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Lot 358
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Early Texas: Rules for Citizenship and the Man Who Issued “Come and Take It” Cannon!
Early Texas: Rules for Citizenship and the Man Who Issued “Come and Take It” Cannon!
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Description:

Ramon Musquiz
Béxar, TX, ca. February-September, 1831
Early Texas: Rules for Citizenship and the Man Who Issued "Come and Take It" Cannon!
Archive
A fascinating archive of material related to Early Texas, including six manuscript letters each signed by Ramon Músquiz, political chief of the Department of Texas, 1831. The length of letters and dates written vary, but each comprises a communiqué forwarded by Músquiz from José María Viesca, the Governor of Coahuila and Texas, to the Mayor of Goliad (who unfortunately remains nameless), one of the earliest settlements in Texas in the Coahuila and Texas state. Condition varies from good to very good, and we invite viewers to examine this lot in person at our Connecticut offices.

Of particular importance is a document dated Feb. 12, 1831, which outlines the rules for the obtaining citizenship in Texas during its nascent years! This document alone is worthy of much further research.
 
Until 1829, Goliad was referred by the name of its fort, Presidio La Bahía, until changed to "Goliad," an anagram of the surname of Priest Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, known as the "Goliath" revolutionary in the Mexican War of Independence. One of the municipal boundaries of Goliad was Béxar, the governmental seat of Texas and from which these letters were written. Goliad would be the center of the 1835 "Goliad Campaign" in 1835 to obtain Texas independence and where a large number of Texas forces were deployed. It was occupied by Santa Ana under general Martin Perfecto de Cos and, on March 27, 1836, some 400 men in Col. James Fannin's command stationed at La Bahía were put to death in the infamous Goliad Massacre.
 
Goliad County was established in 1836 and incorporated into the Republic of Texas in 1839. It was thus one of the twenty-three original counties established by the First Congress of the Republic of Texas in 1836. Following the Revolution, General Sam Houston, then the Governor of the Republic of Texas, granted four leagues of land to Goliad on October 25, 1844, and in 1847 a post office was opened.
 
Ramon Músquiz (1797–1867) was appointed the political chief of the Department of Texas by the Governor of Coahuila and Texas in January 1828. He served until July 7, 1834 when health reasons forced him to resign. Músquiz favored the rights of the Anglo-American colonists in Texas and was a friend of Stephen F. Austin. While in office, he attempted to mediate disputes between the colonists and the Mexican authorities. In 1835, he was elected Vice-Governor of Coahuila and Texas, but the national congress annulled the election. General Martín Perfecto de Cos then reappointed Músquiz to assist in negotiations between the Texians and the Mexican Army after the Siege of Béxar in October 1835 which was the first major campaign of the Texas Revolution. He was present at the fall of the Alamo on March 6, 1836 and assisted in identifying the bodies of the defenders.
 
Our archive involves legislating the territory of Goliad, with one letter signed by Músquiz less than two weeks before he lent to colonists the infamous Come and Take It" cannon which led to the "Battle of Gonzales." On January 1, 1831, Green DeWitt, a colonist in Gonzales, Texas, asked Músquiz to borrow a cannon for protection against hostile Indians. On March 10, 1831, nine days after one of the letters in this archive, in which he let the Mayor of Goliad know of his reappointment to office, Músquiz supplied a Spanish-made, six-pound caliber bronze cannon to Dewitt and with it, Mexican-Texian squabble that started the first skirmish in the Texas Revolution.

The cannon was given to the Gonzales colonists with the stipulation that it would be returned upon request. It would be four years of political unrest before the government called in its favor in September 1835 to recover the cannon, now an object of contention between a Mexican military detachment from Béxar and American colonists in Gonzales. Col. Domingo de Ugartechea, commander of all Mexican troops, sent a corporal and five soldiers to Gonzales to retrieve the cannon. The Gonzales colonists, hell bent on keeping the gun, notified Ugartechea that they intended to hold it, and took the soldiers prisoner. The colonists also took the additional precaution of burying the cannon in a peach orchard, while they put out a call to other Texians to help defend the cannon. Ugartechea responded by sending 100 troops under Lieutenant Francisco Castañeda who, upon arriving at Gonzales, demanded that the cannon be returned. On September 29, Capt. Robert M. Coleman arrived at Gonzales with a militia company of thirty mounted Indian fighters to help the colonists. The gun was retrieved and mounted on cart wheels and the colonists, now 140 Texians strong, made plans to attack.
 
On the morning of October 2, 1835, the first bullets of independence were fired by the Texians, and Lieutenant Castañeda, eventually finding himself outnumbered and outgunned, ordered a withdrawal toward Béxar. The "Come and Take It" cannon - named so for a flag with apparently once flew over it - was eventually brought to the San Antonio de Béxar Presidio, and then the Alamo, where it was one of 21 artillery pieces commandeered by the Mexican army upon the recapture of Béxar on March 6, 1836. Although militarily insignificant, the Battle of Gonzales is now referred to as the "Lexington of Texas."
 
Just two weeks after the Battle of Gonzales, one most significant engagements of the Texas Revolution occurred near Coleto Creek in Goliad County on March 19 and 20, 1836 in which James W. Fannin, Jr. and his men surrendered to Mexican forces in the Battle of Coleto. This time, the tables were turned and Texians were imprisoned by the Mexicans and were subsequently murdered by order of Gen. Antonio López de Santa Anna on March 27, 1836. The Goaliad Massacre was a fulcrum point in shifting support to the Texians both within Texas and the United States, and contributed greatly to the Texan victory at San Jacinto and Texas Independence.
 
Our archives comprises the following letters, in chronological order:
 
1. Important manuscript letter signed "Ramon Músquiz", two pages, 7.75" x 12.25", Headquarters of the County of Béxar, Feb. 12, 1831, in small part: "…The Governor has sent me following decree…the Vice President of Mexico, as current head of state, wishes to inform the public [that] the National Congress has resolved as follows. The following remarks from the legislature of Puebla regarding amendments to the Federal Constitution are subject to deliberation by National Legislative Congress beginning on January 1, 1831. 1. The Constitution shall establish the requirements for citizenship of the Republic, which shall include property and business ownership.

2. One half of the representatives in the House of Representatives shall be replaced every two years, with the most senior members replaced first…7. During their term, Senators and Representatives may not seek…any other post or employment without the express permission of their respective chamber…13. The President and Vice President of the Federation shall take office on March 1…", and more rules permitting to the creation of government. With full translation.
 
2. Manuscript letter signed "Ramon Músquiz", two pages, 6.25" x 7.75", Headquarters of the County of Béxar, February 26, 1831. In part: "…[The] declaration dated 3 December 1829, addressed to this Government by the Spaniard Francisco García, resident of Goliad…relative to his desired exoneration from the forced loan imposed by article 1 of decree no. 105, has seen fit to resolve to comply, in virtue of the reasons expressed by the interested party in his declaration and evidenced by the documents that accompany the said declaration, so that the said Spaniard Francisco García be exonerated from the above mentioned loan…".
 
3. Manuscript letter signed "Ramon Músquiz", one page, 7.75" x 12.5", Headquarters of the County of Béxar, February 27, 1831. In part, "The Most Excellent Governor of the State has seen fit to send me the following decree: ‘Through the Secretariat of War and Navy it was communicated to me the following decree: The Vice-President of the United States of Mexico, in exercise of the supreme executive power, to the inhabitants of the republic, be it known: That the General Congress has decreed the following: The sentence of the accomplices in the trial to which the decree of extraordinary faculties dated 14 September 1829 applies, who were not sentenced to death by two agreeing sentences, shall not be longer than four years in prison, counted from the day on which they were sentenced'…".
 
4. Manuscript letter signed "Ramon Músquiz", two pages, 7.75" x 9.75", penned on right half of each page, Headquarters of the County of Béxar, March 1, 1831. Músquiz is reappointed! In part: "…I have seen fit to reassign Your Lordship as head of this county…I inform Your Lordship for your knowledge and understanding that this Government expects that Your Lordship will not make use of the right that is incumbent upon you by article 152 of the said constitution, but that as a gift to your homeland, you will serve the new term in which it assigns you, not only for being such the will of the majority of the said Town Halls, but also because the government considers necessary the permanence of Your Lordship in the position you are heading…". Nine days later, on March 10, 1831, as the newly reappointed political chief of Texas, Músquiz gave James Tumlinson, a DeWitt colonist at Bexar, a six pound bronze cannon to be given to Green DeWitt at Gonzales…and thus the Battle of Gonzales would come to pass.

5. Manuscript letter signed "Ramon Músquiz", one page, 8" x 12.75", Headquarters of the County of Béxar, September 8, 1831.In part: "…Because several federal judges have manifested that on the correspondence they have received from other federal judges or state judges regarding judicial matters it has been omitted the certification and oath that must be included on the cover…the Most Excellent Mr. Vice-President has seen fit to resolve that all judicial authorities and corporations be reminded of the exact compliance to the said article so that the requisite it prescribes is never omitted, avoiding thus the inconveniences that would otherwise result for a most prompt and expedite administration of Justice…".
 
6. Manuscript letter signed "Ramon Músquiz", two pages, 8" x 12.75", Headquarters of the County of Béxar, September 8, 1831. In part: "…The National Congress has resolved as follows: Establish public education in the district and territory. Promote and encourage industry. Complete the measures regarding public correspondence with other states. Resolve questions and proposals made regarding the law of March 20, 1829…Arrange for garrisoned companies. Repair most town squares….". With full translation.

7. Manuscript document (not signed), two pages, 5.75" x 8.25", "City Hall of Béxar", Goliad, February 14, 1835, in which Julian Viscarra is ordered to appear in court to answer a charge regarding two other men. With full translation.
 
This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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  • Dimensions: 9.25" x 12.75"
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