel Smith, who was at that time foreign
minister to France, was a mile or two back of us,
adjoining the place of Col. Amasa Turner, who
had been a captain at San Jacinto. Still farther
down was the home of Gen. Sam Houston and a
few miles above us that of Judge David G. Bur-
net, who was the first president of the republic,
so that one can easily surmise that the social
atmosphere was of an elevated and charming
character, enlivened as it often was by the nu-
merous visitors of the different families. Much
of the visiting was done in sail boats, and often in
the long summer evenings, with the blue arched
sky above us, we sailed home bathed in the sil-
very light of the moon which shed its lustrous
beauty over the scene; while the boat wafted by
white winged sails left a roadway of gold on the
surface of the waves, we passed by islands
grouped amid the murmuring waters, glided by
darkling cedars and snowy beach whereon the
chanting waves poured forth their mournful
prophecy of song.
In the latter part of the spring of 1841,
extensive preparations were being made for an
armed expedition to New Mexico. Texas laid
some claim to that territory, and Santa Fe, its
capital, was an important mercantile point. About
this time a Mr. Hudson, a young gentleman and
native of New York, came to visit Col. Ashbel
Smith, and to get my father's legal advice in ref-
erence to a marriage which he had contracted
on the way out from New York. Having taken

the sea voyage on an outward bound ship to
Galveston, the young people, to relieve the mo-
notony, diverted themselves with a pretended
marriage, Mr. Hudson and a young lady from
New York being the principals in the farce. Af-
ter the ceremony, the captain who had officiated
claimed that he was legally authorized to per-
form marriage ceremonies. The young people
were willing to abide by the marriage but the
parents of the young lady objected, and on arriv-
ing in port, immediately reembarked for New
York, carrying the young lady with them. Mr.
Hudson was deeply interested in the matter, but
the young lady would not leave her parents with-
out their consent, so throwing up the business
engagements for which he had started to Texas,
he joined the command of Gen. Hugh McCloud,
and took up the line of march for Santa Fe. From
letters written by him to a friend is derived the
following account of his adventures. Sanguine
of success, they started off in high spirits, pass-
ing through a marvelously diversified country, and
they had some hair-breadth escapes in fighting
their way through the Indian country. Herds of
buffalo and wild horses roamed the vast plains,
or were hidden in the impenetrable forests. The
danger of capturing them gave additional zest to
the pleasure of the hunting parties who were sent
out to provide meat for the expedition. For a while
the expedition journeyed prosperously, having fine
weather, and being abundantly supplied with
game, until about a month after their departure,
when it was found that their guides showed
symptoms of uncertainty regarding the route, fre-
quently changing their course toward every point
of the compass. They were at length compelled
to acknowledge that they had lost their way.
Game had now become scarce and water
scarcely obtainable, and they soon began to suf-
fer privation of food. Disease now began to make
its inroads upon them. Food became more scarce,
and at last they were reduced to the necessity of
subsisting upon lizards, frogs or whatever else
could satisfy the craving of hunger. Despair had

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