The daily union. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1845-1857, 1850-07-23

every quarter u our frontier Suffice IL to thai snce
me n DAY Of last January than one hundred oil our
c'1on' men, women. aud chiden have either been Y
sxs oa'cheisd within our borders carried into nd
loaPuWy and more than hundred thousand dollars
worth OF property eaIried off
The report OF the committee of the body Indian
snas contains an elaborate statement OF the murders
ana depedatlons which committed by the Indians
on The frontier inhabitants of Texas during the last and
small poflion OF the present year This report IS made
WIN mnuleness, and such detail OF facts and con,
as reference 10 so many persons, as the sources Of
the information gwen in IT. as to commend H. lndepend
entity OF the credblity given 10 by the authority and
character Of the committee TO the belief OF every mar OF
good No man. or collection OF men, possessed of
ordinary intelligence, who wish to deceive will ammel
themselves with statement OF facts or circumstances,
the veracity Of their assertions, if they are false II is
needless, however, to adduce argument to establish the
credibiy Of this report 1t was made to the superior
branch OF the legislature OF sovereign State by one OF
its committees, adopted by that body and went
forth to The world with all the authority which its char
acer and position could give The correctness, therefore,
of it's statements u.s. far the responsibility of its
source is involved, beyond cav or sceptic'sm. will
only give the committees summary OF the number OF
murders committed and the value of the property stolen
or destroyed by the Indians the period embraced in their
report
lappears from the summary that, during that PERIOD
POUNDED and twenty-five carried into caps,vaya state
ment appalling in the last degree. Property to the value
OF one hundred and three thousand two hundred and
seventy dollars either stolen or destroyed.
From examination of the data adopted by the COM
miltee in determining the value OF this property, we are
satisfied that it is not exorbant estimate We refer
those who require more information on this interesting,
we might startling, subject to the report OF the com
mittee From the biennial message Of Governor Wood to
session, extract the following
During the past summer the fact communicated to
me, by and petitions numerousy and
along tho Rio Grando that this section the State in
yaded by large bodies Of hostile and predatory Indians
hood proved themselves wholly inadequate for the proec
ton Of our citizens Under these circumst ance felt It
m n IN hn Ixpd
ing elow-ctzens the utmost protection in my power, two
Of duty"
Governor Bel says, in his message to the legislature
As the attention OF the legislature has already, during the
defence y viii be neither proper
nor necessary Tor me 70 enter 81 large into the history OF The
you the relations held by them government and
citizens In urging upon you a. this time, which feel 1t
citizens along extended line of fron,er the necessity Of
prompt and efficient action lcoud, with easy references
and deep atrocities committed people from the
hest history OF the count but such reference could only
Prospect without taking anything from the measure of pres
ent evils.
After presenting brief but eloquent picture OF Indian
outrages, he says:
Ii is in the encourage of spirit OF cav and
complaint against tho federal government that advert 70
the actual condition OF onter. Self respect full
knowledge Of the many advantages which have aud will
10 eur State from the well as the pro-
bid the employment of language uncourteous
kind Nor am ! wanting in high appreciation OF the
gallant officers present in command of our frontier but
duty the State is superior every other
and must speak of things know them really TO exist
With adequate n'oHHtsd force, the officers in command
would doubt, their best efforts the exposed
inhabitants but the establishment is utterly in
sufficient The infantry is necessarily insufficient from the
number and OF the settlements and the adrot
ness Of the race against which they operate in euding pur
suit after the commission OF wrongs.
These representations come clothed with all the au
hority Of the official rank and position of the chief
magistrate OF an independent State They moderate
m r. government
but just and true TO the people OF Texas Neither the
statements which they contain, the conclusions they
ceved that the reports and messages from which the pre-
ceding extracts have been made do not extend to later
period than the adjournment OF the Texan legislature
Since they were made, various atrocities have been com
mtted by the Indians, and several renconres have
Cured between them and the troops OF the latter we
may mention, on the highest official authority, the affair
in which Lieutenant Hudson, LIST infantry, sergeant
and two privates wounded and one private killed
Lieutenant Hudson has since died OF his wounds Breve
Indians in the month OF May, in which two Indians
were killed and he wounded Captain Ford's company
of mounted volunteers has laery had two Affairs
with the Indians Citizens, express riders, &c. have
been fred on and killed within the very pureus of San
Antonio within the last three months These statements
rest ncontrovertible authority In further conhrms-
ton Of the statement OF the injuries which have been
committed by the Indians, and tho necessity Of an in
of the protective force, may refer to the al
most united voice of the public press OF the State With
the tragic story Of the suffering condition Of the people
Of the frontier, and demanded efficient protection
II is impossible evade the force of these
statements They carry with them irresistible weight
of authority They cannot be ruhfully denied Ii Is
insult the people OF Texas, and less false than
sutng, attempt avoid the responsibility which they
throw on the general government, by saying that the
atrocities have been either committed by awess whites
in person, by Indians melted by them-some for the
desire OF pIunderng, and others 10 have the volunteer
system revived in Texas There doubtless many bad
men in Texas who perfectly ready al oil times to
plumber from either the whites or Indians and wanonly
10 murder the laier but that this disposition is general
in Me State of Texas, utterly deny We have been
been committed by the Indians, and the authority on
which the exposition is made, because opinion seems
to prevail in the executive department OF the general
government that this frontier well protected, and that
the Indians perfectly pacific.
Before proceeding TO the second part OF the argument
founded the insuciency OF the force placed by the
government this frontier to afford protection TO 1t, let
pause for few moments to contemplate the state TO
which the unchecked nroads of the Indians for year
have reduced the border people OF this State
II is reported that portion Of the inhabitants OF the
beautiful valley OF the Rio Grande-and il s, perhaps,
also the with of those OF the valley OF the
Nuecesbave been compelled 10 abandon the cultivation
OF their farms for the want OF protection from the In.
dians. Their horses and caite-a species OF property
constituting al all times important item IN the wealth
of frontier people, and particularly in country 80 emil
neny pastoral the western portion OF this Sate-have
been driven off by the Indians, leaving many of the set
the property have been committed but murders,
rapes. and captivity followed in the train OF these
barbarian rruptions And while the western portion OF
the has suffered most. marauding bands OF Indians
have less infested the entire line Of frontier from
the Rio Grande 10 the Red river We will no longer