Our Catholic Heritage i11 Texas
to the Rio Grande, and if they didn't insist on this boundary, how far they would advance their frontier into Texas. He bluntly told Beulitt that he was anxious to secure this information to enable him to buy good locations in the area to be occupied by the United States.so Could this Mr. Hoistin have been Moses Austin of the lead mines of Mine a Burton? This possibility has been suggested, as has been the fact that in 1816, Austin referred to the arrival of a Judge Bullett, of St. Louis, who may well have been the Beulitt to whom Quinn wrote in 1808. This may all have had an influence on the enterprising Austin in determining him to try to recoup his lost fortune in Texas.s 1 The bishop of Nuevo Le6n had visited the distant frontier in 1806, and stated two years later that most of the immigrants had been drawn to Texas by the hope of enormous profits from contraband trade, that they were not Catholics, and that their living conditions were deplorable from the point of view of Christian morals. The commandant general immediately inquired of Cordero if these charges could be substantiated. The governor replied that the immigrants were neither immoral, nor were they confirmed contraband traders, or disloyal subjects. In self- defence, he argued that immigration regulations had been carefully observed, and that, as far as he knew, there had been no disorders. He took occasion to assert that not all settlers were engaged in contraband trade or were responsible for circulating valuable information in Louis- iana. Cordero excused illegal trade on the grounds of necessity, and painted a vivid picture of the privations of the settlers in Salcedo and East Texas, of their insignificant commerce with Bexar, Laredo, and San Juan Bautista, because these miserable outposts themselves lacked the necessary supplies. He dwelt at length upon the difficulties en- countered by the new settlers in securing stock to develop their ranches. The number of smuggling cases reported did not necessarily afford incontrovertible proof that the settlers had been bent on engaging in contraband trade merely for the profits to be gained therefrom. The large number might possibly indicate that the settlers had been unable to secure necessary supplies within the province itself. He believed, too, that the frontier officials deserved, not condemnation, but com- mendation for the efficiency they had displayed in enforcing the law in so many cases. With regard to the presence of a large number of slaves and deserters in Villa de Salcedo, Cordero reminded the com-
50Ibid., 142. SlHatcher, Tiu Opening of Texas to Foreig11 Settlement, 142-143.
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