The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 4, July 1900 - April, 1901 Page: 218

218 Texas Historical Association Quarterly.

THE FIRST PERIOD OF THE GUTIERREZ-MAGEE
EXPEDITION.
WALTER FLAVIUS M'CALEB.
The Gutierrez-Magee episode marks an interesting point not only
in the history -of Texas, but in that 'of the whole Southwest. In a
way it has a national interest, for ,after the movement in question,
Texas was never again Spanish, and its .dmission into the Union
was only a question of time. Apart from the political significance
of the undertaking, this irruption of Americans into the Spanish
territories was, to 'a certain extent, an unconscious manifestation of
the spirit of aggression, the spirit of expansion, which has at various
times dominated the actions of the American people. Perhaps the
most notable instances of this are seen in the Mexican war and the
recent outburst against Spain. These were national in their larger
aspects; but the germs of both lie beyond the Gutierrez-Magee expe-
dition, and had a common 'origin. !The animosity which had grown
up in the United States towards Spain before the close of the
eighteenth century lies at 'the bottom of these troubles. The causes
for the development 'of this antagonism must be sought in the physi-
cal growth of this country measured in terms 'of Anglo-Saxon
aggressiveness and' rationalismm,-Spanish intrigue and suspicion-
,or liberalism versus inquisition.
Strangely enough, our accredited historians, with few exceptions,
have failed to grasp the real ,significance of this page of American
history. Most oaf those of 'eminence who have written have treated
it as growing, in the main, out of the selfishness of the Southern
slave owner; the other elements involved, in their opinion, were not
of vital import. (But when the true ,story is told, the tablets ,of stone
will be broken and the iniquitous evil of writing with preconceived
ideas, with partisanship tinctured with malice, will once more have
been put to shame.
In the long chain of events, -or series of waves, which led up to
these climaxes, 'the Gutierrez-Magee enterprise occupies an import-
ant place. It had been preceded by the Kemper raid, the Miranda
Expedition, 'the Aarorn Burr Conspiracy, and the overwhelhning -of