The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 66, July 1962 - April, 1963 Page: 569

Notes and Documents

William Ac1ate's Narrative of the
Magee-futiCrraz xpeditio, 1812-1813
Edited by HENRY P. WALKER
[The following is a continuation of the William McLane Narrative,
the second part of which appeared in the January, 1963, Quarterly.]
REVIEW OF ERRONEOUS HISTORY1"'
In reviewing Yoakum's History of Texas, I find such a multitude
of misrepresentations and erroneous assertions in regard to the Magee
Expedition, it would exhaust my patience if it did not discompose
my equinimity to persue his erroneous extracts from the narrative of
Capt. McKim,1S0 to whose authority he refers, as most reliable; being
quartermaster. ' He may have been the man that kept a journal and
frequently amused and entertained his companions by reciting his
observations and remarks.'" Here is a specimen: On crossing the
Sabine river, he exclaimed, "and now we have launched into a new
World." He may have succeeded the old man referred to in the fore-
going sketch, bearing the brand and mark of "North Carolina," who
commanded the border ruffians; and who, was drowned in the Brazos
river on his return from San Antonio.
14"On page 3 of the San Antonio Tri-Weekly Alamo Express, February 23, 1861,
appears the following: "With this number ends the narrative of the Magee Expedi-
tion. It has proved a most interesting paper. The review of existing accounts and
the appendix, which will run through several numbers, will be exceedingly inter-
esting." The "Review of Erroneous History" runs continuously through four is-
sues without any subdivision. The end of each installment will be marked by a
footnote.
James McKim is described by Bancroft as an old citizen of Texas who joined
the expedition on the Sabine, and Yoakum says he served throughout the war. In
1823, James McKimm, the elder, and James McKimm, junior, both claimed land
in the late Neutral Territory as having been under cultivation since February 22,
1819. In a footnote to the article in the Texas Almanac of 1861, Hall is credited
with saying that he knew McKim well, that he was a fit associate of the robbers
with whom he had been connected on the Sabine, and that he was unworthy of
credit. Yoakum, History of Texas, I, 154; American State Papers, Public Lands, IV,
o18; Texas Almanac, z86z, p. 71; Hubert Howe Bancroft, The History of the North
Mexican States and Texas (2 vols.; San Francisco, 1884-1889), I, 22n.
s1If McKim was quartermaster of the expedition, it must have been after
Davenport quit the expedition at La Bahia, as McLane and several other sources
state that Davenport served as quartermaster during the early part of the invasion.
"5'Unfortunately, this journal seems to have disappeared. None of the many
writings dealing with the expedition mention it.

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