First Clasltes wit/, the U11ited States
to the United States, who learned of it after Pike's return to Natchi- toches. When the commandant general made his official report, stating that he had released the prisoners after taking their papers-among which were many suspicious letters and instructions-Secretary Ceballos replied that the king approved of the diligence displayed in their capture and the prudence shown in the handling of the matter, but he disapproved of their releas!=!. The commandant general was informed that he should have detained them until formal request for their release had been made by the American Government. This course would have permitted Spain to protest formally the unwarranted violation of Spanish territory. The charge d'affaires to the United States was instructed to inform the American Government that the most rigorous measu·res would be taken in the future against such transgressors. Salcedo realized too late that he had been hasty in the release of the prisoners and hurried to report on November 24, 1808, that seven men were still in custody and could be held until further instructions. In a personal brawl one of them, Julian Mike, had killed his companion, Millian Doliet. The king replied that, since the leader had been released, it would be unjust to hold the soldiers who were still in Chihuahua. He ordered that all, except Julian Mike, be set at liberty.m Antonio Glass's expedition to the Red River, 1808. But neither the difficulties of Pike, the negotiation of the Neutral Ground Agreement, nor the arrest and trial of Burr dissuaded ambitious adventurers from attempting to penetrate Texas and New Mexico. Late in the summer of 1808, Juan Cortes, Spanish agent in Natchitoches, warned the com- mander of Nacogdoches that a certain Antonio Glass, with about one hundred men, had probably set out for the country of the Taovayas on the Red River. He intended to prospect for mines, establish trade with the Taovayas and the Comanches, and penetrate perhaps as far as Santa Fe. Another party was to join his band in New Mexico. The men were desperate characters and were well armed. Further details of this expedition were learned a few days later by Herrera in Nacogdoches. It seemed that the primary object of Glass and his companions was the discovery of silver mines in the country of 1' 5 Pedro Ceballos to Comandante General de las Provinclas Internas, November 21, 1807; Ceballos to the Gobernador del Consejo de las Indias, November 24, 1808; Salcedo to Martin de Garay, August 8, 1809. A. G. /,, Audimcia d, Guadalajara, 1 04-3-1 5. ( Dunn Transcripts, 1800-1 8 I 9, pp. 189-191 .)
Powered by FlippingBook