The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 82, July 1978 - April, 1979 Page: 22
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Southwestern Historical Quarterly
In his letter to Secretary Davis, Myer explained only that he proposed
"to communicate between detachments of troops . . . or ships at sea,"
rapidly, "by day or by night, in wet or in dry weather, in fogs or sun-
shine," "over impassable ground, over rivers or arms of the sea." Signal-
ing could also be over enemy-occupied ground and by secret messages.
The equipment would ordinarily be light, inexpensive, and simple, and
it would be "without wires or any line connecting the Stations." What
the mechanics of the system were, he did not say (indeed he still had
many details to work out), but in principle it was the visual system using
a flag by day and a torch by night that he used in the Civil War and
that we know as the wigwag system.47
Whether or not Myer saw at that time the career possibilities for him-
self if his system was adopted cannot be said. In any case, Secretary
Davis gave the proposal short shrift and shelved it on December 11,
1856, despite a very favorable endorsement on November 29 by Colonel
Joseph G. Totten, of the Engineers. Although Myer had some further
correspondence on the subject with, and on one occasion saw, Totten,
who laid the matter before the new Secretary of War John B. Floyd,
after Davis left the cabinet in March, 1857, Myer got no formal hearing
on his proposal until 1859 when he was no longer in Texas.48
Signaling Myer may have mulled over and medicine he surely prac-
ticed in Texas, but however much these matters occupied his waking
,hours, the one thing that was never far from his mind, in sickness and
in health, was the prospect of his marriage to Kate Walden. Although
the wedding day seems to have been set for June, 1857, it was past mid-
July, 1857, before Myer could turn over his responsibilities to a replace-
ment and leave Fort Duncan. On August 1, finally en route home, he
reached Indianola, on Matagorda Bay, and arrived in New York in time
to be married at Lake View, near Buffalo, on August 24, 1857.49
Mer Diary, 18,1-1857, \I)cr Papers, SigC \us. On Lesecue (as spelled b)y the Star, but
which is spelled diffeientl% in different sources) and his work, see "Heliogiaphe," in [Pierre
Larousse], Aouveau Laousse Illus) - Dicliouunaie universal en(vtlopf'dque (Paris [i9021),
V, 67; ibid. (Pais, 1962), 830; and on an i86o "optical telegraph for . the French Army"
b1 "Leseuere," Dl)axid L. Woods, A Hnlslo)y of Tacltual Conmun(alton Technques (Or-
lando, Florida, 96,), 151.
47Mi)er to Daxis, Oct. 1, 18;6, Mecr Papcis, SigC Mus.
48Totten to ME er, I)Dec. , 18-6, enclosing copy of his favorable endorsement of Nov. 29,
together with copy of Dasis's negatie endorsement of Dec. 11, on Mycr to Davis, Oct. 1,
1856; M)er to lTotten, Apr 22, 1857; '1tten to Myer, No%. 9, 1857, enclosing copy of
Totten to Floyd, No\. 9, 187, lMyer Papers, SigC Mus On the navy's lack of interest in
Mlyer's signals because of the work of a naval board on another system, see I[saac] Toucey
to Myer, Feb. 18, 1838, ibid.
40M\yer Diary, 1831-1837, June, 1856, May 30, 1837, and passim, Myer Papers, SigC Mfus.;
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 82, July 1978 - April, 1979, periodical, 1978/1979; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101206/m1/42/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.