TEXAS INDIAN PAPERS, 1844-1845
110
Houston "How low on the Colorado would you wish to come?" Chief "To begin at the timber above Austin and to go from that up." Houston "How many leagues do you think it above Austin?" Chief "A good days ride, to ride fast one might get there before sun down, the distance perhaps 50 miles, it is all prairie from there on West, and I want the privilege to follow the buffalo on down. That country is full of bear, deer, wild horses and buffalo for my people to ·live on." Houston "How far do you mean this line to be above the mouth of the San Saba?" Chief "About four day's fast riding below the mouth." Houston "That cannot be, it would bring you below Austin and Bastrop, do you want the line to run by the mountains above the St Mark [San Marcos]?" Chief "I want the line to run on the edge of the mountains in the prairie to San Antonio; then on the San Antonio Road to the Rio Grande, where the town is of that name." Houston "Will it not do as well for the line to run 25 miles above San Antonio, and to leave San Antonio 8 leagues to the left and strike the Presidio road above?" Chief "I want it to run from the edge of the mountain up." Houston "How long would it take to ride from the line you want run to the town of San Antonio?" Chief "You can see the mountain from San Antonio, 5 or 10 miles." Houston "Is the big mountain half a day's ride from San An- tonio?" Chief "It is about three leagues." Houston "We intend to establish a trading house there." Chief "We do not want it: you and I have talked friendly; your talk is good. I call you my father, but I am poor and want that country." Houston "Do you know the Cafion de' Uvalde? Chief "Yes." Houston "How far do you want the line to run from that?" Chief "It is loo high up, it is in the middle of the mountains. I want the line to run on the road that leads to the town of Rio Grande."
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