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TEXAS INDIAN PAPERS, 1846-1859
No. 111 LETTER FROM W. MANN TO P. H. BELL
Corpus Christi May 14th 1852
(CO'JJ'PlJ) Sir
I have the honor to lay before you extracts of letters ad- dressed me by Mr. Henry Redmond, a resident of Bellville on the Rio Grande opposite Guerrero, who is a merchant attached to the house of William Mann & Co. They present but a meager pittance of the cruelty [ ?] which has been inflicted on that portion of the Rio Grande, by the de- stroying hand of the ruthless Savages, a country which once had busy, happy and prosperous inhabitants is now almost en- tirily depopulated, Where the active hand of domestic industry was formerly heard, the silence of desolation and decay now prevails. Trade has been paralized, agriculture suspended and grazing, one of the staple pursuits of that region of country abandoned. And I will add that they can not be resumed un- less the protecting hand of the government should be extended to suppress the existing evils. My object in addressing This Communication to you is to present it and the accompaning papers to Brevet Major Gen. Smith and solicit him to take such measures as may appear to him to be required by the exigencies of our situation I trust it will not be regarded as presumptious in me to offer one or two suggestions. From the thorough knowledge of the topography of the country adjacent to both sides of the Rio Grande from Ringgold Barracks to Fort Duncan, I am convinced that a military post established at Bellville or its vicinity garrisoned in part or whole by mounted men would do much toward preventing In- dian spoliations in the surrounding country. The Savages permanently reside in our country, cross the Rio Grande above Fort Duncan, descend toward Guerrero and commit on either side of the river such depridations as they desire and re- turn by the same route without fear of molestation In addition to the Indians who permanently reside in our country, there is a tribe living in Mexico squarely opposite Fort Duncan who first used the system I have indicated with refer- ence to the American side of the Rio Grande.
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