The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 6, July 1902 - April, 1903 Page: 96
401 p. : ill. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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96 Texas Historical Association Quarterly.
line to the source of the San Saba river, thence northwesterly to
the intersection of the 103rd meridian of west longitude and the
32nd parallel of north latitude, thence northeasterly to the inter-
section of the Red River by the 100th meridian, thence down said
river."'
In more carefully delimiting the western, boundary of Texas, the
Spanish authorities at Madrid were but following the general lim-
its that had been recognized for nearly a century. Our old friends,
the Medina and the Nueces are still much in evidence. A map by
Humboldt, appearing about the same time and following the same
general lines, was later used in the compromise of 1850.
By the transfer of Louisiana to the United States in 1803, a new
factor was introduced into the solution of Texas boundary ques-
tions, and one destined seriously to change the royal utterance of
1805. The United States immediately set up the claim that Texas
belonged to Louisiana-a claim, it is said, inspired by the wish of
Jefferson to extend our frontier to include the site of La Salle's
coldiy "the cradle of Louisiana."2 But, whatever may have been
the source of the claim, it certainly was untenable, for it utterly
ignored the Spanish right by virtue of the occupation of Texas
from 1715 to 1762-a thing not done by the French, from whom
we bought the territory. At any rate, Mr. J. Q. Adams, our sec-
retary of state, was glad t6 resign vague claims to Texas in return
for a more substantial title to the lands of Florida. What had been
the subject of fruitless claim, the United States later tried to ob-
tain by purchase from Mexico. Adams, when president, sent Poin-
sett with instructions to obtain as much of Texas as possible, by
proposing a series of boundaries of which the Rio Grande was the
most westerly, thus passing greatly beyond the old limits of the
province of Texas.3 His efforts, however, were unavailing. Jack-
son sent by the United States charge d'affaires, Butler, an offer of
an extra half million, if the boundary were extended to the Pacific.4
His labor was equally fruitless. The Mexican authorities were too
'THE QUARTERLY, I 14.
'Jefferson to M. Bowdoin, July 10, 1806. Quoted in Mexique et le
Texas.
'Von Holst, Constitutional History of the United States, 1828-46, 553-
554. Bancroft, Mexico, V 322.
'Von Holst, ibid., 566.
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Texas State Historical Association. The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 6, July 1902 - April, 1903, periodical, 1903; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101028/m1/100/: accessed April 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.