Spanish Texas - Conflict With The United States

Conflict With The United States

The Second Treaty of Paris in 1783 ended the American Revolution and established the United States of America. The treaty extended the new country's western boundary to the Mississippi River and within the first year after it was signed 50,000 American settlers crossed the Appalachian Mountains. As it was difficult to return east across the mountains, the settlers began looking toward the Spanish colonies of Louisiana and Texas to find places to sell their crops. Spain closed the mouth of the Mississippi to foreigners from 1784 until 1795 despite Thomas Jefferson's 1790 threat to begin an Anglo-Spanish war over the matter. Americans risked arrest to come to Texas, many of them desiring to capture wild mustangs in West Texas and trade with the Indians. In 1791, Philip Nolan became the first Anglo-American known to pursue horse-trading in Texas, and he was arrested several times for being within Spain's borders. The Spanish feared that Nolan was a spy, and in 1801 they sent 150 troops to capture Nolan and his party of 6 men; Nolan was killed during the ensuing battle. By 1810, many Americans were trading guns and ammunition to the Texas Indians, especially the Comanche, in return for livestock. Although some chiefs refused to trade with them and reported their movements to Spanish authorities, other bands welcomed the newcomers. A drought made rangeland scarce and stopped the Comanche's herds from increasing. To meet the American demand for livestock, the Comanche turned to raiding the area around San Antonio.

The Spanish government believed that security would come with a larger population, but was unable to attract colonists from Spain or from other New World colonies. By the late 18th century, Texas was one of the least populated regions of New Spain, with fewer than two inhabitants per square league. The population was relatively stagnant, having grown only to 3,169 individuals in 1790 from 3,103 in 1777. Over half of the population was classified as Spaniards, with settled Indians making up the next largest category. Blacks, mostly slaves, made up less than 1% of the population in 1777, and only 2.2% of the 1793 census. Over two-thirds of the adults in Texas were married, and single men outnumbered single women, although there was a high percentage of widows. Intermarriage was fairly common, mostly between white men and women of mixed origin. Children from these unions often passed as whites. Illegitimate births increased steadily throughout the century, reaching 20% of all births in 1799. Despite the small population, however, Spain actively discouraged immigration to Texas, and a permanent garrison was placed in Nacogdoches in 1790 to keep foreigners from settling in the area. Immigrants from the United States were allowed to settle in Louisiana and Florida after taking an oath of allegiance, but were not required to convert to Roman Catholicism.

In 1799, Spain gave Louisiana back to France in exchange for the promise of a throne in central Italy. Although the agreement was signed on October 1, 1800, it did not go into effect until 1802. The following year, Napoleon sold Louisiana to the United States. Many of the Spaniards who had moved to the colony left for Texas, Florida, or other Spanish-held lands. The original agreement between Spain and France had not explicitly specified the borders of Louisiana, and the descriptions in the documents were ambiguous and contradictory. Even when both territories had been under Spanish control, there was disagreement on where the border should be. In 1793, the King of Spain decided that there was no need to move the boundary from Natchitoches to the Sabine River, as had been recommended by some Frenchmen.

The United States insisted that its purchase also included most of West Florida and all of Texas. Thomas Jefferson claimed that Louisiana stretched west to the Rocky Mountains and included the entire watershed of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers and their tributaries, and that the southern border was the Rio Grande. Spain maintained that Louisiana extended only as far as Natchitoches, and that it did not include the Illinois Territory.

Texas was again considered a buffer province, this time between New Spain and the United States. In 1804, Spain planned to send thousands of colonists to increase the number of residents in Texas (then at 4,000 Hispanic inhabitants). The plan was cancelled as the government did not have the money to relocate the settlers. The responsibility for defending Texas now rested with Nemesio Salcedo, who held the newly reopened position of Commandant General of the Internal Provinces. Salcedo promoted immigration to Texas, and a new town, Trinidad de Salcedo, was founded where the Trinity River intersected the road from San Antonio to Nacogdoches. For a brief time, Salcedo also allowed former Spanish subjects from Louisiana to come to Texas. A few Americans who had become naturalized Spaniards settled in Texas during that time. Salcedo warned, however, that "'the foreigners are not and will not be anything but crows to pick out our eyes.'"

King Charles IV of Spain ordered data compiled to determine the true boundary. Before the border was settled, both sides led armed excursions into the disputed areas, and Spain began increasing the number of troops stationed in Texas. By 1806, the number had doubled, with over 883 stationed in and around Nacogdoches. At the end of 1806, local commanders negotiated a temporary agreement in which neither the Spanish nor the Americans would venture into the area between the Sabine River and Arroyo Hondo. This neutral ground quickly became a haven for lawlessness and it did not stop individuals from crossing the boundary. While on a mission for the United States Army to explore some of the disputed areas of the Louisiana Purchase Zebulon Pike was arrested by the Spanish while camping on the Rio Grande and escorted back to Natchitoches. Although his maps and notes were confiscated, Pike was able to recreate most of it from memory. His glowing comments about Texas lands and animals made many Americans yearn to control the territory.