The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 26, July 1922 - April, 1923 Page: 2
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Southwestern Historical Quarterly
posing array; the means of repelling the formidable invasion were
not of sufficient power to inspire general confidence, and many
families had abandoned their homes and were fleeing from the
approaching devastation. The entire settlements from the Nueces
to the Colorado had been broken up, and the fall of the Alamo,
where the gallant Travis and his brave associates consecrated
their lives to the liberty of Texas, had spread dismay even to the
line of the Brassos. Our military force in the field was greatly
inferior in number to that of the host that was marching against
us; and were it not, that there was a vast discrepance between
the military capacities of the opposing armies, the subjugation
of Texas would have appeared inevitable; but that discrepance
had constituted an important ground of confidence in the seces-
sion, and it was worthy of all estimation; for it was discrepance
not only of military powers, but of moral attributes and of polit-
ical knowledge.3
It was impossible with affairs in the chaotic state which pre-
vailed during the first few months after the Declaration of Inde-
pendence to do more than meet issues as they arose. The Indian
situation was in a very critical condition just at this time. The
convention had failed to ratify the treaty made with the Chero-
kees and their associate bands, by Houston and Forbes in Feb-
ruary.4 The various governing bodies of Texas had up to this
time pursued a policy of pacification toward the Indians. The
failure of the Convention to continue this policy probably created
a hostile feeling among the Cherokees and their associate bands,
which might result in real war." Besides this, the wild tribes,
always intent on plunder and scalps, were ready to take every
advantage of the unsettled condition of the country. The ad
interim government faced an extremely difficult situation.
The twofold Indian policy of protection and pacification had
been definitely established by the revolutionary governments. The
3Journal of the House of Representatives of the Republic of Texas, 1
Congress, 1 Session, 11-22.
'Marshall says (in his History of the Western Boundary of the Louisiana
Purchase, 1819-1841, 139-146) that the convention refused to ratify this
treaty, and gives Kennedy as a reference. The writer has been unable to
find that any action whatever was taken on the matter by the Convention.
It seems that other affairs crowded in so fast that the treaty was never
brought up for discussion. Though this was, in a way, similar to a
refusal, and may have been considered so by the Indians, still no vote
was really taken' on the treaty by the Convention.
'Marshall, A History of the Western Boundary of the Louisiana Purchase,
1819-1841, 140.
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 26, July 1922 - April, 1923, periodical, 1923; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101084/m1/8/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.