The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 70, July 1966 - April, 1967 Page: 32
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32 Southwestern Historical Quarterly
The worst tragedy, though, occurred in the shoe department.
The gentlemen in Brazoria had supplied him with eighteen
pairs of prunella shoes, but nobody would buy them because
they had square toes and no, heels. He returned all but six
pairs with the pessimistic comment that even this small quantity
"may last me 17 years if I take good care of them."21
Meanwhile what had become of General Mier y Teran's
gigantic project for the Mexicanization of Texas? The only
response to his plan for transporting Mexicans from the interior
of his country at government expense and settling them in the
wilderness of Texas was one casual inquiry from a schoolmaster
in Tula.
The general became so despondent over the failure of his
project that on the morning of July 3, 1832, he donned his full
dress uniform with all his medals, went off to a secluded spot,
and hurled himself upon the point of his sword. His dying
thought was: "What will become of Texas?"32
The news of the general's suicide was extremely demoraliz-
ing for Colonel Ruiz. As a matter of fact, the colonel had become
more and more disillusioned ever since he established Tenoxtitlan.
Only a few weeks after he founded the fort, he wrote to a friend
saying:
I am already tired of my post after such a short time. I do
not think that I shall last very long here. I realize that it would
be better for me to get out of the army because I am not the
type to command in such calamitous times. ... We are already
running short of soldiers, and soon the supplies will begin to play
out. I cannot find words to describe the present condition of my
garrison. Suffice it to say that my lot is a very sad one, and I
do not know what will become of this establishment. Only time
will tell.88
The garrison did run out of supplies shortly thereafter, and
Colonel Ruiz was forced to send his men out to forage for them-
81Francis Smith to A. G. and R. Mills, March 11, 1831, in Eugene C. Barker
(cont.), "A Glimpse of the Texas Fur 'Itade in 1832," Southwestern Historical
Quarterly, XIX, 280-282.
880hland Morton, "Life of General Don Manuel de Mier y Terin," ibid., XLVIII,
540. Reprinted as Terdn and Texas (Austin, 1948).
8"Francisco Ruiz to Austin, November 26, 1830, in Barker (ed.), Austin Papers,
II, 541-542.
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 70, July 1966 - April, 1967, periodical, 1967; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101199/m1/50/: accessed April 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.