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No. 157 LETTER FROM ROBERT S. NEIGHBORS TO H. R. RUNNELS San Antonio Texas Jany. 20th 1858.
Sir,
I was much astonished yesterday on being shown by Maj. Genl. Twiggs a copy of a letter from Thos. C. Frost which from his signing himself Lieut. Comdg. I presume comes from an offi- cer of the Volunteers and which was sent to the Genl. by you. I take the earliest moment after seeing said letter to pronounce all that portion relating to me or my official action as absolutely I alse in eve1·y particular, and I am grieved to think that the Excutive of our State should give such statements circulation without first ascertaining their correctness. It appears from the frequent censures, I, as the Indian agent receives from some of the extreme frontier citizens, that they think that, the Genl. Govt. employs me to herd the horses of the citizens generally, when the fact is that I have not a single soldier under my control, and am not charged with the defense of the frontier against Indian depredations: my duties are specific, and I can only act as a civil magistrate to execute the Indian Laws & Treaties, and I have no more power to defend the citizens, make war, or defend the frontier than any other citizen, and I must be permitted to protest solemnly against the habit that our citizens and especially the volunteer military force have got into, of leg- ging my name into their reports. I hope you in justice to me will send Mr. Frost a copy of this protest, and direct him to leave my name out of his reports, unless he has some specific charge to make against me, when it should be made to Comr. of Indian Af- fairs, at Washington, as I am not responsible to the military authorities. The Indians alluded to in Mr Frost's report were 6 northern Comanches, they were seen passing within 6 or 8 miles of the reserve on Clear fork of Brazos about sun down on the evening of 3d Jany with from 30 to 40 head of horses; they stated to the Comanche woman who saw them, that they stole the horses from head of Leon, I was at the reserve when they passed, and my opinion is that if Lieut. Frost, had displayed as much energy in following the 6 Comanches as he has in making a lengthy report to you, (a part of which is absolutely false,) he might have over-
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