The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 61, July 1957 - April, 1958 Page: 435
591 p. : ill., maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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The Struggle over the Upper Rio Grande Region
attorney, of the Eleventh Judicial District. Wood called upon
Polk to require the military officers at Santa Fe to extend every
lawful aid to Judge Baird, to whom was entrusted the duty of
organizing the county. Wood expressed the surprise of the people
of 'Texas at the disposition of some public men of the Union to
deprive Texas of a large portion of its territory by prescribing
new and unheard-of boundaries for the state. He launched into
a lengthy and able defense of the Texan claims. At the same time,
Wood expressed the thanks of the people of Texas for Polk's
past efforts in behalf of Texas.15
In asserting the claims of Texas, Governor Wood reminded
President Polk that the first Texas Congress in 1836 claimed the
boundary began three leagues at sea, thence to the mouth of the
Rio Grande, thence to the source of that river, and thence to the
forty-second degree of north latitude. That boundary had been
upheld by every succeeding administration in Texas. The United
States, Wood averred, had recognized the boundaries tacitly by
the recognition of Texan independence in 1837. The provision
in the articles of annexation that the United States might adjust
the Texan boundaries with other powers made the United States
the agent of Texas in dealing with Mexico, and it was to be ex-
pected that the United States would uphold Texas, not despoil
it. The governor declared that the United States had further rec-
ognized Texan claims when it provided that, should Texas be
divided into five states by its consent, any state lying above the
latitude of 360 30' should be free. The fact that the United States
erected a customs district between the Nueces and the Rio Grande
further exhibited the recognition of the boundaries. Further-
more, the governor said, the American declaration of war upon
Mexico hinged on Mexican invasion of land embraced in the area
in question. Finally, the United States had ratified Texan laws
not in conflict with its own Constitution and laws, which included
those defining the limits of Texas.'"
Before Judge Baird could reach Santa Fe, Lieutenant Colonel
John M. Washington assumed duty as military governor on
15Wood to Polk, October 6, 1848 (MS., Santa Fe Papers, Part II, Archives, Texas
State Library).
l6Ibid.435
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 61, July 1957 - April, 1958, periodical, 1958; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101164/m1/537/: accessed May 5, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.