Part 34

[144] Hayden Edwards was a Kentuckian who had formerly lived near Frankfort, in that state. Removing with his family to Louisiana, he was impressed by the colonizing opportunities offered in Texas, and sought a grant of land. His first application at the capital of Mexico was unsuccessful; later, he obtained a grant from the state government of Coahuila and Texas (1825). Edwards was an honorable man, of strict moral character, and had embarked a considerable fortune in this enterprise. But he became involved in disputes with former Mexican settlers and some American outlaws, who united in such representations to their government that the grant was arbitrarily revoked. Edwards thereupon (1826) raised the standard of independence, expecting to be seconded by all the American colonists of Texas, and by recruits from Louisiana. Flint was at this time a resident of Louisiana, where he probably heard of the enterprise.--ED.

[145] For the originator of Austin's colony in Texas, see Bradbury's _Travels_, in our volume v, p. 255, note 141. His son, Colonel Stephen F. Austin, had in large measure the qualities needed for successful colonization. Obtaining a grant of land on the Colorado and Brazos rivers (1821) from the authorities of Mexico, together with extended powers of government, Austin laid the foundation for American expansion in Texas. He died at his Texan home in 1836.--ED.

[146] Chaplin was a son-in-law of Edwards, not his brother-in-law.

Nacogdoches was one of the earliest Spanish settlements of this region. In 1715 a mission was established in the near neighborhood, and by 1765 a few permanent inhabitants had collected in the locality. With the Spanish acquisition of Louisiana (1762), the place took on new consequence, emigrants from the former province were invited to remove thither under the official tenure of the commandant, Gil y Barbo, a man of energy and enterprise. Under his rule was built (1778) the "stone house" which played a rôle in the history of Fredonia, but has recently been razed. In 1805, Nacogdoches was fortified against American advance, and the following year is reported with five hundred inhabitants. During the Mexican revolution, however, Nacogdoches suffered severely, and after 1819 was wholly abandoned for several years. Included in Edwards's grant, the town became the rallying point both for the adherents and opponents of the Fredonian republic. In 1832 Nacogdoches was once more a battle-ground between the republican and monarchical forces of Mexico. After Texan independence (1836), its importance rapidly declined. It is now (1905) the seat of a county of that name, and has a population of about 1,800.--ED.

[147] The career of John Dunn Hunter was a remarkable one, even if he be considered an impostor. According to his own statements, he was of white parentage, but captured when a child by Indians, among whom he grew to manhood. Abandoning his tribe in 1816, he went to New Orleans, placed himself in school, and acquired sufficient command of English to edit a book concerning his adventures. This was published under the title, _Manners and Customs of Several Indian Tribes located West of the Mississippi_ (Philadelphia, 1823). The same year it was issued in London as _Memoirs of a Captivity among the Indians of North America from Childhood to the age of nineteen_. It was also translated into German and Swedish. About this time Hunter went to Europe, and was lionized and praised in both London and Paris. He gave it to be understood that his life work was to ameliorate the condition of the North American Indians, and about 1824 went to Texas and joined the band of Cherokee located near Nacogdoches. He remained true to his engagements with the Fredonians, even after their cause began to decline, and was therefore shot by a renegade Indian, under circumstances of considerable barbarity. American pioneers pronounced Hunter an impostor, and his book a forgery. The evidence to that effect by Lewis Cass, William Clark, and Auguste Chouteau seems conclusive. See _North American Review_, xxii, p. 94.--ED.

[148] The following extract is from an English translation (1828) of Malte-Brun, _Précis de la géographie universelle_; see note 140, _ante_.--ED.

[149] William Bullock was an English traveller, naturalist, and antiquary who visited Mexico in 1822-23, and returned with a collection of antiquities and curiosities which were exhibited in London. The following year (1824) he published _Six Months' Residence and Travels in Mexico_. See our volume xix, preface.--ED.

[150] Guillaume Thomas François Raynal (1713-96). The work here cited is _Histoire philosophique et politique des établissements et du commerce des Européens dans les deux Indes_ (Paris, 1770).--ED.

[151] Antonio de Alcedo y Bexarano, a Peruvian historian and soldier, published _Diccionario geográfico-histórico de las Indias Occidentales_ (Madrid, 1786-89).--ED.

[152] For the Paduca Indians, see James's _Long's Expedition_, in our volume xiv, note 179. Evidently the Comanche are the tribe referred to in this passage.--ED.

TRANSCRIBER NOTES

The text includes Original Edition page numbers in { }. The following Original Edition page numbers are not present in the text: {i}-{iii}, {vi}, {vii}, {1}-{13}, {253}-{255}, {289}.

Footnotes in the text are in [ ]. Italic text is denoted by _underscores_.

Obvious typographical and punctuation errors have been corrected after careful comparison with other occurrences within the text and consultation of external sources.

Inconsistent spelling of a word or word-pair within the text has been retained. For example, northwest north-west; gray grey; headwaters head waters.

Spelling has been left as found in the text, except for those changes noted below.

Pg 23 'THRUOGH' changed to 'THROUGH'. Pg 50 'Theherd' changed to 'The herd'. Pg 59 'sometime' changed to 'some time'. Pg 67 'Jotans' changed to 'Iotans'. Pg 84 apostrophe removed from 'dancers''. Pg 102 apostrophe removed from 'their's'. Pg 103 'battlehill' changed to 'Battle-hill'. Pg 128 'couching' changed to 'crouching'. Pg 160 'vachers' retained; probably vaqueros. Pg 177 'Taguarcha' changed to 'Targuarcha'. Pg 184 'at' inserted into 'gazing at me'. Pg 190 'past' changed to 'passed'. Pg 196 'ther' changed to 'their'. Pg 213 'ther' changed to 'their'. Pg 257 bad end quote removed from 'executed.''. Pg 302 'eply' changed to 'reply'; also 'beforet' changed to 'before'; also 'tha' changed to 'that'. Pg 321 {151} changed to correct number {251}. Pg 340 'curlish' changed to 'churlish'. Pg 345 'Malte Brun' changed to 'Malte-Brun'. Pg 365 redundant 'the' removed from 'of the _the decline ..._'. Pg 369 'vacher' retained; probably vaquero.

End of Project Gutenberg's Early Western Travels 1748-1846, by Various