1338
.AMERICAN HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
AusTI~ TO l\iATEo AHUMADA 1 In my communication of the 8 th Instant, I reported·to you my sit- uation in relation to hostile movements against the Indians, and informed you that I had sent spies in v'arious directions to watch the 1 ndian party whom we had reason to believe had left their villages on their way to these settlement, in the meantime, the contemplated expedition remaining suspended. On the 13 th Instant, the express I had dispatched to the Cherokees returned with a· letter signed by Captains Fields and Bowles, and other principal chiefs of this tribe, in which they stated to me, that after a secret council held amoJg them, they unanimously agreed to march with all their forces and attack the "\-Vacoes, Tahuacanoes and other Indians at war with the Mexicans, and that they were ready to assist the people of this Col- ony, if the government ordered them to do so; but in consequence of the lated freshets of the Neches and Trinity, and of almost all the streams in that section of the country, and, also owing to the backwardness of their crops: they could not do so immediately. The express I had sent is an intelligent and trusty man, whom I had in- structed not to show my letters to the chiefs before he could ascer- tain their intentions and vie'ws.on the subject. He is weil acquainted with the chiefs and several Indians of that tribe. He remained among them four days, and tells me that he has not the least doubt but that the·chiefs and warriors are anxious to go to war; as well against the Tahuacanoes and Comanches, as the petty thieving Q,uincha.is, Ainais, Apadache, Coco and other tribes who live in their vicinity. All those tribes are friendly with the Tahuacanoes, and T believe their destruction to be very important for the common se- curity. The express also reports that on the Neches river he met an old Apadache Chief, whom he had known at Nacogdoches; that he told the chief he was still living there, and that the Americans of that locality were very bad; his design being to dra.w from him his opinion of us. The Indian replied that the Americans of the Colo- rado were very bad; that·they had killed some of his friends the Tehuacanoes and Quichais·; that all the small tribes in that part of the country were about to hold a great council called by the Tahua- canoes, for the purpose of taking measures to destroy the new settle- ments west of the Trinity, 'and that the Comanches were invited to attend. He did not say when, ·or ~here the meeting was to take place, and he declared that th_e settlers East of the Trinity were good friends and brothers. He said, also; that the Tahuacanoes had sent word to the traders who traffic with the Indians on the Sabine River~ that they would give a good horse for ten musket loads of powder and lead, and a good mule for twenty loads. •On his arrival at th<:l
I ti from Bexar Archives In Nacogdoches Archives, Texas State Library. , Trans a ons Copy o! the original In Austin's Blotter, In file of August 26, 1824.
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