232
WRITINGS OF SAM HOUSTON, 1831-1832
became a bitter enemy of General Andrew Jackson, because Jackson ordered a young soldier to be court-martialed and shot for straggling. After the war ended, Arnold studied law and set up his practice at Knoxville. He became a prominent politician, fearless and caustic in his criticisms. In 1832 he made a speech against Houston, which in some way, Major Morgan A. Heard connected with a criticism of the western army, so when Arnold left the capitol, Heard assaulted him, firing on him and striking him with a cane; but Arnold quickly knocked Heard down, wrenched the pistol from his hand and carried it off. In 1836, Arnold became a brigadier general in the Tennessee militia, but in 1841 he returned to Congress. See Charles Lanman, Dictionary of the Unitecl States Congress, 20. A Biogmphical Dictionary of the A m.erican Congress, 650. ~For a biography of Jared Ellison Groce, see the Southwestern Historical Quarterly, XX, 338-339. GSee the Dictiona111 of Ame,·ican Biogra7>hy, I, 338-339, for a sketch of Branch T: Archer. 7 See Houston to James Prentiss, May 1, 1832. SThis was evidently John Blair, Congressman from Tennessee.
PRENTISS TO HOUSTON 1
New York 4 June 1832
Genl S Houston My dear Sir Since your departure nothing has transpired to change the order of things as projected for your expedition news is Daily expected from Genl Mason 2 on the receipt of which I shall b2e prepared to advise You particularly in regard to your objects- In our haste the day of your departure I forgot to hand you some maps and pamphlets describing the ground and titles of the lands I sold to you Fearing that you may not fully understand my object or that you will not properly appreciate my motives in Selling the Tt:xas lands and· wishing to avoid the responsibility of beeing in any way instrumental in leading you to purchase what may posibly bee of less value than now esti- mated- I beg leave to explain that my principal object in s;!ll- ing to you was to make [you] interested as deeply as possible In several grants and at the precise [prices] fixed on some of the lands are about what sells [sales] were at first effected [for] yet much less than some have beEn sold at lately-as these lands are heer considered of nominal value only of late on acount of the commotion in Mexico there is no regular price known heer In case of Sales the purchase [r] values lands in proportion as he conciders the probability of possesing them under the Mexican Government or that of the United States of N A Knowing all the circumstances that can make this lands more or less valuable
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