PREFACE hus PUBLICATION of Texas Indian Papers covers the period of the Republic of Texas from 1844 to Annexation. An earlier publication was for the years 1825 through 1843. The Texas Indian Papers pertain mainly to the Bureau of Indian Affairs of the Republic but also include miscellaneous papers of other departments dealing with Indian matters. Publications of these manuscripts are made available so that the general public can have access to the significant documents of Texas history. The publication program of the Archives Division of the Texas State Library fulfills in part the legislative mandate to "edit and preface for publication copies of the Texas Ar- chives." The original copies of the Texas Indian Papers were found to contain such a diverse assortment of material that a set of rules could not be established to cover every problem in editing. Particularly helpful suggestions have been supplied by Clarence E. Carter, Historical Editing (1952) and the sections on "The Copying of Manuscripts" and "The Editing and Printing of Manuscripts" in the Harvard Guide to American History (1955). Also examined for style and for suggestions were Charles Gulick and others (eds.), Papers of Mirabeau Buonaparte Lamar (1920-1927), Amelia W. Williams and Eugene C. Barker (eds.), Writings of Sam Houston (1938-1943), Eugene C. Barker (ed.), Austin Papers (1924-1928), and William C. Binkley (ed.), Offi,- cwl Correspondence of the Texan Revolution, 1885-1886 (1936). The documents are listed in chronological order. In almost all instances the originals have been copied verbatim et litera,. ti·m. Words or letters have been supplied only when the docu- ment was illegible or torn, or where the orthography was such as to render its meaning doubtful. The printed copy was read numerous times against the original manuscript, and [sic] was inserted only when there was a feeling that a doubt would re- main in the reader's mind about strange spelling, a date, or a fact. When an original document was not used, a notation has been given. An effort has been made to maintain consistent spelling with reference to proper names, localities, Indian tribes, and the like. Guides used for such spellings were F. W. Hodge
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