TEXAS INDIAN PAPERS, 1846-1859
180
The civil authorities are perfectly paralysed, and the military stationed on the lower Rio Grande have declared themselves unable to render the requested assistance to support the exe- cution of the laws; while on the upper Rio Grande the almost entire withdrawal of the troops from the County of El Paso leaves the prospect for that portion even still more desperate and deplorable. Independent of every other serious consideration, the im- portance of preserving inviolate existing treaties with the neigh- boring Republic of Mexico, whose limits run along the western bank of the Rio Grande in close proximity to the western line of this State, from its northern to its southern extremities, and the impracticability of doing so under the existing state of things on that frontier, must forcibly impress your Excellency with the urgent necessity for additional military force upon that line to sustain the authorities and suppress infractions. After much consideration of the matter, I have felt it my duty to take immediate steps for foe relief of the lower Rio Grande, and, with that ,view, have called into the service of the State three companies of Mounted Volunteers (numbering in all about two hundred rank and file) for the period of six months who are to act in concert with the Unitea States Troops stationed in that quarter. The Adjutant General of the State has been directed to :r>roceed to that po'int, and is now in the discharge of the duties thus assigned him; a copy of his in- structions accompany this communication. I therefore trust, that the General Government, in considera- tion of the pressing emergency, and the serious responsibility incurred by a longer delay, will recognize the services of these Volunteer Troops, and make such further and more permanent disposition as, upon examination, shall be found necessary to restore that peace and security to which this ·unfortunate coun- try has been so long a stranger. With Assurances of the highest consideration, I have the honor to remain, Your Excellency's Obdt: Servant [P.H. BELL] [En®rsed] Transmitting papers showing the unprotected situation of the Rio Grande Valley. · [P. H. Bell, Executive Record Book, Number 32, Pages 69-70.1
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