Revoltttion Flares Again
people of the Southwest waited impatiently for the signal to rush into the promised land, Texas. Wealth would be theirs for the taking. The northern provinces of New Spain had long whetted the appetite of these land-hungry pioneers. The coming of Gutierrez had the effect of suddenly electrifying the daring adventurers. War or no war, they were determined to plunge west into the land of destiny at the first indication of a successful revolutionary movement. Gutierrez and Shaler were, consequently, received enthusiastically. They were wined and dined by the garrison and officers of Fort Claiborne, the prominent citizens of Natchitoches, and numerous other individuals. Inevitably they became the center of keen interest and endless intrigue. The merchants, the adventurers, and the honest settlers saw in Gutierrez the agent of Providence, the means of realizing their long repressed dreams of wealth, glory, and adventure. The presence of Shaler had a powerful influence in confirming their hopes. It gave the stamp of ap- proval to the filibustering schemes of the romantic envoy of the Mexican Revolution. Governor Claiborne and Captain Shaler, however, wished to keep Gutier- rez from launching a filibustering expedition prematurely or under auspices other than those of the United States. Shaler wrote to Monroe that he had given "Gutierrez an understanding of the views and interest of the different cabinets of Europe, and the nature of their agencies in the United States," pointing out to him "... the only system of policy likely to procure the untrammelled and honorable independence of his country [consonant] with the elevation of his own character." From Shaler's correspondence with the Secretary of State it seems that "the only system of policy" was that which favored the interests of the United States.11 Gutierrez was beset with proposals for immediate action by foreign as well as domestic agents. These he discussed regularly with Shaler. But time dragged on and the restless emissary of the Mexican Revolution began to grow impatient. Flattering proposals. There lived in Natchitoches a former officer of engineers in the service of France, a Monsieur Paillette, who had come to Louisiana with the French prefect in 1803. After the French transfer of the province he had established himself on a plantation two leagues below Natchitoches. According to Judge Sibley, he had "acquired riches as well as a reputation for falsehoods, dishonesty and the display of a 17 Shaler to Monroe, May 2, I 812, cited in Garrett, q,p. cit., II 4.
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