The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 73, July 1969 - April, 1970 Page: 328
605 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Southwestern Historical Quarterly
to entrance the troops. They enjoyed the commanding view from
the bluff, strolled happily over the plain, and expressed amazement
at the abundant wild life. Mexican families in the tiny settlement pro-
vided an intriguing glimpse of a different culture. Captain W. S.
Henry recorded in his diary for August 5 that he had enjoyed a Mexi-
can preparation at "Mrs. B's" called "themales" [tamales]. "I know
of nothing more palatable," he wrote.' A few days earlier Captain
Henry and a friend had attended Catholic church services in an
Irishman's home. Twelve women, most of them Mexicans, had been
there."
Perhaps most promising of all was the climate:
It is probably one of the healthiest and pleasantest spots in the world.
From the earliest dawn refreshing breezes invigorate the body, dissipate
the intensity of heat, and nerve the system to a healthful action. The cool
nights invite weariness to repose, disturbed neither by the promenading
flea, nor the buzzing mosquito.'
Second Lieutenant Ulysses S. Grant wrote to his fiancee, Julia Dent,
that the climate was "delightful and very healthy," equal to that of
any in the world.8 Captain Henry praised the cooling effects of the
"never-ceasing trade-winds" and termed the temperature, as had Grant,
"delightful."' The pleasing weather usually was claimed as the reason
for the troops' good health. First Lieutenant R. E. Cochran of the
4th Infantry (later to die in the battle of Resaca de la Palma) wrote
to his parents of the fine sea breeze and his surprise that so few
soldiers were sick." "I think we are truly fortunate in coming South
at the season we did in getting such a delightful situation and with
all so healthy," he added in a later letter." "There was no sickness
at all among the troops, the air was very fine and nights cool, with
a good breeze night and day from the sea," reported the Niles' Na-
tional Register in August."
'Henry, Campaign Sketches, 27.
*Ibid., 25.
'Weekly Picayune (New Orleans), September 8, 1845.
"The Papers of Ulysses S. Grant, edited by John Y. Simon (2 vols.; Carbondale, Ill.,
1967), I, 54.
*Henry, Campaign Sketches, 27.
"Cochran to Richard E. Cochran, September 4, 1845, R. E. Cochran Papers (Archives,
University of Texas Library, Austin).
"Ibid., September 27, 1845.
sNiles' National Register, LXVIII (August 3o, 1845), 401ox.328
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 73, July 1969 - April, 1970, periodical, 1970; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth117147/m1/364/: accessed April 30, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.