The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 13, July 1909 - April, 1910 Page: 148
341 p. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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148
Texas Historical Association Quarterly.
eral Cos sent from Matamoras a demand for the surrender of
Travis.1 It thus appears that Miller was advising little that the
authorities were not already determined to do. He did, however,
encourage Ugartechea to act more promptly than he might other-
wise have done, for on July 31 the latter issued an order for the
arrests."
Miller's own statement of his motives as avowed in the letter may,
I believe, be frankly accepted. He took his oath of allegiance se-
riously, he was a Mexican citizen; he, with the majority of the col-
onists, desired nothing more ardently than peace; he was convinced
that the country could never be tranquil until the agitators were
suppressed; and therefore, in his own mind, both as a loyal Mexican
and as a well-wisher of his fellow-Texans, he was justified in urg-
ing the measures which he thought would most effectually accom-
plish that end. That he misjudged the means for doing this is
beside the mark.
The colonists refused to make the arrests, public opinion changed
during August and September, and on October 2 hostilities began
with the battle of Gonzales. Miller's letter had been no secret, and
the change in popular feeling brought condemnation upon him.
This he so keenly felt that, in October, he published a long article,
explaining his motives and pleading for justice.3 After briefly
reviewing recent political conditions, he declared that in the be-
ginning the war party was composed largely of the men who had
been interested in the land speculations, and hence the inference
was natural "that their zeal and patriotism had to excite them
something of a private nature."
S. And indeed the whole country from one end to the other
with the exception of a very limited number of individuals, seemed
resolved on peace on any honorable terms, and expressed full con-
fidence in the good faith of the Government in its relations with
us. . .. With the people, I thought it [the war party] was
trying to wheedle us with fancied dangers. . .. When I say,
with the people, I say what I mean, for I heard hundreds of persons
and in all parts of the country, say, that if they took their rifle into
',Cos to Ayuntamiento of Columbia, August 1, 1835. Austin Papers.
'Ugartechea to Tenorio, July 31, 1835. Bexar Archives.
ASee the Texas Republican, October 3, 1835.
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Texas State Historical Association. The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 13, July 1909 - April, 1910, periodical, 1910; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101051/m1/162/: accessed April 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.