The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 45, July 1941 - April, 1942 Page: 139
409 p. : ill., maps ; 24 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Count Saligny and the Franco-Texienne Bill
this Mexican trade by the French settlers. Added to this
advantage were the mining rights in the areas of west Texas
and the huge land grants.
And what of the proposed forts? Twenty forts manned by
eight thousand Frenchmen would constitute a formidable mili-
tary unit; with strong military power and the right to vote as
Texas citizens, the French settlers could maintain a strong
position in Texas. A Paris newspaper expressed the situation
by writing, "Texas will become, so to speak, an independent
French colony, appertaining to herself alone and costing us
nothing."7
As for the land grants-they were located in fertile areas
of Texas, along the banks of some of its finest rivers. If the
Franco-Texienne Bill were passed, these areas would become
the property of French immigrants, or possibly, the property
of Saligny and Company. Actually, Texas would be risking
a French invasion.
With this pet bill fully prepared, Saligny began an under-
ground campaign to insure its presentation and passage in the
Fifth Congress. Carefully he approached ex-President Sam
Houston, James Mayfield, Anson Jones, and other prominent
Texans whose friendship he had already cultivated. They were
frequent dinner guests at the French embassy, where conver-
sation invariably drifted to the merits of the Franco-Texienne
Bill, while the gentlemen smoked Saligny's cigars and drank
smooth French wines. General Houston was immediately won
to the cause, due perhaps more to his personal and political ambi-
tions than to the persuasions of the wily Frenchman. Favorable
also were several other Texans who were persuaded that immi-
gration of the French to the frontier of Texas would mean cheap
protection from the Indians and peace on the frontier." So
effective was Saligny's propaganda campaign that he persuaded
James Mayfield to introduce the Franco-Texienne Bill in the
House when Congress convened in the fall of 1840.1
In the meantime, French travelers, traders, and mineralogists
came in groups, journeying to the western parts of Texas to
measure and study and chart the country. Meanwhile, also,
strangers began to gather in Austin who were markedly in-
7Texas Centinel, May 27, 1841.
'John Brown, History of Texas, II, 188.
"Texas Centinel, July 1, 1841.139
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 45, July 1941 - April, 1942, periodical, 1942; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth146053/m1/153/: accessed April 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.