WRITINGS OF 5AM HOUSTON, 1839
341
He.had brought forward this measure to do justice to Texans- .the war had been produced by encroachments of speculators and land thieves upon the peaceful habitations of the Cherokees. Since they had been driven from their homes, and expelled from the country it was but an act of justice to the Republic to sell the territory to defray the expenses of the war. We had applied abroad for a loan of $ 5,000,000, and we must provide a sinking fund for the redemption of our bonds. What better sum coul<;l we appropriate to that service than the one arising out of the sale of the Cherokee lands? The war, as I have.said before, was produced by the encroach- ment of the speculators- these locations were not made in good faith- and if we now confirm them in their illegal locations, the blood shed in the Cherokee war will rest upon our own shoulders. Without the authority of this government the surveyors pene- trated into the Indian territory, and even ran off some of the private habitants of their chiefs. This was done in the face of a pledge made to the Indians by this government at the darkest hour ever known to the citizens of Texas. The pledge was made at a time when women were clinging frantic to their husbands and pressing their infants closer to their hearts from the fear of extreme danger. In looking forward they could find no safety, and they could see nothing but desolation and death in their progress. The Mexicans were invading us with a powerful army -it was expected that every Indian Tribe upon the frontier would take up the tomahawk. We were a little community of not more than twenty-five thousand souls- without money- without arms, or munitions of war, and whichever way we turned our eyes, nothing but the bristling bayonet, or the savage scalp- ing knife met our view. But something must be d·one- we had either calmly to submit to our fate, or concert some measures to avert the impending ruin. The policy best calculated to insure our safety was adopted. Instant preparation was made to meet and fight the Mexicans, while the hand of conciliation and friendship was extended to- wards the Indians. These were the circumstances under which this much abused pledge was made to the Cherokees- a pledge which guaranteed to them their land as a perpetual inheritance. This tranquilized the Cherokees, and through their influence the whole tide of savage war was averted. And should we be told upon this floor that a pledge made under such circumstances was
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