The Northern Standard. (Clarksville, Tex.), Vol. 1, No. 2, Ed. 1, Saturday, August 27, 1842 Page: 1 of 4
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THE NORTHERN STANDARD.
CHAS. DE MORSE
LON& SHALL OUR BANNER BRAVE THE BREEZE THE STANDARD OF THE FREE.
EEMTOFfAND PROPRIETOR.
e
P
VOL. I.
PUBLISHED WEEKLY BY C. OE MORSE.
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AGENTS FOR THE STANDARD.
-Teatis G. Wrioht P.M. Pine Creek.
Saxcxt M. Fulton P. M Franklin Lamar Co.
"Villiam Bbown Paris Lamar Co.
Clatsobne Chisum Paris Lamar Co.
Jmsb SHK.TON P. M. Fort Shelton Lamar Co.
J. "A. Caldwell Warren Fannin Co.
BaILYT Ekolish P. M Fort English Fannin Co:
D. Rowlkt P. M Lexington Fannin Co.
J. G. Joottt.P.M. Raleigh Fannin Co.
J. J. Willum5:P. M. De Kalb Bowie Co.
Geo. E. H. TaaaANT Bowie Co.
Hon. Jesse Getmes Montgomery Co.
A- Stxrte P. M- Nacogdoches.
Tratis G. Broom P. MJ San Augustine.
C. K. Akdkwi Harrison Co.
Col. James Love Galveston.
James B. Shaw Esq. Houston.
Col. G. T- Wood Liberty.
John W. Habjlbos La Grange.
B. M. JoiiasoN Washington.
8im'l B. BRiCHAM.-Mataeord.
Hildeua" Literary Depotj Louisville Ky.
Mobgax & Co. Literary Depot New Orleans.
S. Mabid P.M-Fulton Ark.
Chaiu.es Hood Esq. Washington-Ark.
Briar & Taknehill Nashville Tenn.
Col. D. P. Abmstionc Knorrille Tenn.
J. E. MoNTGoMzitT Linimlle Giles County Tenn.
L. S. Houghton Vickabarg Miss.
Loeenzo Delano P. M- Park Hill Cherokee Na-
tion. James Haeeison Esq. St Louis Missouri.
From the Neic Orleans Picayune.
THE TEXAN SANTA FE EXPEDITION.
BT GEORGE W. XEb'DALX.
Bcfors commencing a series of articles upon this
ill-fated and unfortunate expedition the writer nfthis
Oeo. Willans Kendall who was along with the ex-
rtxHiririn nflciifope if ni mnrfl Irinn on ! f lit"-1 &
himself and lriends to state distinctly v connection
wita.andthe reasons which induced him to join
it ; and as in a narrai5 of thla knd u impossible to
utewith cleaess the editorial pronoun we he trusts
that hfewill be -excused for taking up the personal .
L In nw oilier Way could he rnakehitnself understood.
To begin at once then; in the early part of April
1 84 1 1 determined upon making a tour in some di-
rection upon the great Western prairies induced in
the first place by the hope that I might recover a
slight derangement of health and in the second from
a strong desire to visit regions inhabited alone by the
roaming Indian as well as to partake in the wild ex-
citement of buffalo hunting and other sports of a bor-
der and prairie life.
Alter determining to make a trip of this kind my
next object was to fix upon the route I should take.
Mr. Field one of the assistant editors of the Picayune
had made the journey to Santa Fe by way of St.
Louis and Independence Mo. and a scries of articles
written by him upon the subject of his adventures had
been extremely popular and generally copied by the
press cf the United States To travel by this route
would be but going over an old and beaten road but
Istill determined upon taking it if no other offered.
Towards the 1st May a number of young men of
my acquaintance started the project of a trip to the
prairies taking either FortTotvson or Fort Gibson
rath route and roaming over the Osage hunting
grounds and a part of that section visited by Wash-
ington Irving in his foray upon the prairies. While
canvassing the chances and merits of a trip of this
kind I met with Maj. Geo. T. Howard who was
then in this city purchasing goods for the Texan San-
ta Fe expedition an expedition which he informed
me would positively leave Austin about the last of
May or the first of June. The objects of this expedi-
tion were to. open a trade with the people of New
Mexico by abroad supposed to be much nearer than
that by St. Louis as well as to ascertain if the people
of that country were willing to come under the Tex-
an flag they having previously manifested a desire
to join the new Republic and had een sent commis-
sioners to Austin for that purpose at least it was so
reported. Texas "I well new claimed to the Rio
Grande and as that portion of New Mexico to which
the traders were bound was situated on this or the
Texan side of the river the idea that an expedition s.i
ourelv commercial in its asne-t was intended for a
hostile invasion of Mexico never entered the mind of
any one. That a military force of some three hund-
red men accompanied it is well known and it is equal-
ly well known that the route across the prairies was
directly through the very heart ot the Uamancbe and
Wakee country Indians alike hostile to both Mexi
cans and Texans and in a country so infested on its
holders as Texas Is where a man hardly dares go to
his breakfast or to catch his horse without his rifle it
cannot be considered strange that a military force re
ally not Largerthan those that accompanied the early
Missouri expeditions should be sent along with this.
Large as it was however it was not sufficient lor the
purposes intended many valuable lives Having been
lost and a large number of horses stolen by the Indi
ans we encountered on the route. I have made these
remarks to counteract assertions which have appear-
ed ta a few of the public prints that the military fore
-- -"Spoken of above was enlisted to act alone against
Mexico.
' I might here mention that before I determined to
accompany the Texan expedition it was stated that a
company was to leave some point high up on Red
. -"V!jRier for Santa"F to be under the direction and con-
: Mtrol of CoL liutler. it was given up nowever; oui
-v N 1 T . ..J T at...l.l l.M.a f.Mimnvntwl ntlTV
rj. TV 1 JQ. D. SWIieu s euuuiu iiu.i. u...j.... .-..
nLQuxydetermination after having made up mytnind
a to Join tnc xexan upeaiuou iu .. .....
El v.r mrdinir Santa "Fe or nt that place.and then
' . . .rlf..!.. LiBthniT tlir rilirc PI
make ne enure icuroi iicAn.u imui.j...v....-.i
CLAfeSVILLE AUGUST
Chihuahua Durango Zacatccas San Louis Potosi-
Guanajuato and others on the road to the capital-
This determination I made known to all my friends
in this city and not one of them thought that I wns
in any way compromising myself as an American
citizen or lorfeiting my right to protection by the
course I was pursuing. By a law of Mexico a per-
son is prohibited from entering that Republic through
the territory of Texas a law I must acknowledge
myself at that time ignorant of but the only penalty
for this offence if I understand it right is the being
ordered to leave the territory of Mexico by the near-
est road. This is a penalty I would have been plea-
sed to have had imposed on me. at any time while I
was a prisoner in Mexico anVFcno which I should
have obeyed with promptness. Had the Mexican
authorities allowed me to take my own course after
taking me prisoner and had followed in the footsteps
I should have made out of their territory they would
have found what in nautical parlance is termed a
straight wake or what Western hunters call a Jee
line.
Having made every other preparation for my tour
through Texas and Mexico and here I might state
thatprcviously l had never been m eitncrcountry i
went on Saturday the 15th May. 1841 in company
with Jas. H. Brewer Esq. to the office of Senor Sal-
vador Prats the then Mexican Vice-Consul and ob-
tained from him a passport a passport which gave
me the liberty of entering as an American citizen a-
ny place in the Republic of Mexico. Of the manner
in which said document was given to and aftarwards
taken from me I shall speak in the proper place.
Having fortified myself in this manner for the pea
ceable prosecution ol my proposed tour ana with in-
tentions the most pacific toward both the countries
through which I was to pass I left this city on the
17th May in the steamship New York for Galveston.
Of the state of leelingin Texas at the time as regards
the Santa Fe expedition with other matters in rela-
tion to it I shall speak in my next.
On the 19th May I arrived at Galveston and there
found every one talking of the proposed expedition.
It was looked upon by the majority as nothing more
than a pleasant hunting excursion through a large
tract of country a country previously unknown to
and untrodden by white men. A part of this. section
was said to abound with buffalo and all sons of game
fish wild honey -d in. .--cv6ry thing calculated to
render the trir '"'Cresting to one fund -riho wild
..- i tin xvnnno nnn nrairiM Tit if ot f Yinvr emir)
MWI bftJW VWWI Uu AlIUSlllMij lUtj UU A UU W (Jlt
before the larger portion was a perfect terraxncogni-
la and all were anxious to explore it.
At Galveston I met with young Frank Coombs
son of Ucn. .Leslie loombs of Kentucky who had
determined upon accompanying the expedition. With
him I started for Houston that evening mid the next
morning we were at the former scat of government
Here all was bustle and preparation. A company
had been formed Jt Houston and all were busy in
making arrangements for their departure for Austin.
from whence the expedition was to take up the line
of march for Santa F6. Hardly a word was said of
a collision with the inhabitants of New Mexico; but
on the contrary a chase after buffalo or abrufh with
the Comanches oj some of the hostile tribes known
to be wanderiog.about the immense Western prairies
were the prinrjl topics of conversation. Old cam-
paigners and hunters were among them and the wild
stories they told of their forays upon the borders and
beyond the borders of civilization of their hairbreadth
'scapes and encounters with bears rattlesnakes Com
anches buffalo and ot her inhabitants of the boundless
and interminable prairies with the thousand and one
tales of the marvellous thesefrontier leatherstockings
always have at their command either ready made
or which they can readily make all served to render
those who had already made up their minds to start
upon the trip more eager than ever and induced the
lukewarm to " pack up" and join the expedition.
In Houston I remained some three or four days
during which lime I purchased a good and -servicea
ble horse lor the campaign and made other arrange-
ments necessary for my comfort And here lshould
return thanks to Capt. Hudson and also to Ls Lub
bock and Ostrander for their kind invitation to mess
with them as a" guest" an invitation 1 was compel-
led reluctantly to decline. The letters which passed
at the time plainly defined the relation in which I
stood with the fcanta Fe expedition and these letters
were stolen from me in New Mexico.
After remaining as'above stated some three or four
days at Houston J left for Austin in company with
Frank Coombs. On arriving at the latter place I
soon understood that the traders ivould not leave lor
some ten days or a fortnight This I did not regret
as it gave me an opportunity of visiting San Antonio
and that section bv far the most interesting portion of
Texas. At Austin I became acquainted with Mr.
Falconer an English scientific gentleman who had
concluded to joiu the expedition. Mr. F. was going
to San Antonio on business with one or two of his
friends and with Frank Coombs I determined upon
accompanying him making a party as we thought
strong enough to protect us against any of the small
bands of hostile Indians known to infest the road be-
tween Austin and San Antonio. The distance is
something like 80 miles the road running across prai
ries and without a house between either city.
The two former Capt. H. and Lt. L. have made their
escape from Mexico ani are now in mis city.
City or Houston 26th March 1842.
To Messrs. A. D. Co6s and N. Watrous Esqrs:
Gentlemen: I have the honor to acknowledge
through you the receipt of a copy of the proceedings
oi a puouc meetmg oi me cuizeas oi aauvis v-uumj
held at the city of Austin on the 16th and I7th inst
on the subiect of an order issued by me to Col. G. W.
Hockley Secretary of War and Navy for the remo
val oi me national arcnives irom me iruuuei w a pw
of security ; and also a remonstrance from the citizens
composing the meeting against their removal and re-
auestinir the Executive "to countermand the order
and to permit the archives to remain at the present
Seal of Government"
From all information received I am fully impress-
ed with the conviction thai Mexico is making prepar
ations for carrying on a war for the subjugation ofi
Tesas; and although the party wno iook ana plun-
dered Sah Antonio have fallen back that is-flfily'for
the purpose of uniting with the forces now upon the
Rio Grande. At what moment the threatened inva
sion may be attempted I havene means of knowing;
nor can it be calculated upon with any certainty. It
is indeed true that the immediate cause which indu-
ced he order for the removal of the archives has for
the time ceased to exist; but there is no assurance that
it may not be renewed in a more formidable shape at
an early period. The Executive is exerting and will
continue to exert all his ability to employ all the
means at his disposal to meet and repel any intended
hostile aggression by Mexico upon the soil of Texas
and to sustain and protect the south-western frontier.
For this purpose it is necessary that he should be for
the present nt a point where he can communicate with
every part of the country and. with the city ot INew
Oi leans promptly. It is also desirable that he should
have with him his cabinet and other functionaries
with the necessary papers for tho despatch of busi
ness. Austin situated at a point remote lrom the sea-
board and almost insulated from the whole country
eminently exposed to attack both by the Indian and
Mexican foe and liable all the time to. become the ve-
ry theatre of war is deemed at this crisis by the Ex-
ecutive to be very unsuitable as a point for carrying
on the multitudinous operations of the Government
The Executive fully appreciates the patriotic dispo-
sition evinced by the citizens of Travis county to de-
fend the national archives at the hazard ot their lives
should they be permitted to remain at Austin and en-
tertains no doubt their pledges to this effect would be
nobly redeemed should invasion press upon them.
Butthe hazards ol war are always great: nor could
the mere possession of the archives at Austin be just
ly corisiJercd a suitable equivalent lor loss ot lilq
which tho contest might occasion even if successful.
The destruction of the national archives would entail
irredeemable injury upon the whole people of Texas;
and their safe preservation should be a consideration
of paramount importance to that officer of the gov-
ernment who is responsible for such safe preserva-
tion. The constitution of the country the supreme
law of the land the expression of the will of the peo-
ple has devolved this high and sacred obligation up-
on the Prestdent Should the infinite evil which a
loss ofthenational archives would occasion fall upon
this country through neglect of imperious constitu-
tional duty he would be culpable in the extreme and
most justly incur the reproach of a whole nation.
While however the President feels constrained un-
der the ronsciounpoo-of his hisrh. resnonsibility and
as an act of proper caution and prudence o place the
archives in a place of the greatest security he can
not perceive that this measure should createany addi
tional alarm to the citizens of the west It is alrea-
dy known upon that frontier that active preparations
are now making for the war with which we are threa
tened; and that n hether the archives remain at Aus
tin or hot U will be prosecuted with nil the means in
our power until our independence is recognized by
Mexico. The guarding of the archives at Austin
will necessarily detach many very efficient citizens
from useful service in the field and their being allow-
ed to remain there will in the opinion of the Presi-
dent be subjecting them to useless and unnecessary
hazard whilst it would diminish the means of national
defence.
The President begs leave to express his sincere es
teem and respect for the very respectable portion of
his Jellow-cilizens of 1 ravis county whose opinions
have been communicated to him through you gentle-
men; and while he regrets most deeply that the pre
sent emergency prevents him from compliance with
the present requests he hops the reasons now assign
ed undera consciousness of events which have trans
pired oince thedatc of their meeting will be satisfacto-
ry; and that as patriotic citizens they will sustain
him in the course which circumstances have compel-
led him to adopt
From the fact of the Seat of Government being at
Austin; has arisen the present confusion in the coun-
try. IntL-lligencc was necessarily senttherefrom the
point of attack. Rumors came to the densly inhabi-
ted portions of Texas whilst direct intelligence was
delayed. Had the facts been known on the sea-board
and in the middle of Texasj the whole population
would not have been called out at this important sea
son of cropping. So long as the Seat of Government
remains detached the country will be naoieto similar
events. To prevent much evil and do good was the
origin of the order which I gave to the Secretary of
war ana iNavy ana which is reneweu.
Be pleased toaccept for yourselves gentlemen the
assurances of the sincere regard and respect with which
I have the honor to be
Your obedient servant
SAM HOUSTON.
Austin 1 Ith April 1842.
His Excclltney Sam Houston Presideut bc.
Sir: Your letter of March 26th ult addressed to
Messrs Combs and Watrous has been laid before the
undersigned citizens of the county of Travis and Bas-
UUUj 111 jjUUIll. lllbLIIUj uuu .. . ...... ... ....
... n V...HII. mflotnt. nnn it tciviin rrrnnr rnrrrtr
they find that their just and reasonaote expectawons oi
your rescinding tne order recently issuea to me sec-
retary of War and Navy for the removal of the na
tional archives from the Seat of Government to Hous
ton have been disappointed. Vyhen the information
was received here that such an order had been given.
no one believed for a moment that you would have
directed its execution had you been present ana ac
auainted with the condition of the country and the on
lv excitement produced by it in the public mind was
occasioned by the declarations of the Secretary of
War that he would not suspend its execution until
correct information could be communicated to you
allcdging as his reason that tho order was not predi-
cated upon any supposed invasion of the country by a
Mexican force or upon a belief that the archives were
not as safe in Austiin at the time the order was issued
as they had been at any previous period since thay
were brought to it; but tfrnt it had its origin in a de-
termination long since formed by you to remove
them to Houston in any event as they had in your
opinion been brought here contrary to law; that Con-
gress had no right to interfere in tHo matter; and that
vou. as the Executive of the nation had the sole and
entire control over them and was tin proper judgeof
the most suitable place lor their de posit
Declarations so startling as these to minds unac
customed to the untramclicd operations of law could
27 1842.
not fail to produce gieal surprise and much excite
ment; out ctcnin the midst of that excitement there
were lew who could believe that vour opinions and
sentiments had been correctly reprcsented'by the Sec-
retary of War much less that you would ever be
found avowing doctrines so subversive of the princi-
ples of republican government; but in this as in many
other things connected with your official course the
citizens of Travis and Bastrop regret to say they have
found themselves much deceived. It isttne yon do
not proclaim in your letter to Messrs. Combs and
Watrous the doctrine that your will is superior to the
law in the positive and unenuivocal term used bv
the Secretary of War in verbal reply to the citizens
who waited upon him in reference to the anbiect: but
your removal of the archives after you had become
sensible that no such emergency as the Constitution
contemplates exists to justify it is in effect equal to
the declaration of Colonel Hockley that your will u
paramount to all law; and that the wishes ofthepco-
jjic us ici; untimely exuresscu mrougn ineir represen-
tatives arc to be wholly disregarded if they happen
not tochimc in with your views of convenience and
propriety. It is unnecessary to call your attention to
that article of the Constitution which declares that
" The President and Heads of Departments shall keep
their offices aUhe Scat of Government unless remov-
ed by permission of Congress unless in cases of em-
ergency in time of war the public interest may re
quire their removal" as it is presumed that you are
acquainted with it; nor cah it be necessary to lemind
you that by an act of Congress the city af Austin was
made the Seat of Government: that the political af
fairs of the nation have been administered here for
nearly three vears r that thrpp inn nf finTre
have been held in this city ; and that no "permission
of Congress" has ever been given for the reraoval of j
the offices of the President and Heads of Departments
from it although great efforts were made by you
while a member of that branch of the Government
to effect it; and still greater efforts were made by
ycitr friends during the lait season without succcss-
although aided with all the lures of executive patron
age and the promises ot olhcial employment
You do not pretend to say that any emergency ex-
ists to justify tlic removal at this time which did not
exist during the last session of Congress or during
the session which you so ably and pertinaciously
though unsuccessfully advocated the measure; or in-
deed during any period of time since they were
brought here by act of Congress? and if you did say
so facts notorious to every one would contradict the
assertion. Our position in reference to Mexico is
now prec..'' what it has been for five years with
the exception thai vve L s continued to grow strong-
er and more capable of defending iarselves while
she has grown weaker and less capable of annoying
us. There has been no change in our Indian rela
tions since thsclose ot your former administration
except such as has grown out of their intimidation
occasioned by the repeated drubbings which have
been given them and which have materially lessen
ed the lrequency ol their incursions upon our borders.
You say however that we are now threatened with
an invasion from Mexico. When we would ask was
the time we were not threatened with invasion? And
why permit such threats at this time to createa panic
under the influence of which the west is to be desola-
ted and the Seat of Government abandoned when on
previous occasions they were only regarded as the
idle vapourings of imbecility? Is it because five hun-
dred thieving marauding Mexicans have been per-
mitted to makea foray into the heart of our country
capture and rob one of our cities with impunity and
to depart unmolested that we are to fly. Government
and all fiom the name of a Mexican invader? That
the torce which captured San Antonio was nothing
but a marauding nartv. composed of bandits and nlun-
derers you wilf not deny as your letter to General
Santa Anna written tnrce days before your communi-
cation to Messrs. Combs and Watrous shows that
you duly appreciated their character and the nature
and objects of their foray notwithstanding you seem
now disposed to give them a designation somewhat
more respectable by saying that they had fallen back
forthe purpose of uniting with the forces upon the
Rio Grande. This apparent discrepancy however
is easily reconciled by the recollection that in writing
to Messrs. Combs and Watrous you were seeking
for arguments to sustain you in your favorite measure
of removing the archives from a placo which unfor-
tunately had never met your favor to another which
from its name and various other personal considera-
tions it has long been known you were determined to
foster with all the patronage of the Government
You say that " from the fact that the Seat of Gov-
ernment being at Austin has arisen the present con-
fusion in the country. Intelligence was necessarily
sent there from the point of attack. Rumors came to
the densely inhabited portions of Texas whilst direct
intelligence was delayed. Had the facts been known
on the seaboard and in middle Texas the whole pop-
ulation would have not been called out" &c. We
would also ask. where should intelligence hare been
sent if notto the Seat of Government? Had the Pre
sident been at his post where the constitution and law
rcnuired him to be he would have received the neces
sary information long before it could have been con-
veyed to him on the sea-board and by being thus ear-
ly informed of the true condition of things he might
have prevented what he now regards as a calamity-
the calling out of tho whole population for no other
purpose than to sec the desolation oi one oi our cities
after the foe had fled beyond the apprehension of dan
ger. Indeed he might have done more; he might
have prevented the desolation ot that very city ana
canturcd every Mexican that approached it. as infor
mation was received at the Seat of Government of
their approach a sufficient time previous to their ar-
rival to have afforded ample opportunities to an ener
getic administration to have thrown a sufficient force
into San Antonio for its protection and the capture of
the enemy.
Tho local position of the Seat of Government so
far from affording any just pretext for the removal of
the archives presents the strongest reason ior ns oc-
jng sustained; as the movements ot tne enemy soum
nt all times be ascertained more readily and correct
ly at this point than at Houston; and consequently
more snecdv measures could be taken to counteract
them.
For the favorable opinion exprcssscd by you of1
NO. 2.
" the patriotic disposition evinced by the citizens of
Travis county to defend the national archives" they
feel grateful although they cannot forget that inre-
ference to this very subject many of them have recent-
ly been denounced as disorganizers and traitors; and1
one of them who all regard as a patriot and arc
proud to acknowledge as an associate has been threa-
tened with the gibbet because he would not tame-
ly submit to a gross and palpable violation of the con-
stitution and laws of his country. Such denunciations
have had and can have no effect on the determination
of the citizens of this portion of the Republic did
tiey consider it necessary however.-to the defence of
their reputation for patriotism and love of country in?
theestimation of ihoe.whase opinion they prize they
vouKt nun mem Dacir as base and loul calumnies
in the teeth of hnn who uUered them ; but their deeds
and acts will afford the better refutation. The people
ot Travis county and the westgenerally; are neither
disorganizers nor traitors. There are none upon
whom the sun shines who would more freely shed
their blood in defence of- the rights and interests of
their country; but ffrey acknowledge no government
except one of laws anc? they recognize no power in
any functionary except suchasfno Constitution and
laws have conferred; and whenever ax attempt shall
be made to trample under foot these rights which the
Constitution and laws guarantee to the citizen: the
people of Travis will be found at theirpost ready to
aejena them at whatever sacrifice the trial may in-
pose. The people ol lexas have descended from a
race which has furnished abundant evidence of its
determination to resist despotism aud even misrule
even when that rlspotism has been attempted under
the imp'ng form allegitimalc royalty : and the feel
ings which gave rise to the most important scenes
wmen wcrcaciea in r.ngiana in tna seventeeth cen-
tury may from similar causes be aroused into action
in the infant Republic of Texas in tho 19th.
With due respect
We have the honor to be
Your obedient servants.
300 signatures omitted for want of space.
UNITED STATES AND TEXAS.
AN IMPORTANT LETTER.
The following letter from the Texan Minister to
the Hon. W. R. King of the Senate of the United
States which treats of matters interesting both to tho
United States and to Texas has been handed to us for
publication. Globe.
Legation or Texas.
Washington May 16 1842. ;
Hon. WM. K King:
Sir. Permit me to call your attention to the
prompt; and I sincerely wish favorable considera-
t.;a of the three following subjects involving as they
do matters of inCjfJo both Texas and the United
States: let The right cfenTr3p5-c- Tssan product.
in ports and places of the United States. 2nd. The
necessity and policy of some arrangements whereby
Texas cotton could be both landed and sold in the
United States. 3d. The allowance of drawbacks
upon goods foreign to the United States carried from
thence into Texas whether by sea river orovcr land.
These matters are alredy before you as cne of the-
Committee on commerce being included in an extract
of a letter of mine to thehonorable Secretary of State
and transmitted to Congress in a special message of
the President; but merely suggested as matteis both
of right and policy in thalcommunication without go-
ing into detail Inow beg leave to call your attention
more particularly and directly to those points.
CThe mere right oi entrepot free from duty and un-
necessary and vexatious delays at your custom house
for "Tex an products descending the rivers Sabine
Red and all conterminous streams cannot with ius-
tice be denied as is a principle for which the United
States most strenously contended when foreign pow-
ers held possession of the mouth oftheMississippiand'
which she will ever claim so farnsregards the navi-
gation of the waters of the St Lawrence or any other
stream similarly situated. Red river originating in
Texas forms the boundary above the 32d degree of
latitude of Texas and the United States; and after
runningsome 5 or 600 milcsalong our heaviest plant
ing interest empties into the Mississippi and thence into'
the Gulf It stands in the same relation to a vast ex
tent of Texas that the Ohio Alleghany and Monon-
gahela riversdid to Virginia Pennsylvania Kentuc
ky and mlact to the whole Ohio v alley prior to the
purchase ofLouisiana. A largeamohntof cotton fom
tho rich soil of Eastern and Northern Texas willdc-
cend to the Gulf by New Orleansj and at this point-
or some othei point on the Mississippi contiguous ttf
the Gulf be reshipped from the Steamboat to vessels.
The Storage dray age insurance freight whartage
&c if suffered to be entered in entrepot at New'
Orleans will constitute a large item of profit to that
city to which it flows by a common and natural chan-
nel The free navigation of the Mississippi and Red
rivers for Texan products cannot in justice be rfr
fwA. as thev nrehiahwavs formed by nature for (ltd
common use of those States or nations by or through
wnicniney now to tne ocean mis oeing me cose;
the right of entrepot should be conceded not only as si
matter of right to Texas but as a source of interest
and advantage to the United States. Its concession
would induce the products of millions of rich acres to
travel to New Orleans by that Toute; and supplies ne-
cessary for the producers and inhabitants of a large
and wealthy extent of country vill there be received
thus building up a splendid and great commercial
emporium for the United States-by inducing thither
an increased amount of capital and business men and
merchandise for Texan consumption and in addi-
tion giving employment to the marine of the United
States. Tonnage alone levied on foreign Ytssels
brought to that point by the trade thus augmented
would in a few years tell in round numbers in the
revenue reports of this Government. If however
this just and natural privilege be denied or so embar-
rassed with restrictions and charges as to amount to a
prohibition then the trada will be forced into chan
nels which lose all its importance and value to tho
United State our products finding their way to the
Gulf by our own interior rivers and over land to our
own seaports and thence across the Atlantic without
ever touching the United States.
Having said thus much on the subject of right of
entrepot of our products now permit me tp call your
attention to the second point by far the most impor-
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De Morse, Charles. The Northern Standard. (Clarksville, Tex.), Vol. 1, No. 2, Ed. 1, Saturday, August 27, 1842, newspaper, August 27, 1842; Clarksville, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth80453/m1/1/?rotate=270: accessed April 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting The Dolph Briscoe Center for American History.