The Scouting Expeditions of McCulloch's Texas Rangers; or, the Summer and Fall Campaign of the Army of the United States in Mexico--1846; including Skirmishes with the Mexicans, and an accurate detail of the Storming of Monterey; also the Daring Scouts at Buena Vista together with anecdotes, incidents, descriptions of country, and sketches of the lives of the celebrated partisan chiefs, Hays, McCulloch, and Walker. Page: 13
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BRAZOS ST. JAGO. 13
fresh breezes with light squalls of rain. At night the officers
amused themselves with reading and playing cards.
Sunday, the 7th, was a delightful day, though very hot, as the
thermometer was near 90. We had a fine bath-house on board,
and the sea-bathing, in the shape of shower-baths, was charming
Our captain caught several bonitas and dolphins, which were a
great curiosity to those who had never seen these finny tribes of
the deep before. As is always the case at sea, or travelling in
any way, but more especially on shipboard, after the first excitement
wears offa general quiet succeeds-each one seems wrapped
in his own thoughts, and, consequently, a degree of monotony prevails.At daylight on the next day, we made the land, which was
very low and flat, and running down the coast until we came to
the anchorage ground, off the Brazos, we lay-to for a pilot. The
scene which here presented itself was both novel and excitinginnumerable
vessels lay outside of the Brazos, whose shallow inlet
did not permit them to go over the bar, and were being lightened
of their cargoes by small steamers. To the left lay the island of
Brazos St. Jago, or " the arms of St. James," with its little hillocks
of sand, which are for ever shifting and changing by the
tremendous gales of wind which sweep over the island, while to
the right lay a long narrow bar of sand, called St. Padre's island,
which takes its name from the fact that the padre, or priest of
Matamoras, once owned a large rancho on this island, some thirty
miles from Point Isabel, which contained some 30,000 head of
cattle, but which was destroyed by the Texians during their
struggle for independence, and the cattle driven off to Corpus
Christi. Between these two islands lies a very narrow passage,
or inlet, leading into a beautiful bay which washes the high bluffs
of Point Isabel. From the anchorage outside, is plainly visible
the masts of the smaller craft within.
The passage over the bar and through the inlet is rendered
very dangerous from a tremendous surf and ground swell, which
rolls in from the sea. A pilot soon came off to us, and in a little
while we were in the midst of the breakers and rollers. Another
vessel was coming out at the time, and while nearing each other,
as each rose and fell with the sea, a collision seemed inevitable;
but we passed harmlessly by, and soon were inside of the bay,
which was smooth as a lake. We landed on the shore of Brazos
Island, and commenced disembarking the troops, and making preparations
for our encampment. We pitched our tents about a
mile from the landing towards the sea, near the sand-hills, beyond
which there lies one of the most beautiful beaches we ever saw.
The island is about six miles long. On the south-east part of the
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Reid, Samuel C., Jr. The Scouting Expeditions of McCulloch's Texas Rangers; or, the Summer and Fall Campaign of the Army of the United States in Mexico--1846; including Skirmishes with the Mexicans, and an accurate detail of the Storming of Monterey; also the Daring Scouts at Buena Vista together with anecdotes, incidents, descriptions of country, and sketches of the lives of the celebrated partisan chiefs, Hays, McCulloch, and Walker., book, 1859; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth38096/m1/15/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Austin History Center, Austin Public Library.