Tlie Ag,m,y of tlie Cl,urch i11, Texas, 182I-1836
347
Meanwhile, Austin, who had gone to Mexico to present the petition for independent statehood and the abolition of the Law of April 6, 1830, had fallen out with Vice President Gomez Farias, as the result of an injudicious letter, and had been imprisoned. "My confinement has been very rigid.... I had no books the first month, and it was solitary enough." No sooner did Father Muldoon learn of Austin's fate than he hurried to his help. It seems that through Muldoon's influence and that of Victor Blanco, the rigor of Austin's imprisonment was relaxed and books and stationery were brought to him. "He [Victor Blanco] and Padre Muldoon have been firm and unwavering in their friendship to me in all this business. 88 Always capable of finding a way to reach even the most important personages, Muldoon soon became acquainted with Santa Anna and ob- tained his confidence to the extent that he was quartered in his home-- so he claimed. In a letter to Oliver Jones, Muldoon wrote that Vice President Gomez Farias had taken· a deep dislike to Austin, and that had it not been for his intervention, Farias would have left Austin to rot in solitary confinement. 89 The last mention of Muldoon in regard to Texas is found in a letter of Colonel Juan Nepomuceno Almonte, who, shortly after the arrest of Austin, had been ·sent to Texas to make a confidential repo/t on con- ditions. Almonte informed Governor Juan Jose de Elguezabal in Sal- tillo on September 23, 1834, that among other things that were urgently needed to reestablish peace in the colonies of Texas was a priest for the Department of the Brazos "... a curate of good morals, who does not meddle in politics, as was done by the one who styled himself Vicar General of the Colonies." He then added that this matter should be attended to as soon as possible because the marriages contracted during the last two or three years had not been legalized. Such a condition produced serious ills to society.'° It is said that in 1836 Austin, through Gail Borden, bought Mul- doon's grant of eleven leagues for five thousand dollars and sold it for statement, "The prominent settlers and their large families are Catholics." See also sentence to which note 78 refers. 11 Austin to James F. Perry, May 10, 1834, Barker, Austin Paj"s, II, 1053. "Muldoon to Oliver Jones, cited in letter of Oliver Jones to James F. Perry, June 10 1 1834, Barker, At1sii11 Papers, II, 1062-63. Muldoon always took full credit. 90 Almonte to Elguezabal, September 2 3, 1834. Ministerio de Fomento, Coloniza- cion e Industria, ArcMvo General (West Transcripts, Vol. 7 59, pp. 50-51 ). Al- monte reflects the opinion of the leaders in Austin's colonies, who knew Muldoon well.
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