The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 3, July 1899 - April, 1900 Page: 146
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146 Texas Historical Association Quarterly.
while others were guided to the Colorado by a party of Caranca-
huas.1
The reports which thus became current were never corrected,
probably because the party brought by the Lively never had com-
munication to any extent with other settlers, and disappeared dur-
ing the summer and fall of 1822 almost as completely as if they had
been swallowed up by the sea. Some of them did indeed return to
Texas at a later date, but the story of the shipwreck and of the loss
of the Lively's passengers had then gained too wide-spread ac-
ceptance to admit of general correction. No doubt the immediate
neighbors of Phelps and of others who returned to Texas knew the
true version of the story, but it came too late to arouse sufficient
interest to carry it to other settlements. It was in this way, I have
no doubt, that the rumor became accepted as true and finally found
its way into our first-published histories.
When Lewis reached New Orleans, after his adventures in Texas,
he was told by "my sailor McDonald" that the schooner had re-
turned, had again been loaded, and "that one of the Messrs. Haw-
kins had started back with her and foundered on the coast in a storm
and all was lost;" such was probably the report among the sailors
of New Orleans. Lewis, however, seems inclined to attach little
weight to "my sailor McDonald's" opinion, for the Journal pro-
ceeds with the following obscure sentence: "I think from what I
gleaned from him, had gone to Matamoras and sold her and the
freight; Captain Butler quit her there." I quote the exact words
as they are found in Col. Bryan's copy of the journal of Lewis, be-
cause this unsatisfactory passage has afforded some ground for the
belief that the Lively turned pirate. It should be kept in mind,
however, that Lewis' journal is full of all manner of errors when
he attempts to record events that did not come under his immediate
observation; for this reason little credit is to be given his unsup-
ported statement.
There is no doubt, however, that the vessel made the trip referred
to by McDonald. Thomas M. Duke, who afterwards became the
first constitutional alcalde of Austin's colony and who was promi-
nent for many years in various capacities, both civil and military,
10 Recollections of Mrs. - , who was among the first immigrants to
come to Texas by sea. (Austin Papers, S 37.) This rumor may possibly
refer to the wreck of the Lively on her second voyage.
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Texas State Historical Association. The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 3, July 1899 - April, 1900, periodical, 1900; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101015/m1/154/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.