The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1846-01-31
Miscellaneous,
ADVENTURES I'M TEXAS.
No.. l. fN
A sCAMPER IN THE PRAIRIE oFJA-
CINTO.
From Blackwood's Magazine.

RE- IrODdDly lOl. nave Deen; ana this
was how it happened. When a very Young
man, found myself one fine morning pos
SCISSOR ola Texas land-scrip--that is TO saw, a
certificate of the Galveston Bay and Texas
Land Company, in which it was stated, that
in consideration of the sum of one thousand
dollars, duly paid and delivered by MIR Ed
ward Rivers into the hands of the cashier of
the company, he, the said Edward Rivers,
was become entitled to ten thousand acres of
Texan land, to be selected by himself or
those he should appoint, under the sole CON
dition ofnot infringing on the property or
rights of the holders of previously given cer-
,tiiCates. ...... .. ..... ...|
Ten thousand acres of the finest land in
the world, and under Il heaven compared to
which, orr Maryland sky bright as il is, ap-
pears duh and foggy! 1t was u tempting
bait too good one not to be caught at by
many in those times of speculation; and ac-
cordingly our free aud enlightened citizens
bOuglta aud sold their millions of TeXian acres
Just as readily as they did their thousands of
towns and villages in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois
and Michigan, and their tens of thousand of
shares in banks and railways. 1t was spec
uIative fever, which has since we may hope,
been in some degree cured. At any rate, the
remedies applied have been toerabIy severe.
had not escaped the contagion, and, hav-
ing got the land on paper, thought should
like to see il in dirty acres; 50, in company
with friend who had similar venture, !
embarked at Baltimore on board the Catcher
schooner, and, after three weeks voyage ar
rived in Galveston Bay.
The grassy shores ofthis bay inSb which
the river BraZos empties ITSELF rise so little
above the surface of the water, to which they
bear as strong resemblance iii color, that
it would be difficult to discover them, were
it not for three stunted trees growing on the
western extremity of long lizard-shaped
island that stretches nearly sixty miles a.
cross the bay, and conceals the mouth of the
river ......- .
Proceeding along the shore, we came to a
boclhouse situated behind small tongue of
land projecting into the river, and decorated
with The flag ofthe Mexican republic, waving
IN all its glory from the roof. At that period,
this was the only building of which Calves
ton harbor could boast. II served as custom
house and as barracks for the garrison, also
as the residence Of the director of customs,
aud of the civil and military intendant, as
headquarters of the officer commanding, and
moreover, as hotel, and wine and spirit store.
Alongside the board, on which was depicted
a, sort ofhieroglyphic, intended for the Mexi-
can eagle, hung a bottle doing duty as a sign,
and the republican banner threw It's protect
ing shadow over an announcement of-"Bran-
dy, Whiskey, and Accommodation for Man
and Beast" .. .... .. ..
As we approached the house, we saw the
whole garrison assembled before the door,
1t consisted ,ofu dozen dwarfsh, spindle
shanked Mexican soldiers, none of them so
big or half so strong as American boys of fit-
teen, and whom would have backed sim
gle Kentucky woodsman, armed with a RI
ding whip, to have driven to the four winds
Ill 4
,dous boards, whskers, and mustaches, and
had habit of knitting their brows, in the en-
deavor, as we supposed, to look fierce and
formidable. They were crowding round a
table of rough planks, and playing game OF
cards, in which they were so deeply engross-
ed that they took no notice of our approach.
Their officer, however, came out ofthe house
TO meet u.s. ...f
We took three days to sail up tile river Bra
EOS to the town of BraZoria, a distance of'thir-
tymles. The only objection to the place was
that, in the wet season il was all under water:
but the Brazorians overlooked this little in
convenience in consideration oftlie inexhaust
f,be fi'uitfulness of the soil. Ii was the be-
ginning of March when we arrived, and yet
there was already an abundance of new po-
tatoes, BEANS peas, and artichokes, all of the
finest sorts and most delicious flavor. .f-.
AT Brazoria, my friend and myselfhad the
satisfaction of learning that our land-certifi-
Gates, for which we had each paid thousand
dollars, Were worth exactly nothing-iust so
much waste paper, in short--unless we chose
TO conform to a condition to which our wor-
thy friends, the Galveston Bay and Texas
Land Company, had never made the smallest
allusion. ... t..... ..... ...... r.. ......l
1t appeared that in the year 1924, the Mex
lean Congress had passed aa act for the en-
enlargement of emigration from the United
States to Texas. In consequence of his act
an agreement was entered into with centrac.
tors or eanpresdveos, as they call them in Mex,
leo, who had bound themselves to bring q
certain number of settlers into Texas within
given time, and without any expense to the
Mexican government. On the other hand
the Mexican government had engaged to fur
nish land to these emgrants at the rate of five
square leagues to every hundred familiesbu
to this agreement one condition was attached
and it was, that all settlers should be, or be.
come, Roman Catholics. Failing this, tht
validity oftheir claims to the land was mo-
recognized, and they were liable to be turn
ed out any day at the point of the bayonet..
This information threw us into no small
perplexity. 1t was clear that we had beer
,dupeH, completely bubbled, by the rascalIy
Land Company; that as heretics, the Mexican
government would have nothing to say to us
and that unless we chose to become converts
to the Romish Church, we might whistle fo
our acres, and light our pipes with the Ger
tificate. Our Yankee friends at Brazoria
however, laughed Mt our dilemma, and told
us that we were only in the same plight a.
hundreds ofour countrymen, who had come
40 Texas in total ignorance of this condition