193
WRITINGS OF 5AM HOUSTON, 1850
To which 1·esolution Mr. Hale offered the following amendment, viz.: "And this said committee also inquire whether, at any time since the commencement of the war with Mexico, any orders have been issued by this Administration conferring civil authority upon any officer of the Army of the United States, to be exercised without the limits of the several States of the Union, and, if so, by whom, and to whom, and by virtue of what laws said orders issued." ~For brief explanation of Kearny Code, see Speech concerning Texas-New Mexico boundary, July 25, 1850, p. 203, this volume; also the Sketch of Robert S. Neighbors, in note No. 2, under Speech on the Texas Border, June 13, 1850, this volume. A RESOLUTION ASKING INFORMATION ABOUT PLANS TO EVACUATE POINT ISABELL, JULY 8, 1850 1 "Resolved, That the President of the United States be requested to furnish the Senate copies of all orders, letters, and correspond- ence, relating to Fort Polk, in the State of Texas, as a military post, and to communicate to the Senate the reasons which have induced its removal." Mr. Houston. Point Isabel was taken possession of in March, 1846, by the American army under the command of General Taylor. Immediately afterwards, he commenced the erection of a fort at that place, c~lled Fort Polk; and he also informed the Government that that was the most eligible site for a depot to supply the wants of the whole line of operations. His emphatic language was, "our great depot must be here," (See dispatch, March 28). The fort hospital and other buildings that were erected there cost the Government at least seventy thousand dollars. They are large, commodious, and well located there. This place, as well as Brownsville, is remarkably healthy for a southern latitude. Point Isabel is about ten miles from the mouth of the Rio Grande, and near twenty in a direct line from Brownsville, the most flourishing town on the Rio Grande. Point Isabel, from its contiguity to the harbor at the Brazos, and from its relative posi- tion to Brownsville and the Rio Grande, is now, and must continue to be, the great point of transhipment for the large and improving trade now successfully carried on upon that river. This trade, during the past year, I have been satisfactorily assured by those who know its character and extent, has amounted in the aggregate to the large sum of ten millions of dollars; or, in other words, goods imported to the value of five millions of dollars, chiefly
Powered by FlippingBook