WRITINGS OF SAM HOUSTON, 1847
533
Mr. Houston would answer the Senator from Arkansas with great pleasure. At the time referred to, Mr. H. was not with the army. General Rusk was in command, and he despatched General Huston on that service. Colonel Hays, too, with his rangers, occupied that country; and if there were any permanent Mexican establishments there, he was not informed of it. It was a question never mooted in Texas, as to the Nueces being the western boundary of Texas. The country beyond, extending to the Rio Grande, was considered a part of the republic of Texas; a post- office was established in that territory; land was located between the Nueces and the Rio Grande; their laws were extended to that· country; and if their population did not extend all the way to the Rio Grande, certainly the population of Mexico did not extend to the Nueces, for there were no Mexican inhabitants there. At the time of the battle of San Jacinto, Santa Ana was required to fall back, beyond the limits of Texas, to Monterey, and he acknowl- edged the boundary to be as they proclaimed it in 1836. He made no question about it, but assumed the Rio Grande to be the boundary, and no other was discussed. And when Texas was invaded by Vasquez and his marauding parties [in 1842], it was understood to be an invasion of Texas, when he crossed the Rio Grande. They were stationed on the other side of the Rio Grande, and had no military establishments in Texas. Whenever any invasion took place by the Mexicans, they were either checked, or repulsed, or pursued as fugitives across the :Rio Grande; and General Woll's army would have been taken, if it had not been for want of harmony amongst the Texan troops. It was attacked and severely handled by the gallant Hays. Did the Texas Government consider that the Rio Grande was not their boundary? They considered crossing over the Nueces as no more than passing over any other stream in their terri- tory. Texan rangers kept possession of that country, and tribes of Indians were there-an agent of Texas accompanying them. Texas, then, held possession of that country, while Mexico had no establishments east of the Rio Grande. Texas had no establish- ments West of the Rio Grande; but when they invaded 1\-Iexico, they crossed the Rio Grande at Laredo. Both nations considered the Rio Grande to be the boundary. Whenever ·Mexico threatened to invade Texas, terms were always employed which showed the crossing of the Rio Grande was considered an invasion; but Mexico could never occupy the territory with her troops. As further proof that the Rio Grande was the boundary, Mr. H. referred to a proclamation issued by the 1'lexican Government
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