Page:American Historical Review, Volume 12.djvu/813

Jackson and tJie Texas Revolution 803 public meeting. Tlie revolution wae principally developed in the so-called Department of the Brazos, which covered most of the territory between the Trinity and Guadalupe Rivers and did not include Nacogdoches. The writer has examined hundreds of letters and public documents, both Texan and Mexican, on the develop- ment of the revolution, has collected with few exceptions the pro- ceedings of all the public meetings and revolutionary committees, and has found nowhere a single reference to General Houston. In August, 1835, the Mexican authorities made a demand for the principal leaders of the war party, but Houston's name was not on the list. This, of course, is negative evidence, but it is strong, and ought to justify the conclusion that Houston was not even secretly active in instigating the revolution. It is hardly within the bounds of possibility that he could have concealed every trace of his work, if the contrary were true. When the revolution was once begun able men were needed, and his recognized qualities and military ex- perience carried him early to the front. Pausing for a moment to review the evidence at this point, there appears no sufficient reason to accuse Jackson of conniving at Houston's project to revolutionize Texas or of countenancing But- ler's underhanded intrigues for influencing his negotiations. On the contrary, his attitude is straightforward and apparently above reproach. It is necessary now to examine briefly his conduct during the Texas revolution. As the result to some extent of antecedent causes, and particu- larly of the mutual distrust between the American colonists and the Mexican government, the Texas revolution developed rapidly through 1835. The first blow was struck in October, and by the end of the year every Mexican soldier was expelled from the country. But the next spring Santa Anna came with an over- whelming army, and for a time carried everything before him. The holocausts of the Alamo and Goliad spread horror and in- dignation wherever they were heard of, and struck terror to thou- sands in Texas. As Santa Anna advanced, a wild flight to the Sabine was begun, and women, children, and slaves formed an endless, sufl:'ering procession of refugees from the Guadalupe to the western limits of the United States. The weather was cold, it rained incessantly, and many without a conveyance struggled through the mud on foot. By rare good fortune Houston caught the Mexican general in a trap — he ditl not lead him into it, as is ' Proceedings of the meeting at Nacogdoches, .A.ugust 15, 1835. MS.. Austin Papers, L 6. at the University of Texas.