History and present condition of New Orleans, Louisiana, and Report on the city of Austin, Texas / by George E. Waring and George W. Cable.

  • Waring, George E., Jr. (George Edwin), 1833-1898.
Date:
1881
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: History and present condition of New Orleans, Louisiana, and Report on the city of Austin, Texas / by George E. Waring and George W. Cable. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    124/140 (page 88)
    The comniissioners coDfidently anticipate the time when a great thoroughfare shall be established from Santa Fe to onr seaports, and another from Red river to Matanioros, which two routes must almost of necessity intersect each other at this point. They look forward to the time when this city shall be the emporium of not only the productions of the rich soil of the San Saba, Penderiiales, Hero, and Pecan bayou, but of all the Colorado and Brazos, as also of the produce of the rich mining country known to exist on those streams. They are satisfied that a truly national city could, at no other, point within the limits assigned them, be reared up ; not that other sections of the country are not equally fertile, but that no other combined so many and such varied advantages and beauties as the one in question. The imagination of even the romantic will not be disappointed on viewing the valley of the Colorado and tlie fertile and gracefully undulating woodlands and luxuriant prairies at a distance from it. The most skeptical will not doubt its healthiness, and the citizen's bosom must swell with honest pride when, standing in the portico of the capitol of his country, he looks abroad upon a region worthy only of being the home of the brave and the free. Standing on the juncture of the routes of Santa F6 and the sea-coast, of Red river and Matamoros, looking with the same glance upon the green, romantic mountains and the fertile and widely extended plains of his country, can a feeling of nationality fail to arise in his bosom, or could the fire of patriotism lie dormant under such circumstances? A land ageut was immediately appointed for laying out the land, and on the 1st day of August, 1839, the first sale of lots took place, the sales amounting to |182,588. During the month of October the city grew rapidly; public as well as private building was energetically i^ushed to completion. On the 17th of this month the president, accompanied by a portion of his cabinet, arrived at Austin. General A. Sidney Johnson, secretary of war, and General Burleson, followed by a procession of citizens, met the president a few miles out of the city. The usual address of welcome was delivered and festivities followed. There had been erected for the use of the government a frame building, inclosed by a stockade, as capitol (on the present site of the city market), and on the opposite side of the hill another frame building, which served as an executive mansion, log cabins being built for the accommodation of the heads of departments. The arrival of these officers gave a new iuipetus to the city; emigration i^oured in, and improvements progressed more rapidly than before. During this same month the Austin City Oazette was started, and was followed soon after by The Sentinel. A reading-room was opened^ and on the 11th of November, 1839, the first session of the fourth congress met at the capitol. A proposition was made agitating a change of the seat of government. A bill calling for a vote of the jjeople to settle the matter was introduced, supported among others by General Houston, a congressman from the St. Augustine country. It was, however, voted down, and the question for a time remained at rest. On the 13th of January, congress having incor])orated the city of Austin, an election was held for city officers; and on the same day the first meeting of the supreme court of Texas was here held, the session occupying 13 days. The duties of the mayor of the city were not complicated, but consisted largely in keeping the community in a state of intelligent defense against occasional Indian raids, which were apijrehended with reason, but which were never of a very serious character. In the spring of 1810 a census of the city was taken, showing a total population of 806, of whom 5.50 were adult men and 150 were blacks. They were a heterogeneous assemblage, including representatives of almost every nation and profession. During the year 1811 Austin continued to increase. The independence of Texas had been acknowledged by the United States, France, Great Britain, and Belgium, M. de Saligny, the French minister, with a scientific corps, had already arrived, and had built for himself the finest house then in Texas. His relations with the government were, however, of short duration. It appears that one of his servants had killed some pigs that annoyed him, which belonged to Mr. Bullock. Mr, Bullock whipped the servant, and thereby enraged the minister, who called upon Mr. Bullock and was ordered off the premises. The minister, conceiA^ing that the honor of France had been compromised, demanded of the president that he rebuke Mr. Bullock. The president refused to interfere in a personal quarrel, and referred him to the civil authorities. The subsequent behavior of M. de Saligny was such that the president asked of the French government that he be recalled, which request was promptly granted. This petty quarrel became a matter of public interest, inasmuch as it led to the breaking off of negotiations for a loan about to be made by the French government to the government of Texas. An election for president was held on the first Monday in September, 1841. Three names were prominent among the nominations: those of General Sam. Houston, David G. Burnet, and Governor Welsh. The latter promised, if elected, to serve for a salary of $500 per annum, to pay his own expenses, and to do the public blacksmithing free of charge. General Houston was elected; and on the second Monday of December was inaugurated president of the Eepublic of Texas. He established many reforms, and enforced rigid economy, Notwithstanding the fact that, ovtdugto loose regulations for the collection of customs (most of the goods consumed in the eastern part of the state being smuggled across the Sabine river), tlie public credit and the currency gradually improved. Early in the spring of 1842 General Yasquez, at the head of 1,200 Mexican regulars, invaded Texas, sacking San Antonio on the Gtli of March. A citizen escaping at sunrise reached Austin abont dusk with the astounding news. Great energy was shown, and by the morning of the 8th Austin had mustered from 1,500 to 2,000 citizen soldiers. The president became greatly alarmed, and issued an order forbidding any soldiers to leave the city. He ordered the archives removed to Houstou, In spite of his orders, however, many soldiers did leave for the frtmt the same night. Meanwhile the government officers were rapidly preparing to leave the town, burying many of the