Indian Papers of Texas and the Southwest, Vol. III

TEXAS INDIAN PAPERS, 1846-1859

110

No. 88 LE'ITER FROM P. H. BELL TO THE TEXAS LEGISLATURE Executive Department, Austin, Texas January 18, 1850

To the Honble. The Senate, and The House of Representatives. Gentlemen.

I deem it my duty to convey to the Honorable Legisla- ture in session, all intelligence of a useful character in posses- sion of the Executive Department; especially touching our In- dian relations, as directly connected with our frontier inhabi- tants and their security. There is no subject more intrinsically important, and none more calculated to elicit from the Repre- sentatives of the People, prompt, practical, and judicious action. The appeal which is made to the State Government, through the medium of the petition, which I have the honor herewith to transmit, though conveyed in plain and unosten- tatious terms, carries with it all the force and conviction of this, which claim at once attention and respect. It is the appeal of the "men of the Country," "the bone and sinew," who contrib- uted every thing for the political salvation of Texas in her tra- vails for national existence, and who are now seeking to resusci- tate themselves and their scattered fortunes by the hard earn- ings of honest industry, on the outskirts of the Country. Many of them are the pioneers of the Freedom, of which we are at this moment the beneficiaries. They look, and properly too, in their present embarrassments and trouble, to the government of their State, for the aid and support, which is necessary and which has been withheld by the government of the Union. They expect you to afford that aid, their situation requires it, and they have a right to demand it. They have made no demand but in a modest and respectful manner, their exposed condition is briefly set forth, and they solicit, in the kindest manner, through the Executive, reasonable and proper relief. This petition it is conceived, is eminently important, as it furn'ishes one instance only in a long series of similar depredations constantly com- mitted along our line of frontier. It is but the shadow of ap- proaching events, darker, and more varied in their character,

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