The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 16, July 1912 - April, 1913 Page: 33
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Kentucky and the Independence of Texas
States will join their brethren in this section, they will receive
liberal bounties of land. We have millions of acres of our best
lands unchosen and unappropriated. Let each man come with a
good rifle and one hundred rounds of ammunition and come soon.
Our war-cry is 'Liberty or Death.' Our principles are to. support
the constitution, and down with the usurper!!"1 As will be seen,
the appeal of Houston did not fall upon deaf ears. Now and
then a paper is found which expresses the opinion that tranquillity
will soon be restored, or betrays an indifferent attitude upon the
Texas question.2 On the other hand the Evening Star of Phila-
delphia asserted that "Texas sooner or later from its position must
become the property of the United States,"3 a sentiment which no
doubt found a ready response in the minds of many.
Kentuckians were not slow to respond to the appeal of Houston
and of Austin. At once meetings were held by the citizens of Lex-
ington and of Fayette county, at which measures were devised for
the purpose of assisting those who desired to volunteer their serv-
ices in behalf of Texas. In December the first emigrants from
Kentucky reached Texas: among these were thirty-six riflemen
from Louisville, under the command of Captain James Tarleton,
of Scott county,' who has left a vivid account of the battle of San
Jacinto. It was probably about this time that Captain Sidney
Sherman conducted a body of fifty-two volunteers, of whom some
1Cf. also the Commonwealth, November 7, 1835.
2The New Orleans Bee of June 30, 1835, says resignedly: "Texas be-
longs to the Mexican government, not to the American-and perhaps it is
better so."
8Quoted by the Commonwealth, November 14, 1835. Several newspapers
easily disposed of the Texas question by printing statements to the effect
that Texas had been ceded to the United States by Mexico by treaty. The
boundary line was unsettled, but for a certain money payment by the
United States it was agreed the Rio del Norte was to be the dividing line.
Cf. Courier and Enquirer, March 2, 1836.
4Kentucky Gazette, November 7, 1835; ibid., November 13, 1835.
"Ibid., January 16, 1836. The Frankfort Argus, December 9, 1835. A
correspondent of a Philadelphia paper writing at this time remarks that
"as regards volunteers, there are too many from the United States in the
country already. We have men enough of our own that can whip all the
Spaniards that can march into the country." Philadelphia Saturday
Courier, January 9, 1836. Cf., however, the Richmond Enquirer, Decem-
ber 31, 1835, which prints a letter signed by C. A. Parker written from
Nacogdoches; in this he says the volunteers are received with open arms
by the people.
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 16, July 1912 - April, 1913, periodical, 1913; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101058/m1/39/: accessed March 29, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.