Americanization and Mexican Influence in East TexasChristi Laney

5/9/2008HIS 495.01

Sam Houston State University

Americanization and Mexican Influence in East Texas

While the Mexican history of Texas runs deep in both the veins of its people and

its culture, not all parts of the state equally reflect the years under Mexican rule. The

Valley of Texas carries a rich culture of Mexican settlement while the Hill Country fades

that trend with an intermingling of Hispanic and Anglo colonization. Yet the antithesis

and exception of Mexican influence can be best experienced along the Louisiana-Texas

border in the wooded hills of East Texas. Because of the prevalence of Anglo-American

settlers in East Texas prior to the War for Independence, the Mexican government had

little presence in the Piney Woods except through laws and expeditions sent to quell the

flow of white immigrants from the United States. The dense forests and rolling hills

along the eastern border of Texas failed to appeal to Mexican families, and while some

were awarded land grants in the area, few ever made the effort to claim or settle their

lands. Yet through the Law of April 6, 1830 and the expeditions of Manuel de Mier y

Terán, the Mexican government made several brief appearances in the area, leaving few

footprints behind as it unsuccessfully attempted to prevent further Americanization of

East Texas.

The physical layout of the land, vegetation, and climate of the area serve as

perhaps the most basic reason for lack of Mexican settlement. During the first

government expedition to East Texas under Mier y Terán, a scribe named José María

Sánchez chronicled the Mexicans’ discontent with the changing landscape as the travelers

made their way from Mexico through the Brazos River valley and across the Trinity

River to Nacogdoches. In the majority of the opening entries, Sánchez describes his

surroundings with favorable adjectives and a positive connotation. On February 21, 1828,

Sánchez writes, “At about seven o’clock in the morning we resumed our march over

ground that was as level as that of the previous day, but more pleasing to the eye because

the small shrubs that cover the land permit the eye to roam over a limitless horizon that

seems to touch the blue sky in every direction1.” As the group transitions from the desert

plains to the Hill Country, Sánchez notes the increase in vegetation and advent of gently

rolling hills, both of which the group appears to enjoy. “The ground continues to be

covered with vegetation, which seems to increase as one approaches the interior of

Texas…but I noticed that the increased vegetation and the numerous small trees scattered

everywhere made the view delightful2.” Yet on April 22 as the attaché enters the flood

plains of the Brazos River and into the Piney Woods, the mood quickly turns sour. “We

rejoined the party and continued on our way along heavy woods that show no particular

beauty…seeing how unattractive it was I suggested they name it after me…in the

afternoon it rained considerably3.” Once the expedition reaches the Brazos River and

enters the heart of East Texas, disaster hits as floodwaters in the area produce intense

humidity, muddy conditions make travel nearly impossible and hordes of mosquitoes

harass the party to the point of illness. “To the unbearable heat were added the continuous

croaking of frogs, the discordant singing of the drunken negroes and a numberless legion

of mosquitoes that bit us everywhere, all of which kept us from sleeping a wink… we

saw the terrible onslaught that these cursed insects had made upon us, leaving us full of

swollen spots, especially on the face of the general, which was so raw that it seemed as if

1 José María Sánchez, “A Trip To Texas In 1828,” The Southwestern Historical Quarterly Online 29, no. 4 (January 2006): 251. Available from http://www.tshaonline.org/publications/journals/shq/online/v029/n4/article_3.html. Accessed 28 Feb. 2008.2 Ibid. 252.3 Ibid. 263.

it had been flayed1.” Finally, the expedition is forced to turn back after the majority of the

soldiers fall ill while Mier y Terán and Sánchez continue alone. The pair encounters

further tribulations upon crossing the Trinity River on May 25. “The mosquitoes, the lack

of food and the inability to cross the river all added greatly to this calamity. May the Lord

have pity on us2!” As evidenced through the diary entries of Sánchez, most Mexicans

were unaccustomed to the humid climate and thick forests of East Texas and therefore

found no interest in settling the area. The vast plains of the Chihuahua Desert, the dry

climate of Mexico and the sparse vegetation of their home country presented a much

more appealing location in which to live, leaving the Piney Woods practically void of

permanent Mexican influence.

While the political owners of East Texas found little use for it, the American

immigrants utilized the lush forests and floodplains to their advantage. Most grew up in

wooded areas in Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee and were comfortable with raising

cattle, clearing land and planting crops in such terrain. George W. Smyth, an American

settler in Nacogdoches, wrote a letter to his father on April 14, 1833 praising life in East

Texas. “There is no country in the word [sic] where a living can be procured more easily

than in Texas. Cattle require no feeding at any Season Hogs require only to [be] kept

gentle and Horses require feeding only when in actual service3.” The stark contrast in the

opinions of Sánchez and Smyth illustrate the different views of the value of East Texas

held by the American settlers and Mexicans. Few Mexicans acknowledged the

1 José María Sánchez, “A Trip To Texas In 1828,” The Southwestern Historical Quarterly Online 29, no. 4 (January 2006): 265. Available from http://www.tshaonline.org/publications/journals/shq/online/v029/n4/article_3.html. Accessed 28 Feb. 2008.2 Ibid. 268.3 George W. Smyth to Andrew Smyth. The Second Flying Company of Alamo de Parras. 14 April, 1833. Texas A&M University database on-line, 2005. Available from The Archives of Alamo de Parras. http://www.tamu.edu/ccbn/dewitt/adp/archives/archives.html. Accessed 28 Feb. 2008.

advantages of living in the Piney Woods while American immigrants traversed hundreds

of miles to settle it. Much like the disparagement between the country caudillos and the

urban intellectuals of Argentina, the vast physical differences between East Texas and

Mexico created a rift between American immigrants and Mexicans that encouraged

foreigners to cultivate the land yet discouraged Mexican settlement.

In addition to the physical differences, the distance between East Texas and

Central Mexico also prevented extensive Mexican influence from inundating the Piney

Woods. East Texas stood far removed from the seat of Mexican government and few

expeditions risked the threat of Indian raids to establish colonies in the area. Sánchez

wrote in his journal that “The great number of Indian tribes found scattered throughout

the Department (of Texas) at present prevent, by their constant raids and depredations,

the increase of the population and the development of agriculture1.” With so much land

available at a closer proximity to Mexico, most Mexican nationals chose to make their

homes along the Rio Grande or in the Valley. The Mexican government had made peace

with most of the Indians of that region, which left little chance of raids. By remaining in

the southern portions of Texas, the Mexican settlers also kept within a convenient

distance of the larger cities of Mexico such as Mexico City and Monterrey.

The Mexican government had only recently established itself as independent from

Spain and had little money or manpower to support settlers in the northern regions, so

staying closer to home held many advantages. Texas had been lumped with the state of

Coahuila and received little separate attention from the federal government. Settlers along

the frontier had to rely on homemade supplies while those closer to Central Mexico

1 José María Sánchez, “A Trip To Texas In 1828,” The Southwestern Historical Quarterly Online 29, no. 4 (January 2006): 257. Available from http://www.tshaonline.org/publications/journals/shq/online/v029/n4/article_3.html. Accessed 28 Feb. 2008.

utilized reliable trade routes and well established suppliers to obtain food and clothing for

sustenance and machinery for cultivation of their lands. Most of the American settlers

had the skills to produce their own goods or ties to the United States to obtain them while

Mexicans in East Texas were essentially on their own. Because the weak Mexican

government found itself unable to support its people from any great distance, settling

along the eastern border provided little incentive for Mexicans to leave the dependability

of proximity to the heart of Mexico.

However, the great distance from Mexico City allowed hundreds of illegal

immigrants from America to settle the eastern portions of Texas with relative ease. Once

these Americans established their new lives in Texas, they grew accustomed to autonomy

from the Mexican government and quickly became the overwhelming majority in East

Texas. On April 27, Sánchez reaches the first settlement of Stephen F. Austin on the

Brazos where he expresses his dislike for the American settlers who have taken over the

area. “It’s population is nearly two hundred persons, of which only ten are Mexicans, for

the balance are all Americans from the North…the greater part I have seen eat only salted

meat, bread…coffee and homemade cheese. To these, the greater part of those…add

strong liquor, for they are in general…lazy people of vicious character1.” In perhaps one

of the best foreshadowing statements in Texas history, Sánchez exposes his disdain for

the prevalence of Americans and his deep fear that their independent attitudes may soon

spell trouble for the Mexican government. “Beyond the village in an immense stretch of

land formed by rolling hills are scattered families brought by Stephen Austin, which

today number more than two thousand persons. The diplomatic policy of this

1 José María Sánchez, “A Trip To Texas In 1828,” The Southwestern Historical Quarterly Online 29, no. 4 (January 2006): 263. Available from http://www.tshaonline.org/publications/journals/shq/online/v029/n4/article_3.html. Accessed 28 Feb. 2008.

empresario… has, one might say, lulled the authorities into a sense of security… In my

judgment, the spark that will start the conflagration that will deprive us of Texas will start

from this colony. All because the government does not take vigorous measures to prevent

it. Perhaps it does not realize the value of what it is about to lose 1.” As fewer Mexicans

considered moving to the Piney Woods, more Americans made the journey to claim lands

in East Texas as the Mexican government gradually lost any semblance of control in the

region.

Initial laws governing East Texas fell short of fully recognizing the lack of

Mexican settlements in the area and failed to stem the flow of unwanted American

immigrants. One of the government’s first attempts to investigate American settlement in

the area included the expedition manned by Mier y Terán and chronicled by Sánchez.

While a battle raged in the capital between Centralists and Federalists, the Mexican

military slowly awakened to the other growing problem in a region further from home.

Troubled by reports of large numbers of American squatters, the government

commissioned Mier y Terán to assess the situation in East Texas and draft a

recommendation concerning governance of the region. “…No doubt the party was to

assess needs for occupation and defense, the possibility of balancing the rapid settlement

by immigrants from the United States of the North with European immigrants, and the

status of the native Indian populations2.”

After enduring stifling humidity and debilitating illnesses only to be met by

masses of Americans largely ignorant of Mexican law, Mier y Terán understandably

1 José María Sánchez, “A Trip To Texas In 1828,” The Southwestern Historical Quarterly Online 29, no. 4 (January 2006): 264. Available from http://www.tshaonline.org/publications/journals/shq/online/v029/n4/article_3.html. Accessed 28 Feb. 2008.2 Wallace L. McKeehan, “Manuel de Mier y Terán 1789-1832.” The Sons of DeWitt Colony Texas, undated. Database on-line. Available from http://www.tamu.edu/ccbn/dewitt/teranframe.htm. Accessed 28 Feb, 2008.

wrote disheartening reports of the lawlessness and uselessness of the Piney Woods in

East Texas. He presented “an alarming view, at least in the eyes of some governmental

officials, of an Anglo-American infiltration, and other problems in the area…he deplored

the neglect of the garrison at Nacogdoches and called for more support1.” This would be

the first attempt by the Mexican government at suppressing the American autonomy in

East Texas the beginning of American resentment toward their Mexican rulers.

Ironically, a small number of Mexican elites favored American immigration and

noted the advantages of giving settlers autonomy. They saw a need for skilled workers to

cultivate the land and understood that American immigrants carried the ability to utilize

the Piney Woods while most Mexicans did not. More importantly, they realized that the

American immigrants were the only ones willing to travel to East Texas to settle it. One

member of the Tejano elite clearly spelled out what he saw as the economic, social and

political advantages of American settlement in an undated letter concerning Anglo

immigration. “The advantages of liberal North American immigration are innumerable:

(1) The colonists would afford a source of supply for the native inhabitants. (2) They

would protect the interior from Indian invasions. (3) They would develop roads and

commerce to New Orleans… (4) Moreover, the ideas of government held by North

Americans are in general better adapted to those of the Mexicans…2. Yet few in the

Mexican government held the same views and relations with the American settlers soon

became strained as a result of political action aimed at limiting their autonomy and

preventing further growth in their numbers.

1 Wallace L. McKeehan, “Manuel de Mier y Terán 1789-1832.” The Sons of DeWitt Colony Texas, undated. Database on-line. Available from http://www.tamu.edu/ccbn/dewitt/teranframe.htm. Accessed 28 Feb, 2008.2 Eugene C. Barker, “Anglo-Mexican Relations In Texas.” The Southwestern Historical Quarterly Online 46, no. 3 (January 1943): 329. Available from Digital History. http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/mexican_voices/voices_display.cfm?id=41. Accessed 28 Feb. 2008.

Once the Mexican government realized the problem posed by so many foreign

settlers concentrated in one area, it attempted to reverse its mistake by issuing the Law of

April 6, 1830. Based on the recommendations of General Mier y Terán, the Law of April

6, 1830 prohibited any further immigration from Mexico, provided financial assistance to

any Mexican family wishing to settle on the eastern frontier and called for militarization

of points across East Texas to enforce the aforementioned provisions. These laws served

as the first government action to suppress and control the Americans living in Mexico

and caused the first rifts to occur between the immigrants and authorities. In the most

controversial and strict segments of the decree, Article IX states, “The introduction of

foreigners across the northern frontier is prohibited under any pretext whatever…1.”

While officials created this provision to limit American influence and build up Mexican

settlement in the area, lack of funds and the long distance from the central government

prevented authorities from actually enforcing the law. While the amount of American

immigrants decreased, many still managed to find their way into Texas and Mexican

immigration to the region failed to materialize. “[The Law of April 6, 1830] absolutely

prohibits immigrants from North America coming into Texas, but there are not enough

troops to enforce it; so the result is that desirable immigrants are kept out because they

will not violate the law, while the undesirable, having nothing to lose, come in freely1.”

In Article XIV, the government authorizes the establishment of forts along the eastern

frontier in order to enforce the immigration laws, yet the attempt at military control of the

area was short lived.

1 “Law of April 6, 1830,” The Texas Gazette, 3 July 1830. Available from Texas State Historical Association. http://www.tea.state.tx.us/ssc/primary_resources/pdf/texas/Law_of_April_6_1830.pdf. Accessed 28 Feb. 2008.1 Eugene C. Barker, “Anglo-Mexican Relations In Texas.” The Southwestern Historical Quarterly Online 46, no. 3 (January 1943): 328. Available from Digital History. http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/mexican_voices/voices_display.cfm?id=41. Accessed 28 Feb. 2008.

Initially, the military constructed six forts throughout the region, including Fort

Tenoxtitlán (1830) in present-day Burleson County along the Brazos River and Fort

Terán (1831) on the Neches River in what is now Tyler County. Both forts lasted less

than five years due to lack of financial support, low morale among the troops and

American backlash. The troops of Fort Tenoxtitlán abandoned the garrison just two years

after construction finished when Mier y Terán committed suicide over his failed attempt

to Mexicanize the eastern border. Two years later in 1834, the last of the soldiers left Fort

Terán when the government failed to follow through on promises of financial support.

Despite their efforts to introduce Mexican settlement and control the American

immigrant population, the Mexican government found itself in over its head.

By this time, the American settlers in East Texas had experienced relative

autonomy so long that resentment built up over the Mexican laws and eventually

contributed to the initial sparks of the Texas War for Independence. Immediately

following the introduction of the Law of April 6, 1830, the American immigrants began

expressing suspicion and resentment toward the Mexican government. “[Stephen F.]

Austin secured exemption from the operation of the Law for his contract…but the

measure shook his belief in the good will of the Mexican government1.”

With tensions high on both sides, the immigrants reached their boiling point in

one of the lesser-known battles in Texas history. On August 2, 1832, Colonel José de las

Piedras ordered a band of Americans in Nacogdoches to surrender their firearms to the

Mexican government per the Law of April 6, 1830. Already inflamed over the provisions

of the law, the immigrants refused, established a “National Militia,” and called to

1 Eugene C. Barker, “Law of April 6, 1830.” The Handbook of Texas Online, undated. Database on-line. Available from http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/LL/ngll.html. Accessed 28 Feb. 2008.

neighboring settlements for military aid. When the Americans took control of the town,

Piedras and his men fled Nacogdoches and left East Texas victorious and void of any

Mexican military presence.

The Battle of Nacogdoches, as it came to be known, “cleared East Texas of

military rule and allowed the citizens to meet in convention without military

intervention2.” With the Law of April 6, 1830 creating more problems than it solved and

anti-Mexican sentiments growing among the American immigrants, the pot soon boiled

over. Just as Sánchez predicted in 1828, the spark that ignited the flame of Texas

independence began along the eastern frontier due to excessive American immigration in

a region the Mexican government found practically impossible to govern.

Despite repeated attempts to regain control in East Texas, the large number of

American immigrants coupled with the great distance required to reach the region

prevented Mexico from ever exerting any substantial influence over the Piney Woods

area. Once the Anglo settlers grew accustomed to political and cultural autonomy, the

Law of April 6, 1830 served only to foment anger and resentment rather than solve the

problem of foreign influence. Too many physical and cultural barriers arose to prevent

Mexicans from reclaiming the area and a general lack of interest on the part of Mexican

citizens from settling the area created the window of opportunity for American

immigrants to take over. With virtually no military presence and practically zero Mexican

population, the distant Piney Woods of East Texas soon became more American than

Mexican and provided the first instances immigrant rebellion in Mexico, ultimately

leading to the demise of Mexican rule and rise of Texas independence.

2 Archie P. McDonald, “Battle of Nacogdoches.” The Handbook of Texas Online, undated. Available from http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/NN/qen1.html

Bibliography

Barker, Eugene C. “Anglo-Mexican Relations In Texas.” The Southwestern Historical Quarterly Online 46, no. 3 (January 1943): 328-329. Available from http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/mexican_voices/voices_display.cfm?id=41.

Barker, Eugene C. “Law of April 6, 1830.” The Handbook of Texas Online, undated. Available from http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/LL/ngll.html.

“Law of April 6, 1830.” The Texas Gazette, 3 July 1830. Available from Texas State Historical Association. http://www.tea.state.tx.us/ssc/primary_resources/pdf/texas/Law_of_April_6_1830.pdf.

McDonald, Archie P. “Battle of Nacogdoches.” The Handbook of Texas Online, undated. Available from http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/NN/qen1.html.

McKeehan, Wallace L. “Manuel de Mier Y Terán 1789-1832.” The Sons of DeWitt Colony Texas, undated. Available from http://www.tamu.edu/ccbn/dewitt/teranframe.htm.

Sánchez, José María. “A Trip to Texas in 1828.” The Southwestern Historical Quarterly Online 29, no. 4 (January 2006): 265. Available from http://www.tshaonline.org/publications/journals/shq/online/v029/n4/article_3.html.

Second Flying Company of Alamo de Parras. The Archives of Alamo de Parras. Texas A&M University, 2005.