The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 72, July 1968 - April, 1969 Page: 375
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Mexican Opinion and the Texas Revolution
menacing situation in Texas, its relations with the United States
remained uneasy. Anthony Butler, the American minister, was arro-
gant, vulgar, and calculating, a man completely lacking the qualities
of a diplomat. El Sol announced upon his arrival that he was in-
structed to attempt the purchase of Texas, and from that moment
until his recall in 1835, Butler was suspected of instigating the tu-
multuous situation in the province. Never popular in Mexico, Butler
climaxed his incredible career there by insulting Jos6 Maria Tornel,
threatening to cane or whip the Mexican at their first meeting. At
this point the Mexican government insisted that Butler leave the
country."
Meanwhile the Mexican political scene grew ever more turbulent,
leading in 1834 to Santa Anna's seizure of dictatorial power. This in
turn heightened discontent in many parts of Mexico, weakening the
central government's already tenuous control of such outlying regions
as Texas and Yucatin.1
Yet the government continued to receive communications urging
it to provide for the security of Texas. Tadeo Ortiz de Ayala, a civil
servant familiar with the province, frequently warned that the loss
of Texas with its rich resources would be disastrous. In 1833 he wrote
that Texas might produce more cotton than the total amount har-
vested in the United States, besides cattle and other foodstuffs, but that
the Americans were avidly pursuing their efforts to rob Mexico of
the fertile region.'"
Ortiz' accounts of the economic resources of Texas, together with
Terin's earlier reports, reveal a certain irony in the Mexican atti-
tude toward the threatened province. Before Terin's mission was
sent to Texas, that is, before Mexicans were very seriously alarmed
over the security of the region, little was known about its resources.
The reports of the commission erased that ignorance, however, and
made Mexicans aware that Texas was a potential source of wealth
for the Republic. As a result, Mexicans became even more reluctant
to part with Texas, yet they saw it slip even more rapidly from their
insecure grasp. A sort of cycle emerged: concern for Texas caused
"Robert A. Carter, Jr., "Anthony Butler and His Mission to Mexico" (M.A. thesis,
University of Texas, Austin, 1952); Rives, United States and Mexico, I, 234-261.
17Hubert Howe Bancroft, History of Mexico (6 vols.; San Francisco, 1883-1888), V,
125-150.
18Edith Louise Kelly and Mattie Austin Hatcher (eds. and trans.), "Tadeo Ortiz de
Ayala and the Colonization of Texas, 1822-1833," Southwestern Historical Quarterly,
XXXII (April, 1929), 311-343.175
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 72, July 1968 - April, 1969, periodical, 1969; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth117146/m1/209/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.