Houston and the Hispanics

[Allen Wiener]

I was thinking about something in Stuart's book that led to a far-fetched idea about the Alamo. Stuart can correct me if I'm misinterpreting, but as I understood him, Houston wasn't interested in a Texas repubic that included what is roughly now the southwest part of the territory. He did not want a republic that included any Hispanic areas, and that included San Antonio and the border areas where Grant was operating. Needless to say, he would thus be opposed to the broader sort of revolution that Grant was trying to accomplish, which included more than just Texas and involved Mexican officials and military units too. Instead, Houston wanted only to secure the Anglo portion of the colony, separate it from Mexico, and annex it to the United States as quickly as possible.

If that's all true, does anyone think that his thinking on this had anything to do with his apparent desire to abandon Bexar and his reluctance to do anything to relieve the Alamo? I realize he sent Bowie there to assess the situation, but what I've read sounds like his preference was to abandon the place and save the cannon if he could.

AW

[stuart]

No, you're not misinterpreting me. That's exactly what I was driving at. I'll be interested to know what take the others have on it.

[elcolorado]

Stuart

I just got your book a few days ago so I can't really comment, just yet. However, I do have a question. If Houston wasn't too keen on including parts of Southwest Texas into the new republic, why then, did he insist on the Rio Grande as the new border with Mexico?

Glenn

[Allen Wiener]

I don't really know the answer to that myself, but remember we are talking about 1835-36 here; later, during the annexation debates in 1845 there was quite a bit of disagreement over where the border was. Lincoln was in Congress then and thought the government had no case for the Rio Grande vs. the Nueces. I'm not sure if he supported annexation or not, but he definitely opposed the war with Mexico later on.

AW

[stuart]

Firstly you have to remember that historically the border between Texas and Tamaulipas was the Nueces. The Rio Grande never figured in any of the original calculations. Houston, I believe, was prepared to sacrifice the department of Bexar because its population was still overwhelming Hispanic in the 1830s, while Brazos and Nacogdoches were predominantly Anglo.

This was doubly important because Houston's ultimate aim was to secure annexation by the US which could only be justified if the resident population were Americans

I believe the Rio Grande may have come into the calculations later because it pushed the border further away from American Texas, but we're starting to move out of my area of expertise here so I'm open to argument.

[elcolorado]

Stuart

This information is all very new to me...and very interesting. I'm really looking forward to getting into your book and learning more.

Glenn

[highplainsman]

I think initally Houstons concern was trying to defeat a large Mexican army in the more open areas of South Texas. Tho his military experiance was limited he must have recognised this fact and the fact that any army put in the field by Texas wheather regulars or volunteers were going to be severly outclassed in open terrain. I think this was addressed to some degree in the last Alamo Journal or Crockett Cronicle , I don't remember which right at the moment.

[Herb]

I think you may be right.

I'm inclined to believe Stuart's theory, for Houston's original thinking, but perhaps the events of the war, changed Houstons' mind. Perhaps, the fairly rapid descent on Texas by Santa Anna, convinced Houston that Texas needed the Nueces Strip not so much as organic territory, but as a buffer between the new Republic and Old Mexico.

[Don Guillermo]

Buenos Dias.

An older Don Guillermo Op-Ed entitled “Houston’s Traitorous Conduct” relies on the opinions of old DeWitt Colony settlers who at one time were loyal to their Mexican government beneficiaries who allowed them to immigrant with generous land grants. It makes some comments relevant to this topic.

Dios y Libertad. DG