The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 17, July 1913 - April, 1914 Page: 168
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The Southwestern Historical Quarterly
best with the few forces at his disposal, despite the indecisive course
of the viceroy, Iturrigaray. In July, 1805, the former complained
that the building of fortifications at Natchitoches indicated the ar-
rival of additional American troops and contrasted this with con-
ditions in Texas, where he had only three hundred men to hold five
frontier posts and guard the province against the Americans and
Indians. In the following month he requested auxiliaries from
Nuevo Leon and Nuevo Santander, and later ordered two hundred
of these to be stationed at Espiritu Santo [Matagorda], in order to
prevent the landing of a hostile expedition in that quarter. Pre-
vious orders show that this expected expedition may have been
British, but the Spanish reinforcements could be used against the
Americans, if necessary.38
In June, 1805, came the report from Natchitoches of the finding
of Bernard La Harpe's Journal-a manuscript history of Louisiana
from 1699 to 1723. This later proved a most effective aid to the
American claim to the Rio Grande.89 In addition to this, early in
September, Dr. Sibley collected and forwarded to Washington a
mass of testimony designed to prove that previous to 1762 the
French had made permanent settlements on the Red River, several
hundred miles above Natchitoches, as well as at Bayou Pierre.
President Jefferson used this information in his next annual mes-
sage, and it and the Journal later formed the basis of much wordy
diplomatic discussion.40
By midsummer 1805, the feeling of distrust and jealousy on the
part of both Americans and Spaniards had brought about a situa-
tion on the western frontier that needed slight encouragement to
break out into actual hostilities. In October some robberies on the
part of the Spaniards reported from Opelousas and Bayou Pierre
added to the feeling of resentment, and showed the danger to be
anticipated from a continuance of unauthorized Indian trading in
this region, while there was no settled policy on the part of either
government.4 Wilkinson sums up the situation in a letter to Casa
Calvo, in which he expresses regret at certain features of Burr's
"Salcedo. to Iturrigaray, July 16, August 3, 1805; Salcedo's "Military
Record," August 20, 1805. Bexar Archives.
'Gayarre, Hist. of La., IV, 111; Ford, Writings of Jefferson, XI, 20.
40J. Q. Adams to Onis, March 12, 1818, in Am. State Paps., For. Rel.,
IV, 78.
4Am. State Paps., For. Rel., II, 694, 695.168
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 17, July 1913 - April, 1914, periodical, 1914; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101061/m1/172/: accessed May 5, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.