The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 7, July 1903 - April, 1904 Page: 114
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114 Teas Historical Association Quarterly.
authority and could, therefore, at least in theory, be swept away by
a stroke of the pen by Alaman, engages one's sympathy for the
Indians, who apparently did the best they knew how. Some writers
have inferred that "the Mexican Government had, in truth, never
designed to make the proposed grant; but, in order to get rid of
further importunities from Fields, and to conciliate the Cherokee
Chief, had been willing to amuse him with vague and deceitful
promises,"' with which it might dispense "whenever it might be
deemed convenient to do so."2 This, however, is an extreme view;
for, if this was intended, the government defeated its own ends
when it transferred the right to grant lands to the different States.
It is an error to attribute perfidious intent to the government at
this time. When it put off the Cherokees, it did so for the same
reason that it put off Green De Witt, Leftwich and Edwards-all
of whom obtained lands without any trouble from the State of
Coahuila and Texas.' But well meant as the postponement of
Fields's business may have been, the delay worked such great dam-
age to the interest of the Cherokees that nothing short of a clear
title to the lands they occupied could have remedied matters.
The changes that in the meantime had been going on in eastern
Texas as well as at the State capital were bringing the question of
the Cherokee land claims to a crisis independent of the action of the
general government. The old settlers of the Nacogdoches vicinity,
who had been swept out of the province by the troubles of 1819,
were gradually returning.' A considerable body of Anglo-Ameri-
cans was settling between the Sabine and the Attoyac rivers and
1Foote, Texas and the Texans, I 240.
2Bancroft, North American States and Texas, II 104.
'As a matter of fact the Mexican government did make a grant of land,
not to be held in common, however, to the Shawnee Indians, April 16, 1825.
These Indians had no more claim upon the good will of the government
than the Cherokees, except that they presented their petition after the
passage of the general colonization law. The State could not make the
grant because the land asked for was located within the border leagues;
but from the proceedings it appears that the State would have received
them, had they desired to settle elsewhere within its limits. Record of
Translations of Empresario Contracts, 79-84. General Land Office.
'Lester G. Bugbee, The Texas Frontier, 1820-1825, in Publications of
Southern History Association, IV 102-121.
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Texas State Historical Association. The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 7, July 1903 - April, 1904, periodical, 1904; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101030/m1/118/: accessed May 7, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.