The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 60, July 1956 - April, 1957 Page: 519

Trade Goods for Texas

for firsthand information and on-the-spot conferences was alleged
by Salcedo to have contributed heavily to his decision. It is also
possible, however, that he knew by May 27 that he could once
again buy the supplies desired from United States sources since
the Embargo had been partially lifted.24
The Consulado took its defeat philosophically enough and
announced, in its letter to the Commandant General, that even
before his letter of May 27 had arrived a June 15 meeting of its
Junta de Gobierno, or governing council, had decided that the
merchants of Veracruz would be unable to supply the needed
goods because of the "deplorable state of Spanish industry."
Then, "afterwards," the Consulado said, the Commandant Gen-
eral's letter arrived. Perhaps at "some more favorable time this
body could accomplish such an interesting mission."25 The "favor-
able time," however, that of the months between the middle of
November, 18o8, and the latter part of May, 1809, when the
Jeffersonian Embargo had been in effect, had passed. Occasional
letters might be written, speeches be made, but the hoped-for
economic ties between Texas and Veracruz remained, at least for
the moment, "hoped-for" rather than real.
24Nemesio Salcedo to the Consulado of Veracruz, Chihuahua, May 27, 18og, in
AGN, Consulado, Vol. 193, No. 6. Accompanying this was a letter from Jos6 Felix
Trespalacios to Nemesio Salcedo, Chihuahua, May so, 1809. Trespalacios, related
to Bartolomb Garcia by both blood and commercial ties, had written to the
Commandant General to predict long delays before a Veracruz-Texas trade could be
opened, and his letter at least gave Salcedo an immediate reason for withdrawing
his suggestion to the Consulado. Insofar as Salcedo's possible knowledge of the
partial lifting of the Embargo is concerned, see Bernardo Bonavia to Nemesio
Salcedo, San Antonio de B6xar, May 17, 18og, in AGN, Provincias Internas, Vol.
2so (BLT, 192). He had, Bonavia said, received "certain news" from the post of
Nacogdoches that the United States had "raised its embargo for all the nations
saving only England and France." Salcedo, however, gave no hint of his knowl-
edge of the above news, if he possessed such knowledge, and, for the matter, did
not send Bonavia a receipt for the "five packages" which Bonavia had sent, along
with his "noticia cierta," until June 12, 1809. Nemesio Salcedo to Bernardo Bona-
via, Chihuahua, June 12, 1809, in AGN, Provincias Internas, Vol. 2so (BLT, 194).
25Prior and Consuls of the Consulado to Nemesio Salcedo, Veracruz, June 27,
18o09, in AGN, Consulado, Vol. 193, No. 6.

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