The Writings of Sam Houston, Volume III

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WRITINGS OF SAM HOUSTON, 1842

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or commissioners have been appointed or empowered to confer with or treat with the Indians upon our frontiers, with whom amicable relations have been sought to be established, also the name, or names of such agents or commissioners, together with all the instructions and orders which have been given to any of said agents or commissioners, or any other person or persons whatsoever, acting under directions or instructions from this Department. Sam Houston 1 "Messages of the Presidents," C(mg1·essional P(t1}e1·s; also Executive Record Book No. 40, p. 108, Texas State Library.

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TO JOSEPH W APLES 1

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Executive Department, 5th July, 1842.

Mr. Joseph Waples, Acting Secretary of State: Sir- You will state to me what you know of the correspond- ence of Mr. A. S. Wright~ with any of the officers of this govern- ment, and under what circumstances, and what has become of the correspondence; with a copy of such parts as relate to the conduct of any person or persons now in office under the con- stitution. It is desirable that this should be rendered to the Executive immediately. a Sam Houston 1 Executive Rec.o,-d Book No. 40, p. 113, Texas State Library. See Houston to Joseph Waples, February 6, 1842. ccolonel Barnard E. Bee was charge d'affa,fres from Texas to the United States in 1840. His secret agent in Mexico was A. S. Wright. Wright's letters were laid before the Senate in 1840, but just how many of these letters there were is not clear; certainly there were: Wright to Bee, August 29, November 10, 18, 19, 1839; February 5, and June 25, July 1, and 2, 1840. See Garrison (ed.), Diplomatic Correspondence of the Re1ncblic of Texas, II, passim. In these letters wherever the name of a man of Texas is mentioned it has either been erased, or left blank. In the letters Wright to Bryan, December 25, 1839; Wright to Merle, December 26, 1839; and Wright to Bryan, December 27, 1839, with the exception of Colonel Bee's name, all names are mentioned in cypher. See also Lamar Papers, III, 499-501, 517. sJoseph Waples answered Houston's letter on July 5, 1842.

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