The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 41, July 1937 - April, 1938 Page: 209
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Almonte's Inspection of Texas in 1834
duction, he had no intention of publishing such a report when
he returned to Mexico the preceding November because he had
not had time to become acquainted with the great wealth con-
tained in the vast territory of Texas and because, having made
the inspection as an agent of the government, he did not feel free
to make his findings public. However, so much interest had been
manifested in the province and so many questions asked regard-
ing it that he had asked for and obtained permission from the
government to publish the statistical data which had formed part
of his official reports.
Highly educated and cultured as he was, Almonte was always
intensely interested in advancing the cause of education. That
interest is clearly manifest in the printed Noticia Estadistica,
just as it was in his letters, which constantly advocated the
establishment of schools throughout the province. It dismayed
him to find that the one school which had formerly been main-
tained by the ayuntamiento of Bexar had been forced to close
because of lack of funds, and that the department of Brazos had
only one, near Brazoria. The department of Nacogdoches was in
a much better condition from an educational standpoint than
either Bexar or Brazos, having three primary schools located at
Nacogdoches, San Augustine, and Johnsburg, but the Commis-
sioner saw the great need of one where Spanish might be taught.
Otherwise the language would disappear, as nothing but English
was then spoken in that part of the republic. In a letter to the
Governor of Coahuila and Texas, written on September 23, 1834,
in which he summed up and correlated his earlier reports and
recommendations, Almonte said:
I shall not end these recommendations without calling the very
particular attention of your Excellency to the need of primary
schools in the towns of Nacogdoches, B6xar, Goliad, etc. If your
Excellency cannot effectively compel the ayuntamientos of these
towns to apportion funds for each to sustain a school from their
taxes, rentals or sale of some land, etc., the unhappy youth will be
abandoned to the most degenerate condition.26
As was natural, Almonte's confidential reports included infor-
mation which could scarcely be made public in the Noticia
26Almonte to Governor of Coahuila and Texas, September 23, 1834, Uni-
versity of Texas transcripts, Saltillo Archives, Leg. 29, exp. 1292, vol. 38,
p. 114.209
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 41, July 1937 - April, 1938, periodical, 1938; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101103/m1/231/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.