Difficulties of a Mexican revenue officer in Texas Page: 2
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DirPICULTISa OF A MEXICAN REVENUE OFFICER.
this violent precedent, together with the free trade habits fostered
during the interim, augured ill for the comfort of the new officers.
Nor was colonial opposition the only difficulty with which Captain
Tenorio had to contend. He seems to have come to Texas
with instructions to garrison the Island of Galveston, but explained
to Ugartechea, in a letter dated January 31, that after disembarking
at Galveston, he had thought it best to proceed to Anahuac,
"where there were means of living;" while at the same time he
complained that he could do very little to prevent smuggling
because of his lack of boats, that his force was too small "to compel
respect for the national honor," and that, being without cavalry
or trustworthy messengers among the colonists, and the bi-weekly
post established between Bexar and Nacogdoches not extending to
Anahuac, his position was deplorably isolated. The soldier, who
was to carry this letter to Brazoria, whence it would be forwarded
to San Antonio, returned with it after an absence of some seven
weeks, saying that the American, with whom he sailed for Velasco,
landed him on the sand bar, where he was poisoned by the captain
of the "Ojallo"-Ohio-which was stranded there, lest he should
give information of the smuggling in which the vessel was
engaged.1
Tenorio promptly reported this to Colonel Ugartechea, and urged
that postal service be provided between Anahuac and Nacogdoches;
but more pressing troubles had now forced themselves upon his
attention. His supplies were almost exhausted; the merchants
refused to furnish him anything, "fearing very justly," as he said,
that the government, as in past years, would not pay them for
advances made to the troops; and the revenue collector declared
that he was forbidden to use the funds in his hands except for the
payment of custom house employees, and that no assistance, therefore,
should be expected from him in the support of the soldiers.
Tenorio closed his letter with an earnest request that this officer
be instructed to help him, else he should "be obliged to help himself
in order to satisfy the first law of nature."2 Added to all
these causes of uneasiness, he felt that an attack from the colonists
1Tenorio to Ugartechea, March 21, 1835.--Bexar Archives.
Tenorio to Ugartechea, March 21, 1835.-Bexar Archives.
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Barker, Eugene Campbell. Difficulties of a Mexican revenue officer in Texas, book, 1901; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth29769/m1/3/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Star of the Republic Museum.