The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 27, July 1923 - April, 1924 Page: 95
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New Mexico and the Texan Santa Fe Expedition
not safely be disclosed to Mexican officials, and his activities while
there would seem to strengthen such a conclusion. One thing is
certain; that is, that even though he may not have gone to Texas
for any definite purpose, he left the republic with a definite pur-
pose, and with definite instructions for carrying it out.
His letter of introduction secured for him a conference with
Lamar, but there is no record of what took place in that confer-
ence. The information which he gave was sufficiently favorable
to convince the president that it was time to furnish the New
Mexicans with some definite information concerning Texas. Ac-
cordingly, on April 14, he addressed to the citizens of Santa Fi
a letter in which he sketched the auspicious future which awaited
the new republic, and then continued:
We tender to you a full participation in all our blessings. The
great River of the North, which you inhabit, is the natural and
convenient boundary of our territory, and we shall take great pleas-
ure in hailing you as fellow-citizens, members of our young Re-
public, and co-aspirants with us for all the glory of establishing
a new and happy and free Nation. . . This communication
I trust will be received by you and by your public Authorities, in
the same spirit of kindness and sincerity in which it is dictated.
And if nothing shall intervene to vary my present intention, I
shall dispatch in time for them to arrive in your section of Coun-
try about the month of September proximo, one or more Com-
missioners, gentlemen of worth and confidence, to explain more
minutely the condition of our Country, of the Seaboard and the
co-relative interests which so emphatically recommend and ought
perpetually to cement the perfect union and identity of Santa Fee,
and Texas. . .. Until the arrival of these Commissioners I
have empowered some of your own Citizens (Capt. Wm. G. Dryden,
John Rowland and Wm. Workman, Esqrs.), to whom the views
and feelings of the Government have been communicated, to con-
fer with you upon the subject matter of this communication.88
The tone of this letter would seem to indicate that Lamar's in-
formant had given him the impression that the people of New
Mexico were simply waiting for the government of Texas to take
the initiative in bringing about a union between the two sec-
tions. As to whether this was the secret of Dryden's visit to
"8Lamar to citizens of Santa F6, April 14, 1840, MS. in Santa Fi
Papers, Texas State Library.
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 27, July 1923 - April, 1924, periodical, 1924; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101086/m1/101/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.