Title to Spanish and Mexican Land
Quieting Title
Land
Grants in the Trans-Nueces:
Trans-Nueces:
Grants
The B
ourland and Mil
ler Commission,
Commission,
The
Bourland
Miller
1850-1852
GALEN
D.
GREASER AND JESUS
F.
DE LA TF,JA
*
[land] title back to the King of
I have traced the [land]
Spain, who got it by right of discovery and conSpain,
quest, and
ancl since he ruled by Divine Right,
Right, that
hat
quest,
Gocl Almighty himself, and
ancl that
takes it back to God
is as far as I can go.
-Attributed
the Rio
-Attributed to the old abstractors of
of'the
Grande Valley I
T
T
HE
IIE HISTORY OF ALL NATIONS BEG[NS
BEGINS WITH THE
T H E STORY OF HOW
MOW THE
THE
land was explored, occupied, and
ancl tamed. In the Texas case,
case, the
process lasted two hundred years, from the late seventeenth-century
exploratiolls of central and eastern Texas,
Texas, to the late nineSpanish explorations
agi-icnlture. As
teenth-century opening of the high plains to irrigated agriculture.
the most valuable and exploitable natural resource during that span,
span,
and, as with all valuable
land became integral to Texas's development and,
cultul.al, economic,
economic, and political
natural resources, a principal object of cultural,
conten~ion.The
T h e story of these conflicts could fill volumes,
volun~es,yet much of
contention.
it remains untold.
*Galen
4:Galen D. Greaser holds
llolcls an M.A.
M.A. in Latin American
Aniericari studies
studics from the University "fTexas
ol'Tesas at
Austin. Since 1984
1984 he has been Spanish translator
11-anslator in the Archives and Records
Krcorcls Division of the
Texas
projects. he presentecl
presellled a paper titled "SurveyOflice. Among his research prc?jccts,
"Sul.vey'I'exas General Land OlTice.
Mcxican Texas" at
a t the 1990
~ y Texas
?'exas
~ o Society of Professional
Prot'essional Surveyors' annual short
ing in Mexican
course. Currently.
Texas
Currently, he is workiug
working ou
o n a systematic
syste~nalictranslation of all Spanish-lauguage
Spanish-lang~~agc
.l'cxas land
I;lntl
Oflice.
titles in the Land OfIice.
Jeslls
F. de
cle la
In Teja
'Teja is assistant professor of history at Sonthwest
Southwest Texas
'1'cx;~sState University.
Cl~ivcl.sity.[u
In
Jcsi~sF.
I C J ~he
I publishecl
TIIPAlr~rloir~
nrrrl Selected
SC/PC/PI/
(.'orrespo~ld~r~w
1991
published A R~rrol~tlior~
Revulutioll Rorarir~b~rrrl:
RI'11le11lbl'l'erl: The
Aleilluirs aurl
COlTespolldl'llre
o/.JI/IIII lV.
N.
Seguin
Eighlel'll/h-Cell/IlI)' S'/1/
All/Ullio, inclnding
Srguin and had two essays appear in 1/jallo
7i:jnrro Origins
Origirrs ill
ilr Eiglrl~prl/Ir-Co~/llr?
Sort A~rfor~io,
incl~~dinp
oue
Hi.\/ariml Quart/'rly
\\'orkiug
one that lirst
first appeared
apl~earetlin the Southwes/em
Sorrthurrstrr~~
I-littorirrrl
Qrrnr/f,rkin 1985'
I 9 8 5 He is currently
c ~ ~ r r e n t working
ly
on a project titled "The
Texas" with Josefina
"'l'l~c Colouization
C;olonizatior~and Independence
Indepcnclcnce of
ot"lcxas"
Joscfina Z.
2. V,\z'luez
V57q~le~
and on revising his dissertation,
clissrl-tation, "Land
"L;mtl and Society in 18th-Century
18th-(:cntury San
Sari Antonio de
clc Bexar:
BCxal-: A
Community
Comn~unityon New Spain's Northern Frontier,"
Frontier." for publication.
I Max Dreyer, "San Juan de
Las
clc Carricitos
Clarricitos Land Grant
G w n t as Given to Jose Narciso Cavosos,"
C:a~~osos,''1.m
Pot.rionps
Grrieril~~icnl
Sori~l?Jotlrncil, II
11 (Spring,
(Spring, 1()87).
I 987). 74·
71.
PorrianP.l Genealogical
Surielv.Journal,
rt,/r~rrrr
446
SoutllZol'slem
Sozltl~z~rr:rfnnHistorical
Historical Quarter(v
Qua r t ~ r l y
Part of
of' that story is.
is, the process by which the trans-Nueces
tl-ans-Nueces and far
West Texas lands
lands were legally
legally incorporated into the state following the
Mexican War.
of nlany
many
War. Voluminous
Voluminous litigation,
litigation, the genealogical interests of
Rio
Grande
Valley
Hispanic
families,
and
the
lore
of
big-time
South
Rio
families,
Texas
of land history
o ~ uknowledge
of
Texas ranching have all contributed to our
mad
in
his area,
area, but none in a systematic
systematic or scholarly way. Far from a marl
in this
free-far-all
conspiracy, the assimilation of
of' the transtrnnsfree-for-all or aa well-planned conspiracy,
Nueces into
into the
the state's
state's lanel
lar~clsystem
system was accomplished by political and
institutional
institutional processes
processes that merit study
stucly and understanding.~
unclerstanding.' In
I n peculiarly
happenecl to the transtl-a~isliarly Texan
Texan fashion,
fashion, the question of what happened
Nueces Spanish
Spanish and
and Mexican
Mexican land grants
grants must,
must, for the most
rnost part, be
studied
corltext of Texas
Texas government actions
nctiorls rather
ratllrr than
studied within the
the context
those
of
the
federal
government.
While
the
Treaty
of
Guadalupe
Hithose
the federal governnlent. While
Guad;tlupe Widalgo
dalgo established United
Uilitecl States
States sovereignty throughout
th~v)ughoutthe Southwest
and
;uld
and generally protected property rights acquired under Spain and
Mexico,
land
Mexico, the
the agreement
agreement did not establish a procedure for
f i ~ settling
set~lirlg
r
claims
annexaclaims within the
the ceded telTitories.
territories. Under the terms of Texas's annexation to
to the
the United States,
States, however,
however, the fonner
former retained
rctained control of its
public
public lands
lands while
while the
the latter recognized
I-ecognizecl the Rio Grande as the new
Texas, a~judicating
adjudicating land
state's southwestern
southwestern boundary."
boundary.' Thus,
Thus, in Texas,
state's
claims
becarne aa matter fl.)!'
for state lawmakers.
lawinakers.
claims became
How
How the
the claims
claims were
were to be handled was a thorny question
q ~ r e s ~ i ofull
n of
and political
political conundrums.
conundr-urns. Part
l'art of the
he diHiculty
difficulty derived
derivecl from
practical and
fiom that area of
the incompleteness
incompleteness or unavailability of
of' the records ii'om
the
Texas. Loss
Loss or
or theft of private documents
clocuments and
a11d the inability to locate
Texas.
in Mexican
Mexican archives
archives complicated
colllplicated the paper trail.
trail.'I In addition
aclclition
originals in
originals
to lost
lost documentation,
doc~unentation,South
South Texas
'I'exas titles
titles were clouded
clouclecl by a confusingconf~ciing
to
variety in
in existing
cxisting instruments
instruments of title,
title, the vag-ueness
vagueness of many field
variety
nates to
to grants,
grants, the
the overlapping
overlapping of
oi'surveys,
l:iilu~.cto fulfill
frllIill requirerequll.enotes
surveys, the bilure
general history
lristory of
o f Spanish
Sparlislr and
ant1 Mexkan
kIrsic;~nsettlement
s c u l r ~ ~ l cand
;111tl
n t land
I ; l r ~ t ldistribution
tlislrili~~rioll
i l l South
SOIIIIIand
;ultl
,'For
For an general
ill
U'cst Texas
Texas see:
see: Florence
Florence Johnson
Johllson Scott,
Scoll, IJisloriral
IIi.slorir(11Hl'J'itllgl'
I-I~'r,~t(rgc
(11th,'
thl, Lmo,.,.
Loirlr~rlIio
I<io(;/"1111111':
(;rnrrtlcs: A II
Ili~lorrrol
or
is/oriral
West
Rrcord II[
of Slml/i,'h
Spnrrhh EX/Jloration,
I:'sjrlorct/in~i,
Subj~r,qo:ioiralld
(lrl(1CO!clllizat;oll
I:olorrizf~rtorr0(
o/'/lrt~
Lo~r'(>r
trio GI'l/IIt!"
(;rcrr~tl(,V/illn
Iitllrv ...
. . . (San
(Sill)
ReCIJrd
Subjllgatioll
th/' IAIlI'I'r
IIio
Cia.. 19:17);
19i37);Florence
F l o r e n c Johns/ln
e J o l ~ n s tScott.
Scoil.
r ~ ~ IIo,\'al
Ro~olLalit!
I.orrd (;,.,/11/.1
(;rcrrrl.s Norlh
hrorllr o(lh/'
111 tlrrj Hill
Kir~Gralllh',
(;r.c~rrrl(~,
An~onio:Naylor
Naylor Co.,
Antonio:
1777- 182I : Ear(v
Lar(y Histmy
IYi~toryo[
iq'L(ir;qv
GI.~(II/,\
I\~(I(/(J
?
I/ Simi"
.Y/I(I~IL 10
lo Fa/ilili,'s
F(II?/~//(,.~
111 ,]r~ri.\(/ic/io~~
(I/HI'vil/wl
I ~ I ; ~ I I ,...
.J,, ~
.I
177?-1821:
Lmg/' Granls
Mad"
b.v
ill.Jllri.,dil'lillll
o(
(KioGraude
(;r;illdr City:
City: La
La Retama
Kctaln;~Press,
l'ri.ss, 196\1);
~()Cig);
:lntl,j.j. Bowden,
B o w d c ~Slll/llish
Sporrr.\li
~.
c~rrdAfr~xrr.rrr~
I.crrr(L Grallts
(;,nrrl.r ill
irr
(Rio
and.J.J.
/I
lid AlI'XIIWI Lalld
tlrf Chihllahuall
~:IL~/~IL(I/LII(L~L
/irqui\itio~~
(El Paso:
l'aso: Texas
I?:S;IS Weslern
1Ves1~ri1
llrcss, 1\171).
197 I ) , Discussions
l ) i s c t ~ s s i ~of
of
r ~the
t~ls~ issue
ei s s ~ 01'
~
01' eland
I;III<~
the
/I(I)llisili01l
(El
Press,
transfel.~frOlu
I'r-0111Mexican
klesicar~Americans
A ~ l l e r i c : ~to
to~.Anglo-Americans
A
~ sn g l o - A n ~ c r i c mare
a l e found
Il)11tli1in:
ill: Paul
1';111l Schuster
S C ~ I L I S·Llyllll'.
'll~yl(~r..
~ ~ * I -A,I
.A 11
transfers
An~c~icrnr-~\~lexico~~
Frorrlirr: NIII'l'(','
NIIP~IIS
(:OIII~/J T".wls
?;js(r.\ (Chapel
((:l~i~l)vl
1 [ill, N.C.:
N.(:.:Uuiversily
Lllli\,c~.si~y
o f Norlh
N o r ~ Carolina
C:;II.O~~II:~
l~
Aml'1'ica1l-Mexiwll
Frolllier:
ell/lIIt,\'
1lill,
/If
I'ress, 1934):
1gg,4): David
Di~vitlJ\lontejallo,
Rlontqj;lr~o,AligllI.l
Angko,\IIl1d
N I Ii\!1'"iw/H
~ / I \ ~ ~ ~ill
inYtill'
1111~1\lnhi11g1~/'7i:r.n.i.
I ~ /Y!lIhilig
. ~ I I I \ O/7I·XO.l, /II,tJ-'
I ~ ' ? ( J - 1<)86
I 1/86 (Austiu:
(ALISI~II:
Press,
Llnivcrsity of
oP?i.xas
1'1,ess.1987);
15187);and
; ~ n tLeroy
I.c!rtry
l
1'. Graf,
Gr;\I',"'fill'
"'l'llcs Economic
I.:c-o~~ot~~ic.
1 lislor\
ol'rtilt'
I)I. Lower
Lowel. Rio
Texas Press.
1'.
II
iSlory of
University
Grande Valley,
Valley, 1820-1875"
~ X n o -1875" (Ph.D.
(1'1r.l). (liss.,
tliss.. Harvard
Hnrv;u.tl University,
Lll~ivcl.sity,1~l4")'
IO-I").
Grande
:)T.R.
I<. Fehrenbach,
l ~ c h r e n t ~ z ~LOlli'
LIJI~(,
c l ~ ,S/lIr:
.Yl(~r:IIA HiSllllY
lIi,slory or
111 '1j"Wls
'l;f.t(r\ awl/he
(~lr(1//I(,'1('''"111
'I;~.Y(I~I
\ (New
(New York:
York: (:ollier
( ~ I I Ilic K Books,
130ol<s,
"T,
19Xo), 265- 266; Victor
Victor Westphall.
Westl~hi~ll,
MI'Icr*tl~.r
I?c~lcs:[h'/JllI/if.'
Ili.\/~nrricLalld
Lcrrrtl Gl'l/lIt.\
(;I.(III/A or/III'
o/'/lr(~
/I~I/I(>I
liio Gmlld/'
(;r.c~rrrl(~
1980),265-266;
M/'rwJ/'s
R/,IIIt,s:
1.II'I,,-,/lill
I ~ H J ) ,/i7-8.".
li7-8:;.
Rcgioit (Albuquerque:
( A ~ ~ L I ~ L I C University
T
UII~VCI.S~LY
~ I L I C : of New
Nerv Mexico
blesicc~Press.
I'rcss. 198:~).
Regiol/
lTaylor, Au
A n Am/'ricall-M,'xira1l
A t ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ i c ( ~ ~ tFrolllier.
b'r(~r~lior,
- ~ l f o x i 182-184r182c ~ t ~184.See
See also
;11so MOlucjano,
M C ) I I I ~ ~Allglos
A~I I ~I /O( J11/1/1
(rrr(1
, \ i\!".\·il'lll/.\
111(,,~i1~(11r,\
"Taylo\',
ill
I/LCMahillg
iMn/ii?,go[
of TfXIlS,
Tex~.\,.')050-53,
70-7.1.
Ihe
53. 70-H.
Stn7li~hand lvlexican
~\/l~xicu?z
La
r2d Grants
Grunts
Spanish
Land
447
ments
~nentsset down in the original grants, and the complications
conlplications of colleccollecownership."
tive family ownership."
ant1 Mexican grants required
Politically, validation of the Spanish and
Politically,
balancing the rights of
of' old holders with the interests of new arrivals
arrivals
T h e state government needed to open vacant
land. The
seeking to locate land.
susland to settlement without spooking existing landowners already susgovernlllent was motivated
motivatecl by the greedy demands of
of'
picious that the government
dileinnra that on more
inore than one occasion
occasio~lcame
speculators. It was a dilemma
speculators.
close to producing a rebellion against the state.
Confusion about land titles in the area between the Nueces River and
1848 and 1852.
1852. Although by the
the Rio Grande was greatest between 1848
19, 1836, the new republic claimed boundBoundary Act of December 19,1836,
aries extending to the Rio Grande,
Grande, Texas's attempts
attempls to occupy and asasunsuccessful."
sert de facto
facto control in the trans-Nueces were largely unsuccessful."
Tarnaulipas continued to issue land titles in the
The Mexican State of Tamaulipas
Lransactions continued to be recorded there!
there.' When
area and land transactions
Texas finally
011 the
finally exerted its political control in the area in 1846,
1846, on
heels of the American military occupation of the region,
region, it encountered
a baffling mass of
clainis, including many new ones made by settlers
settlers
of' claims,
s
certificates.Tllese
These Texas headholding Republic of Texas headright certificates.
right claims were located and reported to the Texas General Land
Office without much possibility of proper evaluation since that office
Office
had little knowledge of preexisting claims.
claims.
1848 assured Texas's sovereignty
Resolution of the Mexican War in 1848
over the area. The
T h e Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo validated Texas's
claim,
Urli~edStates,
States, to the area north and east of
claim, now taken up by the United
the Rio
h o Grande. Consistent with established principles of international
law,
of' Mexicans
law, the treaty respected and protected the property rights of
provisions left
in the ceded area.
lef'~the United States
Statcs and Texas
?'exas
area.'9 These provisiorls
with the problem of adjudicating the validity of land claims
ciairns located in
Lhe areas obtained from Mexico.
Mexico.
the
c,'Evan
Evan Anders,
Bms R~rlr.
Rule in
Em (Austin:
Texas Press,
hnders, Boss
ill South Texa,l:
Texas: The
Tlrr Prugre,I,\ive
P~cgrcati~le
El-rr
(Ausri~l:University
Utliversity of
oSTexas
I'ress,
Ig82).
ig82), x,
X, 3,
hH.
Laws of Texas.
I822-I8c)7 . , .. (to
"H. P.
ll. N. l;ammel
Gammel (comp.).
(co~np.),The
Tlrc Lnua
Tewt.~,1822-1897
(10 voIs,;
YOIS.;Austin:
Ai~stin:Gammel
Gain~nel
Book Co.. 18g8).1,
1898), I, IIlg:~-1
193- 1 194.
19'4.
t\vc*il~ytitles
ti~lcswere
welt. issued
ishuetl arter
after March
hl;rrch ~.
2. 18~16,
18:3tj, including
irrclutling five
tlve or so in
ill 18.18.
18-IS.
77Xpproxi~n;~tc!ly
Approximately twenty
The
'I'he last tiLIe
t i ~ l cissned
issuc!ci hy Tamaulipas
'lh~naulipaswent
we111lO
ro Leonardo
Le1)il;it tlo Longuria
Lo11jiul.ia de
tlr Ia
1;i l;arza
Garza on
or1 April
i\pril II,
1 I . 18.18,
IX.#S.
more
Hidalgo!
chc Treaty
'l'rea~yof
of (;uadalupe
(;~~;~dalupc:
I-Iitl;~lgo!COUllt
(:ou111 made
~rriltlc
nlorr Lhan
chail two
t ~ \ ~months
no o n t l ~aher
a sf ~ e rthe
~11esigning
signil~gof the
from:
Meximl/ Lorrfl
L"/ld Gmuls
frt~rn:Texas
-rcxas General
(;cller.al Land
Lulltl Office,
Otficc, Guide
(;uii/r To SImI/ish
S'P(llrir/r al/d
afrddlrxirnfl
(;r.crl~l.\ iu
ill South
Sorrlh '!i'XiLI
licvclr (AlIs(,~rlstill: 'l"exas
'li*xas General
(;eut!riil Land
Lallcl OUice.
Otiice. 19H8),
I $38).
Lin:
'The
between independence
H T h rheadright
tle;idright system.
system, which
wllich operated
operalecl becweei~
i ~ ~ c l c p u ~ ~ c lancl
anti
e n c cthe
[llc end
ctlrl 011
t r l I H.II.
8.i I . allowed
allo\\.ccl
heads
si~lglrmales
nlalcs establishing
cstablishillg themselves
themsel\res in
i l l the republic
~.cpublicto obtain
obt;~iirlanel
lii~rdcenilicrrlifihc;lcls of
crf families
L~nliliesand single
cates
boards' of
catcs from
f r o ~ ncounty
C O L I I I ~ Yfx)al.rIs
o l llanel
a l ~ c commissioners,
cl o m ~ ~ ~ i s s i o r ~These
c r a . certificates
certilicates could
cc)ultl be located
loc;ilccl anv\\'hl're
iil~v\vhcrc
TCX;IS.
in Texas.
"Hunter
lind
Arts
Stales
A lIIt'rira (Ii
vols,;
!'Hullter Miller (ed,).
(ed.). Trl'//Iil's
T~.c.cr/ic.\
(1110Other llllenwlio1lid
l ~ r / ~ v ~ ~ r ~Art&
t r oorthe
o/'/lri>
~ r ~ rUnited
C'~rrlr,cl
l
Stn[es 01
( J / A~?rr'~rrn
((i
vols.;
Washington, D,C,:
Printing
I).(:.: U,S,
1J.S. GovennllelH
C;ovel.nnlc~111
1'1.illti11gOlliee,
(.)ifice, 1937),
1 ~ ~ 3V,7 ~07-~:lli,
ar~.j.-a:<ti.
)~
or
..
448
Southwestern
Historical Quarterly
Sozlthwesterrl Historical
Quarterly
In the face
face of confusing,
confusing, contradictory, and often incomplete informoved slowly on the question
mation, both the United States and Texas rnoved
of adjudicating land claims. In California, where statehood and the
action, the adjudication process beGold Rush required more urgent action,
gan with investigations
investigations by federal government agents of available
available Cali1851 did Congress
fornia and Mexican archival records. Only in March 1851
create a board of land commissioners
conlmissioners to examine and decide the validclaims. The California board, active between 1851
1851 and 1856,
1856,
ity of claims.
majority.
handled over eight hundred claims, confirming the great majority.
Congress did not act in New Mexico,
Mexico, which was not a state and which
Legisia1854, and then only slowly.
slowly. Legislaremained relatively isolated, until 1854,
tion required the appointment of a surveyor general who would examine claims and make recommendations to Congress, which would make
final
final determination.
determination. This system proved unwieldy in the face of heavy
lobbying by land speculators, but no action to remedy the situation was
1891. In that year Congress created a Court of Private Land
taken until 1891.
claims. By the time
Claims to adjudicate all outstanding New Mexican claims.
overwhellning
finished its work in
i n 1904, it had rejected an overwhelming
the court finished
proportion of claims,
claims, thus reserving most of New Mexico
Mexico for the fedfederal government.
government.''10
following the treaty, but the
In Texas no action was taken for a year following
increasing confusion about Spanish and Mexican titles and pressure
from several quarters finally forced the issue to a head. Part of the
bear
comlnissioner of the Texas GenGenpressure was brought to b
e a r by the commissioner
eral Land Office.
Coinmissioner of the General
Office. In his "Report of the Commissioner
Land Office"
1849, George W. Smyth informed the governor and
Office" for 1849,
the legislature that he had refused to receive and register in the Land
forOffice any documents purporting to be titles originating under the forMexico. In August 1848,
1848, Smyth had
mer governments of Spain and Mexico.
receiving
requested an attorney general opinion on the propriety of receiving
documents, some of them originals, some first
first
and archiving such documents,
copies, and others copies of
o f copies. The constitution and laws of the
copies,
state, he observed, contemplated
conternplated that the General Land Office should
be the repository of land titles, but he did not think the laws intended
accepted."II
that every unauthenticated document presented should be accepted.
~ ~ M a l c o lEbright,
Ebriglir.
m
"Ncw Mexican Land
h ~ c Grants:
l
T h e Legal Background,"
Background." in Lrrr~d.
~.V/I/P,;
IOMalcolm
"New
The
Land, Wain,
and ClIllure:
Cu/b,rc: Nenr
orr lli,lpallic
IIi,spanic. Lor10
C;~nrrls,cd.
ccl. Charles L. Briggs alld
a d ./ohn
Joh11 R. Van
V;~rr
New Pr.r:cl,ccrirtes
Pm;,j)(Xlit'es 011
Land (;mnIJ,
lind
Ness (Albuquerque: University
Univel.si~yof New Mexico.
Mcxico. 1987);
1987); Westphal!,
Westphall, ~Clpr~rrrl~~
cl1al)tcl-s 5
MercedeJ K~rrln,
Reali'S, chapters
I I ; Henry
I-Ienry Putney
P u ~ n c yBeers.
Beers, Sjmnish
.y/~n,li~h
nrlrl hl~xicurl
of the
llr~Arnr~.icrr~r
Soti/hnr:\l: II
/t Hiblioand 11;
a1ll1
MexiClln Rrrords
ReC/JrdJ uf
American Suulhll'esl:
Bibbogrrrphiml
Giji(le 10
lo Arclrilrr
nilrl lvla'lIIsCI'ipt
Mnrtfrscri/l 501lrcI',\
So~trclps(Tucson:
(Tucsolr: University of
of' Arizona
Arizon;~Press.
I'rcss. 197~)),
1979).
Archive al1d
graphiml Guide
268 .
44-58, 24;-268.
44-58,247"Texas
Luld Oll-ice.
Othcc. "Report of Commissioners.
Coniinissio~lers,.Ian,
Jan. 15,
15, IiJ45
i 8.15 to .Ian.
J;ui. 19.
10. I1891
."
11
Texas General Land
H91,"
p. 215
p,
2 1 5 (cited
( c i ~ e dherealler
hei*eafier as "Report
"Kcport of
o f Commissioners").
Corn~nissioners").
Spanish and Ai
Mexican
Lnncl Grants
Grants
Spanish
exican Land
449
449
oul how
T h e attorney
attorney general concurred
concurred that nothing in
in the
the laws
laws set
set out
The
the documents
documents should
should be
be authenticated for
for registry
registry and
and that some
some leglegthe
12
on the
the subject
subject was
was required.
required."
islative action on
islative
cession were also
also
The county clerks
clerks in the
the area
area of the
the Tamaulipan cession
The
Spanish and
and Mexican titles.
titles.
to proceed in recording Spanish
uncertain how to
P. Bee,
Bee, county
county clerk for
for Webb
Webb County,
County, requested instructions
Hamilton P.
1848. He
He inquired whether
from Commissioner Smyth
Smyth in December 1848.
from
the law
law required titles
titles to
to be
be recorded in the
the Land Office
Office or
o r merely
merely regregthe
they were
were recorded by the
the county clerk.
clerk. Bee had ininistered before they
formed the
the citizenry
citizenry that they were required to
to send their titles
titles to
to the
the
formed
Office, but many objected to
to sending
sending these
these documents
documents
General Land Office,
teri-itory.IJ
across dangerous
dangerous Indian territory.13
across
who located
located their Republic or state
state of Texas
Texas land certificertifiIndividuals who
lo resolve
resolve the
the validation
cates in the
the trans-Nueces also
also applied
applied pressure La
cates
matter. The
T h e number of locations,
locations, many of them in
in conflict with
with preprematter.
existing Spanish and Mexican grants,
grants, increased significantly
significantly after 1846,
1846,
existing
demands that the state
state issue
issue patent on these lands
lands grew accordaccordand demands
ingly. In the report to
to the legislature
legislature already alluded to,
to, Commissioner
ingly.
Smyth indicated that he had refused to
to patent lands
lands in the settled porporSmyth
Rio Grande:
Grande:
tions of the Rio
T h e situation of these [original]
[original] settlers
settlers is
is Peculiar;
Peculiar; for
for while
while they were clearly
The
cornpelled by the force
force of circumstances to
to
o u r limits[,]
limits[,] they have been compelled
within our
an opporopporforeign government and have not had an
submit to the jurisdiction of a foreign
lancls[.] [T]heir
[Tlheir surveys
surveys
o u r laws
laws in relation to their lands[.]
tunity of complying with our
are consequently not represented on
on the
the maps[.] I was
was not willing therefore
therefore to
to
are
settlements and rights oflong
o f long standing
take the responsibility of patenting over settlements
a n opportunity of taking some
some action on the
until the Legislature could have an
14
subject.
subject.14
legislators, however,
however, that if they failed
failed to
to act on the matmatHe informed legislators,
session he would consider it his
his imperative
imperative duty to
to papater during the session
tent the land located by virtue of Texas land certificates.
IS
certificates.l5
Pressure was
was also
also forthcoming
fortl~comingfrom
from those interested in buying and
Pressure
as the
lands held under Spanish and Mexican titles.
titles. As long as
selling lands
titles remained clouded by lack
lack of recognition from
from Texas,
Texas, legitimate
legitimate
titles
expropriation and sellers
sellers were subjected
subjected to depressed
buyers risked expropriation
keephostilities added to the problem in no small way by keepprices. Indian hostilities
of' the Mexican
Mexican owners off the land and thus even more exexing many of
"Texas General Land Office,
Office, Attorney General's
(;cncr.al's Opinions. Sept.
Scpt. 5.
5. ItLIH,
1848, p. (j9.
(ig.
12Texas
l'lHanlilton p,
P.Bee
Rec to George W. Smyth.
Smyth. Dec.
Dec, 10.
lo. 1848,
1848.Letter Received
Keceivecl No. :,897.
3897. Texas
'I'ex;~s
(;en"Hamilton
Genera1 Land Office
Officc Correspondence.
C:orrcsl~ontlencc.Texas
-I'ex;is General
Ckcncral Land
L;uncl Olliee.
Otlire. Austin.
eral
""Kcport of
o r Commissioners,"
Conrn~issioners."215-216.
n 15-2 1ti.
II"Report
l 5 Ibid.
l'Ibid.
Sou/llwestem H istvrical Quarterly
posed to
to title
title forfeiture.
forfeiture."'w The
T h e degree
degree to
to which
which mounting
mounting insecurity
insecurity ininposed
duced
lolver pl'ices
prices and
ant1 opened
opened the
the doors
doors to
to die-hard
die-hard speculators
speculators
duced lower
willing
g a ~ n b l on
eon the
the yet
yet to
to be
be adjudicated
adjudicated titles
titles has
llas been
been demonclemonwilling to
to gamble
strated by
by Paul
Paul S.
S. Taylor
Taylor in
in his
his An
,471American-Mexican
Atner-ic(~r~-Mrxicun
F~.o?zti~r:
NUPCCS
strated
Frontier:
Nueces
County
C O Z LTexas.
T ~I ~X CIn
II11Y .1842,
1842, Henry
Henry Kinney
Icinney paid
paid 56.6
56.6 cents
cents per
per acre
acre for
l o r the
the
one
(4,428.4 acres)
acres) tract
lract containing
containing Corpus
Corpus Christi,
Christi, but
b u t just
just
o n e league
league (4,428.4
three
three years
years later,
later, at
at Texas's
Texas's annexation
annexation to
to the
the United
United States,
States, William
William
Lee
I,
LAeepaid
paid 1.6
I .G cents
cents per
per acre
acre for
f o r seven
seven leagues
leagues in
in the
~ h area.
area."
c
Recognizing
t h e urgent
urgent need
need to
to regularize
regularize the
the status
status of
of these
these titles,
titles,
Recognizing the
on
December
26,
1849,
Governor
P.
H.
Bell
suggested
to
the
legiso n December 26, 1849, Governor P. H. Bell suggested to t h e legislature,
n o subject
subject which
which addresses
adclresses itself
itself more
more forcibly
forcibly and
a n d diclilature,"There
" T h e r e isis no
the Legislature
rectly
rectly to
to the
t h e mature
rnature consideration
consideration of
of'the
Legislature than
than that
that of
of setsettling
tling upon
upon aa secure
secure and
ancl permanent
permanent basis
basis the
the land
land titles
titles of
of' the
t h e councountry...."
the federal
Drawing on
o n the
the experience
experience of
of'the
fecleral government
government in
in adadtry. . . ."LHl~ Drawing
larid claims
clai~llsin
in the
the territories
territories obtained
obtainecl from
from Spain
S11air1 and
and France,
France,
justing land
Bell
Bell recommended
recommended establishing
establishing aa tribunal
tribunal 01'
01-board
board of
of commissioners
commissioners
to investigate
investigate titles
tities and
and claims
claims emanating
emanalirlg from
from Spain
Spain and
and Mexico.
Mexico. The
'l'he
to
investigation was
was to
to be
be contlned
confined to
to claims
claims in
in the
the territory
territory recently
recently ceded
cedccl
investigation
I
by
!'
by Mexico.
Mexico.'"
recomn~endaliolls,to
to his
llis surprise,
surprise, received
receivctl aa hostile
Ilostile
Governor
Governor Bell's
Bell's recommendations,
reception among
a m o n g certain
certain sectors
sectors of
of'Rio
Rio Grande
Grancle Valley
Valley residents.
residents. A
A mass
mass
reception
convenecl at
at Brownsville
Urownsville on
on February
February 2,
2 , 18S0,
I 8 5 0 , with
with the
the excxmeeting
meeting was
was convened
pressed intent
intent of
of' creating
creating the
the Rio
Rio Grande
Grancle Territory
'Ikrl-itory and
ancl appealing
appealing to
to
pressed
the federal
federal government
goverlilllent for
for territorial
~erritorialorganizatioll.
o r g a n i ~ a t i o ~The
'I'lle
l . celltral
cell~ralgrievgrievthe
of the
t h e Territorialists,
'Z'erritorialists, who
~ v h oincluded
incluclc~rlboth
boll1 Mexicall
Mexicall and
slid Anglo
Aiiglo adadance
ance of
herents,
1.evolvecl around
around land
lancl titles
titles in
in the
the region
rcgio~iand
ant1 the
the manner
Inanner in
in
herents, revolved
authorities of
of Texas
Texas proposed
proposed to
to investigate
investigale them.
them. In
In the
~lic
which
which the
the authorities
handbill announcing
announcing an
an organizational
organizational l11eetillg,
nieeti~lg,the
he Territorialists
'li-ri.i~orialis~s
handbill
m a d e clear
clear their
their fears
iears of
of'Texas
Texas government
governmenl Illatives:
niotives:
made
T h e authorities
a~llhoritiesof
ol' Texas
'T'exas seek
seek to
to annul
;lnllul the
the titles
t.itles in
i l l real
real estate
estate between
I)efwcell the
the
The
Nueces;lncl
l he Rio
Rio Grande-it
Grantle-it isis aa fatal
L ~ l ablow
I)low
l
to our
o ~future
L'ut~~re
~ r prosperity,
~)l.osl)erity,
;~ntl
will
Nueces
and the
to
and
will
involve the
the coulltry
country in
in litigation,
litigation, ruinous
ruinous and
ancl endless.
e~lcllcss.This
'I'liis scheme
sclic~iie0["
ol' !lag-rant
Il;~grant
involve
injustice proves
proves that
~ h a we
w
l e have
ha\^ nothing
nothing in
in fllture
Ii~tureto
to expect
expect from
1'1,olnthe
thr Stale
Scale of'
ol'
il~justice
Texas but
but vindictive
vindictive and
ancl illiberal
illil~elxllegislation
legislation..
Texas
If you
you clesire
desire the
tIie prosperity
prosperity of
of this
this valley-a
valley-;I rapid
rapitl developl1lenl
tlevrloon~r~i~
01' its
its
.. .. .. If
or
agric~llt~iral
resources, and
ant1 the
rlie quiet
quiet enjoyl1lent
e~!joynie~lcor
ol' your
y o ~ property,
l)~.ol)e~.ty,
~r
wliicli you
~ O L I
agricultural
resources,
which
have acquired
acquired by
Ily years
years or
01'industrious
iiiclustrious toil,
toil, you
you must
nlLlsc look
look to
to the
1Iic1United
Llni~eclStates
S~;ites
have
J:IIIICS B.
13.Miller
lvlillcr to
LC> (;ov.P.
(;c)v. I? II.
1 I . Bell.
I%cll,Nov.
Nov. 21:\,
28, IH50,
1850~
' I k s i ~Slale
sSk~[iA ~ . c l ~ i v(;ovel"llors'
(i *; o\ v~ i , r ~ ~ o ~Papers:
I'~II>~~I,>:
.s'
W.James
Tex,ls
Archives,
l&r H.
1-1. Bell
Bell (Archives
(Arcl~i\,cs
1)i\,isiu11.Texas
'1i:x;is Slate
S ~ a tLibrarv,
L.il)ri~ry,
i~
A L I S L ~riled
citcil
~ I ; hereal'ter
IIC*I.C*~I['L~T <IS
;IS (;ovel"llors'
(;(>VC~IIOI,\'
Peter
Divisioll.
Austill;
I'apcrs: Bell);
Bell);Gral'.
(;I.;II',
".l'he Economic
Economic History
Ilistory of
o l the
~11c
Lowc.1. Rio
I<io (;rande
(;r;ultlc- Valley,"
\';~llcy." 2t,5255- 2t,(j,
yy,(i.
Papers:
"The
L';lVer
li'I':~ylor,All
. ~ I !lmeriml/-,"/,'xiclill
~I \ ~ t ~ ~ ~ r i ~ r FI'lJllfir'I',
~I:I.OII/I'(~I,.
~ ~ - ~ P
181
l ~ ~ s i c ~ ~ t ~
"Taylor,
IHI.
In Texas
T(>S(IS
Slflf(' Gaul/"
C N Z P(Austill).
(ALISL~II),
~ ~ ~
I)cc. 2\).
2 0 , 1H4\J,
18~10,
"(;O\JCI.IIOI. Bell's
HcII's Messaf(l',"
b l ~ h s i ~ g ~II t,o.
.50.
."
IH
Sial"
Dec.
"(;ol'el"llor
I"
lg Ibid.
1I)icl.
.
Sj)(lnish and Mexican Land Gmnts
disinterestecl government
go\,ernment and
:uld indepenclentjudiciary.
inclepenclent~j~1~1ici:~r~.
Will1 a [U.S.] terrilerrifor a disinterested
With
torial government,
government, land
1;uncl titles would
\\lo~~ld
quieted, and
iulcl the country
co~~ntl-y
seltlecl
at once Ile
be quieted,
settled
torial
and improved
impro\~eclbbyy a procl~~cing
producing pop~~lation.'"
population.""
T h e separatists favored title confirmation through
tllrough a.iudicial
a,judicial pl-ocess,
The
process,
localjudges would be sympathetic to their
presunnably
presumably because they felt local.iudges
interests. They feared
karecl the creation of a board of commissioners
comn~issionersthat
interests.
cause. Furthermore, those holding
holdi~ig
might be prejucliced
prejudiced against their cause.
night give preemiunder Spanish and Mexican titles felt that Texas might
nence to individuals holding state Jand
land certificates. Governor Bell's sugfbr which the evigestion that the investigation be limited to claims for
o r the claimant had been a resident
rcsident
dence of title was already in Texas or
derlCe
2 , 1836,
1836, was taken as a challenge to titles of
of the state since March 2,
long-standing in the area. Titleholders believed that their inability to
1-ecol-ds would
~ l o u l dbe used by the state to expropriate
produce original records
of'tlie
(;o11T h e Territorialists also suggested that Article 8 of
their lands. The
the Constitution of the Republic would
t\~oi~lcl
be enforced
enforcecl against Mexican titlec o u n ~ r yto avoid
avoicl
holders. Article 8 provicled
provided that anyone leaving the country
fbl- independence
inclependence or
o r refusing to participarticipation in the struggle for
fbrf'eit the
pate in it,
it, or
o r anyone aiding and assisting the enemy would forfeit
tlie republic.
republic. The
T h e Territorialists claimed the governlands they held in the
fl-01x1 Mexilancl from
ment of Texas could use these provisions to confiscate land
can claimants."
claimants.~1
i t or
o r not, only a few days earlier the House of
of'
Whether they knew it
Representatives
delil~erations
Keprese~ltativeshad debated this issue at length in their deliberations
lancl titles (west
[west of the Nueces]." During'
1)~1rillgthe decletile bill to quiet land
"On the
bate, Representative Benjamin
Be~!jamin E. Tarver, citing constitutional stipulastip~~lations, offered an
a n amendment
a~nenclmentto the effect that claimants seeking recogtions,
nition of their titles should be required
recluired to present aHidavits
affidavits stating that
they or
borne arms
o r the grantees under whom they claimed title had not l)o~.ne
against the Republic or state of Texas nor given aid
aicl to the enemies
eneniies of
of'
anlendment argued that the
the republic or state. Those in favor of the amendment
of' other Texas citizens who sought to obtain
ol~tain
same had been required of
land grants. These men left little doubt
cloubt as to their attitudes
nttitucles toward
towarcl
Mexicans.
Mexicans. James C. Wilson, for
f i x instance,
instance, asserted "that the mixed
mixecl race
I-acc
of Mexico will disappear
before the white man,
clisappear befbre
Inan, is certain,
certain, anel
ancl no
no
lneans that can be adopted,
adol)ted, will avoid or
o r delay the
tlie fuHiliment
f~~liilllnent
means
of that
-
'""'Frank
Frank H.
of
SeparaLisls."
S(J/(I/IlL'I',\II'J'II
11. DlI~an,
i)ilgan. "The
"'I'lic 1850
1 8 ~ Affair
AfIiiir
0
01' the
~ h Browllsville
Bro\\.nsvillc
e
Sc(,;~r;~~isrs."
S o ~ ~ l h ~ ilIi,\,t(Jl'im/
//i.vlor~ic~r~l
~r~~lr~~~~
(OCL.,1\J57),
1<)57),~70-271.
270-27 1 .
(Ocl..
"Western
W ~ J , Y /Texa/l
TEX(III
E ~ I I (San
(Sill1 Anlonio).
A I I L ~ I ~Feb.
I:el>.
~ o )~8,
28.
, I H50.
Hgo. "Address
"i\tltl~.cssofTerritorialists
of"li.rri~or.idiststo
L
o FellOlI'
f;cIIu\\, Citizens
< : i ~ i z c ~ofl s
lhe
2);
the Valley and Terrilory
'1i.rri~ol.yof
01' the
~ h cRio (;rande"
<;l.;lntlc" (Meeting
(hlccting 0('
01' Febrllan
I:cl)r~l;~r.)
2): also
;llso I[)lI~an.
) L I ~ ; I'The
"I' I1 '. 1 1 ~ I HilO
830
Affair or'lhe
of tllc Brownsville
Bro~v~isvillc
Scp;lra~is~s."
q : ~ - z ~ . +Arlicle
Articlc
,
7 . se<:lion
sct L i o 1 1 2~o0 01
of the
tlic Tel'as
'1'cs;ls Slate Consli<:ollstiAlr";r
Separalisls."
27:1-~74'
7.
tulion of
ol' I1:LI5
1845 lefl
Icfl in place the loyalty
l o ) ; ~ l ~requirements
rcclllircnlrnls
y
L)r land
1;lncl ownership
o\vncrsliil~found
tr>~~r~cl
i t 1 lit('
rllr republic
1.cllul)lic
luticHl
for
in
7 % l.trir\\
~ II(
(I/ "/i>.,(/.I.
X,.~rr.>.
1 1 . 1I 29:3"'11.
cons~i~ution.
<hrnmcl (comp.).
(colnl~.).Till'
con~litulion.
Gammel
/.rill','
11,
~9:\- LI ~~I_I.
Qu(I~IP~LY,
Qual'terly,
LXI
"
459
Southwestern
S O I L ~ ~ Z ZHistorical
L I P S ~ PQuarterly
Quarterly
~T~
members, including
including Hamilton Bee
Bee
destiny."22
destiny."*'?A number of prominent members,
and
and James
Janles S.
S. Gillett,
Gillett, did,
did, however,
however, present arguments
arguments for
for protecting
the properlY
properly rights
rights of "Mexican"
"Mexican" landowners
laildowilers in
in this
this debate
debate surroundsurroundthe board of commissioners.
commissioners. They
They successfully
success full^ objected
objectecl
ing creation of the
that itit would
would be
be grossly
grossly unfair to
to demand the
the allegiance
allegiance of aa people to
to
whom
no
protection
had
been
offered
by
the
Republic
or
state
of
whom no
offered
state
Texas.
twentyTexas, The
'The amendment
alllerldment was
was defeated by the narrow margin of twenty2
to nineteen.
ni~leteen."
three to
:l
The
sent two
two petitions to the
the United States
States Congress
Coilgress in
The Territorialists sent
February 1850.
the 106
106 signatures on the
the first
first petition, over 100
100
1850. Of the
from residents of Mexican origin,
origin, including Juan Nepomuceno
Nepomucerlo
came from
Cortina.2~
Cortina.'4 A second memorial bore the signatures of individuals
individuals desdestined to playa
play a prominent role in the Rio Grande VaHey's
Valley's economy
ecoilomy and
politics
years, men such as
as Richard King, Stephen Powers,
Powers,
politics for many years,
Hord,
and
Sam
Beldon.
Neither
memorial
Elisha
Basse,
Robert
H.
H. Hord,
Sanl
rnemorial
Elisha Basse,
prospered in Congress, however, and the Territorialist movement was
Mexiof short duration. Yet the suspicions aroused among residents of Mexican origin regarding Texas government intentions, heightened and
manipulated
lawyers and speculators,
speculators, were guaranteed to complimanipulated by lawyers
cate the investigation
investigatiorl and adjustment
adjust~nentof claims in the area.
area."25
It should be noted that not everyone in the Rio Grande Valley
VaHey op5, 1850,
1850, three days
posed Governor Bell's suggestions.
suggestions. On February 5,
after the Territorialists held their mass meeting, a second group of valley residents met in Brownsville to pledge their loyalty to the state of
Texas. They also supported creating a tribunal to investigate titles in
of the participants in the
the trans-Nueces. In a clear reference to some of
Territorialist movement, they vowed to oppose "every attempt that has
been made, and may now be making, to throw into the hands of
of specdators
of the best lands in the valley of
of the Rio Grande,
ulators large bodies of
under pretended titles that will not stand the test of
of ~crutiny.""~
scrutiny."21\
?Qel~tes
1 1 ~HOILUJ
R P ~ ) % ~ ~ I I11849/z8'jo
N8 J~I~~/Z1 ~8 I5(ALISL~II:
~u. F
L)C(:OI.(~OV)I
nDebtltes ~illI 1I11Ie
HOILI'l' ~0/' ~Represenl(Jlj,'eJ
(Austill:
DeCordova illld
and (lo.,
Co., 18:jo),
1850), 88
(2nd quo
ratio^^). Tllis
quotatiou).
This sarne
same Ja111es
James C. Wilson, fi)r
for whom Wilson (:ottllty
County is n:unetl,
named, was chosel~
chosen by
the Legislature
1s the lirst commissioner
k x ; ~ (:ourt
sCourt of'C:laims
l l I1 856.
legislature 2as
COllllllissioner of
of the 'Texas
of Claims iin
85li. 1-le
I-Ie continuctl
continued to
manifest his bias by rrequiring
c q ~ ~ i r i nclaimants
g
or
01' \\,iu~csses
witnesses of
of Mexic;ln
Mexican origin
orig-in who
wllO ;~pl>cared
appeared bchrc
l)e[llre
the
n g l o - A ~ n c r i ~Sec,Joh~l
u ~ .John L. Hiiyncs.
the court to
to have their
their good character vouchctl
vouched For
for by a11
an A
Ang-lo-American.
See
Haynes,
I I / C I I ~ ~ I ~(Austin).
I ~ C P I . ll.d.,
1- 18,
"Tile
"The Rio Grande Co~nn~issioners"
Commissioners" it1
in Tlrr
Tlie IIlltelligellce!'
n.d., scra1>1)ook,
scrapbook, IJIJ.
1)1). 1'1411'\,
John
John L. Haynes Papers (Eugene C:.
C, Unrkcr
Barker Texas His~111.y
History (:cntel.,
Ccntel', Utli~c~-sity
University OI'~'CX;IS
of Texas itt
at ALISL~II).
Austin).
f RP/II.(~.YPII/~~~~~P.\
X ~ ~ I I X J 85-05.
O
,
"Deb~iles
23 Deba/es ill die
the Iiolwe
flollSe o0/
Rej)J'{'selltali"e'\ I1849/1850,
85-95'
?+Heir
"Heir to
to a large ranch
ranch in the
the Brownsvillc,
Brownsville, 'kxas.
'Texas, ;ue:l,
area, C:ortin:~
Cortina tought
fought lor
Ii)r Mexico
Mexico (luting
during- ~theh c
war
war with
with the
the Unitcd
United Statcs,
States, challenged Texas authorities
anthorities in 11ie
the llio
Rio (;rantlc
Grande Valley
Valley [luring
during
~ ~ l e r i cC;ivil
a ~ ~War,
18jg-186o
1859-1860 (the so-called Cortina M'ars),
Wars). playctl
played both
both sitlcs
sides tluring
during- the
the A
American
Civil
War,
served
II~
served as
as governor
governor ol'Tamaulipas
of Tamaulipas f'or
for 21a time,
time, ant1
and was
was conlin~l;~lly
continually ir~volvctl
involved in
in c21~tlc
cattle ~.;litls
raids in
in Ltlte
U~iited
United States.
States.
?jDugan,
25Dugan, "The
"The 1850 AfL~ir
Affair of
of thc
the Urownsvillc
Brownsville Scpal.;~tists,"
Separat.ists," 277-281.
277-281, 286-287.
28G-287.
2"Ibicl.,
26 Ibid., 283.
28 3.
Spanish and Mexican Land
Land Grants
453
453
Several explanations were offered at the time to account for the Territorialist movement. Some saw in the movement the hand of northern
abolitionists
abolitionists seeking to secure a stronghold in the South or
o r the interests
of land speculators
fro111the confusion by enticing
speculators attempting to profit from
Mexican titleholders to sell out cheaply.27
Texas State Gacheaply." A writer in the Texas
zette, noting that a large proportion of those participating in the movefollowing insight: "Mexicans
ment were of Mexican origin, offered the following
. . . from habit, always favor revolutions, and suppose, as was the case
...
Mexico, that anything that is wanted can be
under the Government of Mexico,
got by a pronun~iamiento."?~
pronunciamiento."28 John L. Haynes, a Rio Grande City merchant,
chant, land agent, and politician, suggested a different motive. He
He
claimed that certain Territorialists would "suffer in the flesh"
flesh" if the
board of commissioners was created. According to his account, these
speculators had obligated themselves to perfect the titles for
for Mexican
half the lands in question
pro quo ranging from half
titleholders for a quid fro
down to a small consideration per league.
league. These individuals' idea of
perfecting titles was limited, in Haynes's words,
words, to obtaining the corresponding certified documents
and
recording
them in the county
docun~ents
cour~tywhere
the land was located, at which time the fee
fee for perfecting was collected.
These agents panicked at the possibility that their clients faced the substantial fees
legislalion
fees (including
(including surveying costs)
costs) contemplated in the legislation
creating a board of commissioners.
commissioners. Compromised by the government's
governn~ent's
actions, they sought to poison the populace against the Board of ComCornactions,
Texas.'"29
missioners and the state of Texas.
Governor Bell responded to the criticisms
criticisms leveled at his proposals by
the Territorialists
Territorialists in an address to the people of the Rio Grande on February 22,
2 2 , 1850.
1850. The
T h e object of recommending
recommer~dinga board of commissioners
was, he
rather than a process of judicial confirmation of these titles was,
stated, to afford claimants greater latitude in the type of claims that
could be investigated. Lawmakers intended the Board of Commissioners to investigate and recommend not only those cases where the
titles were perfect, but claims
claims of all descriptions that had their origin in
3D
fairness.30
equity and fairness.
By the time the governor made his address a board of land commiscommissioners had already been authorized through an act approved Febru-
"
Te.s(~~i
Stntc Gazelle
G n r d t ~(Austin),
(A~~stin),
ug, IS50,
1850. "The
".l'hc Rio
Kio Grande
Grartclc Territory";
Tel~itory";Ibid.. Mar. 30.
yo.
27 Te.\·a"
State
Mar. 23,
I 8 50.
185°·
28
Ibid., Feb. 23, 1850,
'aIbicl.,
185n. p. 200.
aoo.
Haynes, "The Rio Grande
111 issioners."
Grancle COlli
Commissinners."
2'tlaynes,
Trxm State
.State Gazette (Austin).
(Austin), Mar. 9,
g , 1850,
1850, "Governor Bell's
Bell's Address to the People
I'eople or
O F the
tllc Rio
Grande,"
Grandc," Feb.
Fcb. 22,1850,
2 2 . 1850, p. 218.
n 18.
29
30
jUTexas
454
Southwestern Histurical Quarterly
ary 8,
8, 185°.'11
1 8 5 0 . The
~ ~ law provided that the governor appoint,
appoint, with the
two
commissioners
to
constitute
the
board and an atsenate's consent,
co~llrllissioners
consent,
torney to safeguard the state's interest. Convening at the seat of each
county named
tlre board was to "take cognizance of all claims
narnecl in the act, the
to lands within the county in which they are sitting ...
. . . provided such
claim had its origin in good faith prior to the second day of March, in
the year eighteen hundred and thirty-six."""
thirty-six."" (In
(In the last respect, the law
sowed the seeds of future
future litigation by excluding all grants made after
the declaration ofTexas
of Texas independence.) The legislation required claimclaimants to present to the board a full,
full, written description of the land
claimed, along with all evidence of titles or rights under
uncler which the land
was claimed. The law also required claimants to
Lo provide an affidavit
affidavil
that the documents
docunlents submitted for investigation were not forged or anantedated and that the facts
facts set forth in the petition were true. The comcommissioners could summon witnesses to corroborate testimony. The act
further required the commissioners to
to report
reporl the claims
claims for confirmaconfirmation when the titles were perfect. If
If imperfect,
imperfect, the board was to recomrecomhe titles
mend them if it judged
judged all the requirements for perfecting the
would have been met had there not been a change of sovereignty.
sovei-eignty.The
suplegislature also instructed the board to prepare an abstract with supclainl along with its recommendation
recoillille~lclatioi~
porting evidence for every claim
for or
confirmation. Upon submission to him, the governor was to
against confirmation.
pass the abstracts and evidence to the legislature for consideration.'I"
consideration:"
Governor Bell appointed as commissioners
corninissioners William H. Bourland and
James B. Miller, and the commission itself has come to be known as the
Commission. He named
nanied Robert].
Robert J. Rivers
Rivers attorney
Bourland and Miller Commission.
cominission. All three were capable men who enjoyed a good
for the commission.
Bourland,
i~lvolveclhimself in politics shortly after his
r e p u t a t i o ~ Bourland,
~.
reputation.
who involved
arrival in Texas, served in the last two Texas Congresses and the First,
First,
Second, and Fifth legislatures. He
H e also saw service
service as a major in the
Second,
1829 and
Miller, a doctor
cloctor by training,
training, settled in Texas in 1829
Mexican War. Miller,
practiced at San Felipe.
Felipe. He also quickly entered the political arena,
arena,
serving in the Legislature of Coahuila and Texas, as political chief for
the Department of the Braws,
Brazos, as a senator in the Fifth Texas Congress,
Congress,
Sanl Houston's cabinet in 1843,
1843, and as a delegate
clelegale to
to the
in President Sam
1845. Rivers,
Rivers, who arrived in Texas in the late 1840s,
1840s, was
Convention of 1845.
a respected attorney andjudge."1
and judge."'
'" Gammel (comp.), Thl' Laws o{Tl'xas, Ill, SIb.
Ibid.. 583- 584""Ibid.
"Wallcr Prescotl Webb, H. Bailc)' Carroll. and Eldon Slephcn Branda (cds.), Thl' llrl/ldbooh 01
Tl'xas (~~ \'ols.; Auslin: Texas Slale Historical Association, 195". 197()). I, 19li and II. 195, ,,!lo.
'l8
SjJanish and Alexican Land Grants
455
work. Although section 11
An interpreter also assisted the board in its work.
Comn~issionersrequired that one of
of the act creating the Board of Commissioners
lanthem should "understand and be conversant with the Spanish laninlpracticable to comply with this reguage," Governor Bell found it impracticable
q~lirement."~
qUirement.'J5
He therefore authorized the board to employ an interfrom their own means, though they were
initially paid from
preter, who they initially
for this expense.']1i
expense."'
eventually reimbursed for
book, what little is
is known
kno~vnabout
In the absence of aa journal or day book,
con~mission'swork is
is gleaned from
from the general report submitted by
the commission's
from their correspondence with
wit11 the governor.
governor.
the commissioners and from
commission specified that the investigation
investigatioil
T h e law
law that created the commission
The
was to begin at Eagle Pass,
Pass, in Kinney
I<inney County,
County, in May 1850,
1850, and to prowas
from there to Laredo,
Laredo, Rio
Rio Grande
Grarlde City,
City, Brownsville,
Brownsville, and Corpus
Corpus
ceed from
inore punctual of the two commissioners,
commissioners,
Christi. Bourland, always
always the more
Christi.
await further
further ininSan Antonio but returned to
to Austin to await
proceeded to San
from the governor when Miller failed
failed to arrive
arrive or to
to commustructions from
structions
intentions. In Austin,
Austin, Rivers,
Rivers, the commission's
commission's attorney,
attorney,
nicate his intentions.
Laredo, where they arrived
joined Bourland and together they left for
for Laredo,
lo. After Miller finally
finally arrived,
arrived, the commission opened for
for busibusiJune 10.
months after its
its scheduled opening date.:
date."17
ness on July 15,
15, almost two
two months
ness
comn~issionerswere not prepared for
for the reception they
T h e commissioners
The
received.
received.
first entered
en~eretlupon
Llpon the
[he discharge
tlisch;~rgeof our
o u r official
oflici;~lduties
tlulies we
\irehad
hacl to
LO enenWhen we first
When
rn~~ch
opposition and
ancl embarrassment,
enll~arl-assment,
growing out
OLIL of
of' an
a n impression
i1111>ressio11
counter much
opposition
growing
which seemed
seerned to
to prevail
prevail in
i l l the
[he valley
v;llley of
of' the
the Rio
Kio Grande
Grantle that
hat the
the act
act under
~lntler
which
which the
the board
boarcl was
was held
lieltl was
w;ls devised
tlevisecl to
lo destroy,
destroy, rather
r;ltl~e~.
111a1ito
to protect
I)l.otec[their
[heir
which
than
. . . to
LO their
heir lands....
lantls. . . . We
We were
were not
11ot prepared
pl-ep;trecl for
for that
[hat opposition
opposilion ami
;tncl
rights ...
rights
probahly would
woulcl have
1i;lve been
heel1 unable
~~n;tl~le
to overcome
ovel-collie itil but
but for
lor the
[lie inlluence
influeuce and
;und
probably
to
JH
exerting
exerting of
or the
the Honorable
Hono~lbleH.
H. P.
1'. Bee.
Bee.'"
clairnailts were finally
fillally induced
induced to
to present their petitions before
Fifteen claimants
the board in Laredo.
Larerlo.
the
evidence and
T h e commissioners
commissioners originally
originally intended to
to take
take down evidence
The
at aa later date,
[late, since
since the
the board was
was given
given at
at least twelve
twelve
examine it at
examine
:Ij Gam mcl (camp.),
(con]p.), The
Tl~taLIllL'S
I.(I~II.\
[I/' Z~scrs.III.
111. SIb.
582.
J"Gamlllel
ofT/'xos.
1.' H.
H. Bell,
Ucll. "Message
"blcss;~gcto
t o the
~ l i cHonorable
tlolior:lblc Legislature."
Lcgisla~urc,"Nov.
No\'. ~o.
2 0 . IH:;I,
1 8 5 1 ,in
in M<""wg<'
r\lc\.\trg~IIflhl'
r!/ / / I , ,
"'Gov. 1'.
3I'Gov.
~ ~ 2 ~ l ' lTmllSlllillillg
T' l~l (~L~ I I ~ IIhl'
//Itp
I IHI'/Jllrl
~
~l /' /~~ ;Oof/hi'
Iifl 'I/l/lt
~ COlllllli.\sioll<'1:\
~ ~ l ~ l l l l l l ~ . ~ 10
1
~0i 1I11'<'.\ligll/<'
~111~1~.$1~~~111~
u l l ~ ~ ~ . $ La/ld
Ia(lllt/Tille.\
Tit1t.s WI'.\I
\r[s.~/
l!/ t / l N/I"(/'S
~1\~11~17,.\
of/h"
Governor
(Aus~in:Cushney
C:uslinc): and
i111dHampton,
H ~ ~ I ~ ~ PIHSl).
185
L OI )I,4.
I,
(Austin:
r7M'illiam I-l.
t l . Bourland
Uourlalltl to
lo GOI'.
Gov. 1'.
1'. H.
H. Bell.
Ucll, Aug.
A u c ~4,
24, 1H50,
1850. in
ill Texas
.l'cs;~sGeneral
(;cncr;h Land
Liincl Ollice,
Ollicc.
'7William
Spanish Collection,
C;ollcclion. "Report
"Kel~orlof
of W.
W. H.
H. Bourland
l%o~~l.l;incl
ancl];~mcs
K. Miller,"
hlillcl-," (i:\.
(i:b (cited
(cilctl hereafter
Iicl.cat'~cr,IS
21s
Spanish
and
.James R.
"Uourland and
and tvliller
h'lillcr Report").
Kcport").
"Bourland
'lH"Gcncral Report
rep or^ of
of' the
~ l i Board
cUo;ircl of
of' Land
Land Commissioners
(:oml~~issioncrs
alq>ointctl 1>1'
I)! an
a n Act
Acl or
01 the
~ l i Lcgisc1.cgis'""General
appointed
lalure of
of the
llic State
Sliilc ufTexas.
of 'l'cxas. approved
;~pp~.ovctl
1:cbr~laryHth,
8~11.IHSO,
~Hgo,entitled
elllillctl 'An
'All Act
Acl to
t o prO\'idc
~ ~ r o v i tfor
tlic~ the
r11ic
lature
February
invcsligalion of
of'I;uitl
lillcs in
in ccrtain
ccrliiin counties
counties therein
~licl.cinIllcntioned,'"
mcnliolletl."' Nov.
Nov. II I,I . IH:;I,
185I , in
in "Bourland
"U<~url;intl
invcstigation
land titlcs
and Miller
hlillcr Reporl."
Keporl."
and
456
Southwestern
Southzvester~~
Historical Quarter(v
Quartel-!v
months
lllonths to make
lnake its report. However,
However, considering the opposition enencountered,
circulati~lgmisrepresentations
nlisi-epresentations regarding the commiscom~lliscouIltered, the circulating
sion's intentions, and
arid a request for
f o r action from the area's legislative delegation, Commissioner
Conirzlissioner Bourland decided
decitlecl to submit
sub~nitthe Webb County
County
subclainls for immediate
irl~mediateconfirmation. Upon his return to Austin, he subclaims
mitted his list of recommended
recoinrneilded claims
clai~nsto Governor Bell on August 24,
1850. The
T h e legislature confirmed all the recommendations by an act apap1850.
proved September 4, 185o.:1!)
I 850.~"
T h e strategy of having this first set of recommendations confirmed
confir~~l~d
The
savecl the
t h e commission
co~nmissionan
a n enormous amount
amoullt of
served its purpose and saved
difficulty in
i n completing its assignment.
assignment. Before news of these first
first concondifficulty
Valley, however, and
ailcl while
while
firrnations could reach the Rio Grande Valley,
finnations
f r o m the commission,
co~ninission,Miller and Rivers had
Borlrland was still absent from
Bourland
T h e reception
traveled to Rio Grande City, next stop on the itinerary. The
Rivers
again was anything but friendly as residents informed Miller and Rivers
the board. Rivers left the
that not a single title would be presented to t.he
a n d Miller vowed that under no circumcircumcom~nissiolland headed home, and
commission
T h e latter then proceeded
stances would he
h e return to Rio Grande City. The
C a ~ n e r o nCounty, where a letter from Bourland into Brownsville, in Cameron
ancl requested him to return
returll to
formed him of the legislature's action and
City. In the face of
of' Miller's refusal
ref~isalBourland
Bourlandjounleyed
Rio Grande City.
journeyed on
h e found Miller engaged in taking testimony
testin>ony
to Brownsville, where he
on the claims presentecl
presented there. At this point, and in consideration of
tt) the commission faded.
f'adecl. Bourland
Bourlalld
the legislature's action, opposition to
fi-orn Brownsville
Urownsville on October 6,
6 , 1850,
1850, of
of' the
wrote to Governor Bell from
turnaround
in
the
public's
opinion:
tur-narouncl
llow an
all entire change in
i l l the minds of
of the people of
ot' the Valley,
Valley, and
arlcl I
There is now
a1)prehencI no more trouble in convincing
couvincing of
of'them,
[ A I L ] the honest intentions
intentioris
apprehend
them, [sic]
Govt, towards
tnwarcls them.
~liem.The Commission
Commission is treated at this place with all the
of the Govt.
clesirecl, and
ar~clI feel confident.,
conficlent, from
From t.he
the manifestations
rni~nifestationsof
ofthe
Citizells of
of'
respect desired,
t.he Cit.izens
Rio Grande
Grancle City,
City, iti~will be the same there.'"
there.'"
T h e commissioners' troubles, however, were still not entirely behind
The
hei in, and
a n d James Miller found
f o u n d himself
hirnself'literally
canler of
oi'aa storm.
stonn.
them,
literally at the center
Having completed
co~npletedthe work at
a t Brownsville, Miller decided to return
retul-n to
O n the secsecancl boarded the steamer Ansolr
Austin and
Anson in late November. On
ond
o n d day out
o u t the steamer sank in heavy seas fifteen miles from MataMatagorda. Miller lost his trunk containing all the original titles presented at
Urownsville and $800 in cash collected from the claimants as governBrownsville
.IUBourland
Report";
3"ot~rl;lncl (0
l o Gov. Bell,
Ucll, Aug.
A L I 2tj,
ail,
~ , I li50,
850, ill
in "Bourland
" B o ~ ~ ~ ~ land
ancl
a n cMille!h4illell
rep or^"; Gammel
C;;cm,l~cl(comp.),
(camp.).
TIll!
Laws ofIIf Texas,
I I L,
Tlia La~us
T~sc~s,
1, 798.
III
Bourland (0
'flBot~rl;lncl
to Gov. Bell,
Ucll, Oct. G,
(5, 1850,
I 850,Governors'
Goocrnol-s' Papers:
I'apers: Bell.
I3cll.
Gra~lfs
Spanish and Mexican Land
Land Grants
457
fees. Miller himself made a narrow escape. "The
"l'he loss of these
ment fees.
overwheln~sme with regret and mortification," Miller
h,Iiller wrote to
papers overwhelms
deBell, and suggested that the law be amended to make the deGovernor Bell,
cision of the commissioners final.
final."lI
colrimissioners found themselves
up, the commissioners
The suggestion not taken up,
with the utterly unpleasant task of going over all the Brownsville work
again;
again; obliged to procure duplicates and other evidence of the lost titles
documents."42 In the face of this setback,
setback, the commission appears to
and documents.
1851 , however,
however, Bourland
have adjourned for several months. By April 1851,
was again in Austin, patiently awaiting the arrival of Miller and Rivers.
finally arrived he informed Bourland
Bourlaild that he could not
When Miller finally
accompany him immediately to the Rio Grande and suggested that
Bourlaild did,
did, working his way
Bourland proceed on his own. This Bourland
from
from Eagle Pass to Laredo and then to Rio Grande City.
City. The
T h e commiscomrnission appears to have held its last session in Nueces County in August or
commissioners did not always
always hold their sessions
1851. The commissioners
September 1851.
together or at the time prescribed by the law,
law, but the legislators who
subsequently considered the facts
facts compiled by the commissioners
deemed that this departure from the law did not invalidate their work.
work."13
In the course of its work, the Board of Commissioners investigated
claims: pol-ciones
grams, most of which fronted on the Rio
Iiio
three types of claims:
porciones grants,
1767 to the settlers reGrande and were made by Spain beginning in 1767
siding in the settlements of Mier, Camargo,
Camargo, Revilla,
Revilla, Reynosa,
Reynosa, and
~ n a d eby Spain mostly
lllostly to influential
Laredo; large grants for pasturage made
Laredo;
Camargo; and grants made after 1824
1824 by the
citizens of Reynosa and Camargo;
citizens
Ta~naulipas.Each type of grant had a different form,
form,
Mexican state of Tamaulipas.
granting procedures, and special conditions attached to them. In
In
making their recommendation for confirmation the commissioners
comnlissioners
were required to judge whether the grants presented to them were perlaws, usages,
fect under the laws,
usages, and customs of the government under
hacl
which they originated and,
and, if not, whether they were perfectible had
there not been a change of sovereignty.,·t
sovereignty.ll
IlJames
Nov. 28.
S50. Governors'
Papers:
Bell.
"James B.
U. Miller to Gov.
(;ov. Bell.
Bcll. Noc.
PX. 11850.
(;OCCI.IIOI.S'
E':II)C~S:
"There
011
just
how large the
AII.\IJ/I
"There is no
n o clear infonnation
ir~forlna~ioli
~ I ,just
I
tlie volume
volunle of
01' material!ost
material lost on lhe
the ,A~r.\orr
was. However, as Bourland
had
takell
to
Bou~.l:~~ltl
llatl already
;~l~-e;ltly
take11the
tlie Laredo
Laretlo testimony
testirllo~~y
LO Austiu
Austill for
ti)r confirmation
coutir~il;l~ion
~ n s ~ ~ c c eins scondncting
co~ltlucting
f~~l
Ibusiness
) l ~ s i ~ ~at
a1
c sRio
Kio
s Grande
Gra~lcleCily,
(:ily. it is clear
clea~.that
LII;IL
and Miller had bcen
been ~
unsuccessful
most if
if' not
no1 all of the records lost in
it1 the shipwreck
sliipwreck were
\\,ere from
f'ronl the Brownsville
Browllsvillc session.
scssio~l.
"'''General
"3"Gcneral Report
R c p o r ~of the
thc Board
Bo:lrd of Land
Lantl Commissioners
Comrllissioners ..
. . :.." iuill "Bourland
"Bourlatltl and
alltl Miller ReKethe
port"; Report
Keport of the Sclecl
Sclcct Committee
(:onlnlittec to
LO whom
\i.lionl was
w;is referred
rcf'crretl "a
";I Bill
Rill relinquishing
reli~lql~islli~lg
tllc right
righ~
of
to
01the
[he State
S ~ a t eto
lo certain lands
lancls therein
~llercinnamed,"
n;lnlecl." January
.Ja~luary5.
3. 1852,
18gz. ibid.;
ibicl.: Bourland
Uo~~rlancl
lo Gov.
(;ov. Bell.
Bcll.
Apr. 24.
n q , 185'.
185 I , Governors'
C;overllors' Papers: Bell; "Notice"
"No~ice"of Boan]'s
Board's sessions.
sc.\siol~s.Apr.
AIX. 24.
q , 185
i Xg I.
I . ibid.;
il~icl.;(;en(;ellera!
presetilcd to
era1 Land Office
Officc file
filc San
S;III Patricio 1-307 conlains
conliii~isinformation
i11hr111atio11preserlled
L O the
~ I l eBoard
Uoartl of ComC:oniAug. a I , 185'I 83 1.
n~issionersin
iri Nueces County
(:o~~nLy
missioners
on Ang.
lhid.
"Ibid.
2'.
Suuthwestern Histurical Quarterly
instance, the commissioners disagreed in their
In at least one known instance,
'The differences arose over the 106,5
106.5 league grant
recommendation. The
recommendation.
d e Carricitos" made by Spain to Jose Narciso
known as "San Juan de
600,ooo acre
acre
Rourland recommended that this enormous 600,000
Cabazos. Bourland
grant be rejected on the grounds that the conditions relative to its
h a d not been met.
met. Miller, on the other
settlement and occupation had
hand, contended
con~endedthat the grant conveyed the land in fee simple and
'5 The legisforfeiture.'The
legisdid not include conditions that warranted its forfeiture:
1852.
lature sided with Miller and confirmed the grant in 1852.
reinaiils of
o f the evidence presented to the board, it
Frorn what little remains
From
comnlissioners followed
followed a standard procedure for reo
reappears that the commissioners
clairns based on the requirements
I-equirements set forth in the law creating
creating
ceiving claims
it.~6
Upon arriving in the town where the board was to convene, notices
it..'Wpon
were posted explaining the claims procedure; the commissioners being
conscientious enough to extend the announcements
announceinents to the Mexican
side of the border. Claimants appeared before the board with a written
petition in English, often prepared with the assistance of an Anglo atatT h e petition described when the land had been denounced and
torney. The
rvher-e it was located,
located, and when title of possession had been
surveyed, where
obtained. Any documentary evidence supporting the statements was
obtained.
petition. The
T h e petitioils
attached to the petition.
petitions invariably also sought to prove
fi-om the time it had
that the land had been permanently occupied from
been granted,
granted, with the exception of periods when Indian incursions
incursions
hoi-ses,
impossible, that it had been stocked with cattle and horses,
made this impossible,
wells, corcorand that it had been improved through the construction of wells,
rals,jacales,
rals, jacales, and so on. If
If the original grantee had conveyed all or part
land, this was also set out
o u t in the petition. Some
Soine of the petitions
of the land,
also included evidence that the state and county taxes had been
swore
rendered since the county's organization. The petitioner then swore
before a commissioner that the title or evidence of claim presented for
a n d that the facts
fBcts set forth in the petition
investigation was genuine and
T h e commissioners,
commissioners, assisted when needed by an interpreter,
were true. The
r o 1 evidence
eviderlce presented by the petitioners' witnesses.
witnesses.
then heard the p
parol
stateinents corroborated that the land had
hat1 been
The witnesses' sworn statements
ancl occupied, that ownership had been exercised, and that
improved and
claiin to the land had not bcen
disputed. The
T h e commissioners colcolthe claim
been disputed.
fee of five
lected a fee of two dollars per application plus an additional fee
"'''Bourland and I..liller Report." ,17; "I'\cfess<lp;e of the Go\'enJol' 11'<lllSlllilling the RelJOrl
tile Commissioners lO in\'eslip;alC land Tille.1 West of the Nueces." in ibid .. (j I.
"'Gamlllel (comp.). Till' Law", o! 7".wl,'. I II. 5K~.
or
Sfirrnish
Spanish and Mexican Latld
Land Cra)lts
Grants
459
45~
dollars for every league oorr fraction thereof
thereof greater than a labor conreceipt. 17
claim and issued a receipt."
tained in the clairn
of the porciones
pm'ciones grant, where titles apparently were not
In the case of
commissioners obtained a copy of the Auto dc
de
issued to the grantees, the colnmissioners
lu
la general visitu,
visita, in which these grants are recorded.'"
recorded. III According to a
documen t filed with the 'Texas
Texas General Land Office in 1871
187 1 by James
document
Nix, district clerk for the county of Starr,
Starr, his office contained a copy of
general z~isita
visita ol'
of the jurisdiction
jurisdiction of Canlargo
Camargo certified and
the Auto de la gene~al
16, 1850,
1850, and wl~icl~
H. Bourland on November 16,
which copy
signed by William I-I.
titles. 4 !1
was used by the board in the investigation of those titles."'
Having concluded their sessions, the con~nlissioilers
commissioners prepared a final
of recommendations
report and submitted it, along with an abstract of
to Governor Bell on
and the evidence for the claims in each county, LO
November 11,
11, 1851.
The
governor,
in
turn,
submitted
the commis1851. ?'he
turn,
days later for its action. 'The
The legislegission's work to the legislature nine clays
conlmittee to
LO examine the testimony compiled
colllpiled by
lature named a select committee
the commission and to report its findings.
findings. The committee sought to determine
existed,
ternline in each case whether a title founded in good faith existed,
whether the conditions of
of' the grant had been complied with, whether
continued possession
the land or abandonment for good cause could
of'the
possession of
be proved, and whether fixed improvements had been erected. Those
titles deemed to be perfect or perfectible were reported favorably,
favorably, and
the rest were passed over without any expression of opinion. The
'The list of
234 claims
claims finally
finally confirmed by the Texas legislature on February 10,
lo,
5o
1852,
followed closely the recommendations of the commissioners.
commissioner^.^"
1852, followed
These confirmations
confirmations were an important step
step in resolving the title
difficulties in the region,
region, though a great deal of litigation concerning
H
Bourland to Gov.
"Bourland
C;o\,. Bell,
Bcll, May
h'l;~y17,
17, 1851,
1851, Governors'
C;ovcrnors' Papers:
I'apcrs: Bell,
Bell. The
'l'llc followingfollo\ving Texas
'lksas Gen(;elleral
compiled
cral Land
Lanrl Ollice
OlIicc liles,
lilcs, Original Land
L.anrl (;ranl
(;rant Collection,
(:ollcction, comain
contain information
inf'orn~atio~l
conll~iletlbl'
by the
thc
boards
boartls or
of commissioners: San Patricio
1';ltricio 1-548,
1-:48. San Patricio
1';ltricio 1-459,
1-459. San
Sa11Patricio
I';~~ricio1-:P3,
I-:$rg. San
S;ln Pa1%trick>
tricio 1-473,
1-473, San
Sa11Patricio
I'atricio 1-303,
I-503, San
S;II~Patricio
I'atric~o 1-339,
1-33!). San
Sat1 Patricio
I'atricio I-CloG,
I-yo(i.San Patricio
t'atricio 1-:\07.
1-:{o.i. and
ant1
Spanish Collection,
Collection, Box I195,
Folrlers ~.
n . 4.
4, and
:untl 7.
%' Folders
IH
In 1767,
ish government
IHI~1
1767, the Span
Spanish
govcrnmcnt sent members
mcmbcrs of the
l l ~ cRoyal
Koyal Corps
C:orps of Engineers
Engineers to con~OIIduct
clucr surveys and
ant1 distribute
distribule lands
lantls in
it1 each
c;lcl~of
ot' the
tllc Rio Grande
C;r;rnrlc Vallev
V;~llcysettlements-Canlargo,
scttle1ncnts-(:~1111;11'go.
Guerrero, Laredo,
jJorritJIl derives
h u e d o , Mier,
blier, and
a~trlReynosa.
lieynosa. The
'l'hc term porrtri~~
tlcrives fro;n
Sro~nthe
tllc long,
lol~g.narrow
~r;uro\vtraclS
trilcrs
(approximately!VI:'
(approximately 'YI:, mile by
bv I:~
1 3 to 14
1 4 miles)
111ilcs)into which
\vhich the
thc engineers
engineel-s sun'eyed
sur\.cyetl the
thc river
rivcr front.
Iront.
".,'""Kcport
"Report of the Select Committee,
C:omn~ittcc. ,. ,"." in
i l l the
thc "Bourland
"Bourla~ltland
;ultl Miller
blillcr Report";
Kcl~ort";.lames
1;lrncs Nix
Nis cercertificate,
Land
titicate, San
San Patricio
Patricio 1-349,
I - S ~ I Original
(.)rigin;ll
),
Llnrl Granl
C;I.;II~~Collection.
(:ollcction. Texas
'1'cx;ts General
C;c~lcl-;tlLand
Lal~tlOfhce,
C)khcc. Austin,
Austin.
under
51l"General
jl'"C;cncli~lReport
Rcport of
o f the Board
Uo~u-tlof Land
L;untl Commissioners
(:onlmissioncrs appointed
;~pl>oin[ctl
unclcr an
;u1 Act of
oS the LegLegislature of the State ofT'cxas,
FeLruary
of 'lksns, appl'Oved
;~l)p~.o\.ctl
1;ebruary 8th,
8th. 1850,
1850. entitled
c ~ ~ t i t l c'An
'AII
d Act to
to pn)\'ide
pro\irlc [(1I'
ti)^- the
investigation
land titles
in
investigation of
of'lantl
titlcs in certain
ccrtain counties
c o u ~ ~ t itherein
tchs c r e i ~mentioned,'"
mcntioncd."'
~
ill tllC
tllc "Bourland
"Bourl;~ntland
;unrl Miller
bliller
Report";
Keport"; "Messag-e
"klessagc of
ol' the Governor
(;c~vcrnortransmitting
tl-;ulsmitting the
tllc Report of
ol' the Commissioners
(:o~rlrnissioncrs...
. . . ,"
Nov,
the Select
Nov. ~o,
no. 1851,
1851.in ibid.: "Report
"Kcl~ortof
ol'thc
Sclcct Committee
(:om~nittcc10
lo whom
w h o ~ nwas
\\-:IS referred
rcf'crrerl 'a Bill
Bill relinrclinquishing
quishing the
thc right of the
thc State
St;ltc to
to certain
cel,tain lands
lands therein
thcrcin named,'"
~lametl."' in
ill ibid,;
ibitl.; Gammel
(;;unmel (comp,),
(comp.). Till'
Tlrr,
Lnu!~of
of Tl'xas,
T~~xcrs,
111, ~)41.
514I .
Ill.
LIll""
."
460
Southwestern
S O U ~ / ~ ~ LHistorical
Historical
I P S ~ L ~QuarterZ1'
Quartet-41
~-~~
CLAIMS
CLAIMSPRESENTED
PRESENTED BEFORE
BEFORE THE
THE
BOURLAND
BOURLAND AND
AND MILLER
MILLER COMMISSION
COMMISSION
RECOMMENDED 76%
REJECTED
REJECTEDOTHER
OTHER9%
9%
REJECTEDMAT.
MAT 15%
15%
REJECTED
i
Total number
number of
of claims
clainis presented
presented to
to the
the Commissions,
Coniniissions, 343.
343. Total
Total number
number of
or
Total
claims rejected,
rejected, 78.
78. Of
Of these,
these, the
the commissioners
co~nrnissionersautomatically
a~~tomatically
t ~ ~ r n down
eclown
d 51
51
claims
turned
located within
within the
the ejidos
ejiclos (commons)
(commoi~s)of
of Matamoros,judging
Matamoros, judging the
the claimants
claimants to
LO be
be
located
made for
fbr two
two principal
principal
tenants and
and not
not grantees.
grantees. The
T h e other
other I'ejections
rejections were
were made
tenants
of evidence
evidence of
of final
final title
title and
and abandonment.
abandonment. Soune:
Soui.rx: "Reporl
"Relor-/ of
reasons, lack
lack of
reasons,
W.H.
H. Bourland
Botirlri7lrl and
nlzd James
Jr~111e.r
R. Miller.
Miller, Commissioner
Con~nzissioner10
lo Investigate
I~zvesligrileLand
Lalzd Titles
Tilles Weslof
We.sl of
W.
R.
IAeNueces,
Nlceces,"" SjJanish
Sfianisl~Collection,
Collectia~l,Texas
Texas General
Genela1 Land
Laptd Office.
Office.
the
these grants
grants continued
continued for
for many
many years.
years. The
T h e commission's
commission's actions
actioils and
these
in convincing
convincing titleholders of
of' the
the just
those of
of the
the legislature
legislature succeeded
succeeded in
those
Novetnintent of
of state
state authorities
authorities in
in regard
regard to
to their
their lands.
lands. As
As early as
as Novemintent
ber 1850
1850 Miller
Miller reported
reported to
to the
the governor:
governor:
ber
Before II left
left Brownsville
Brownsville aa Public
Public Meeting
Meeting was
was held and
and resolutions
resolutions were
were
Before
con~plimentaryof
of the
the state
state and
and the
the commissioners[.
commissioners[. T]his
Tlhis docudocupassed very
very complimentary
passed
i ~ Cameron
Cameron
i
County[. T]he
T]he very
very best feelings
feelings
ment was
was signed
signed by
by every
every man
man in
ment
County[.
in that
that quarter
quarter towards
towards the
the Government
Government of
of' the
the State
State and
and Yourself partiCLlparticuexist in
exist
Tlhey are
are now
now satisfied
satisfied and
and convinced
corivinced that
that you
you have been their best
larly[. T]hey
larly[.
frienc][.]5L3
frienc1[.J
However, as
as aa result
result of
of the
the failure
failure of the Bourland
Bourlancl and Miller ComCoinHowever,
mission
to
investigate
all
of
the
Spanish
and
Mexican
titles
in
question,
mission to investigate all of the Spanish and
titles question,
in the
the Texas
Texas legislature
legislature to
to pass
pass an act creating ananpressure mounted
mounted in
pressure
A second
second board,
boarcl, similar
similar in all
all essential
essenlial
other board
board of
of commissioners.
commissioners. A
other
points to
to the
the first,
first, was
was created
created by an
a n act
act of February 11 1,
1 , 1854."~
1854.'' GoverGoverpoints
jlhIiller
to Gov.
Gov. Bell.
Bell. Nov.
Nov.
51
Miller to
28,1850,
1850,Governors'
C;oVer~lors'
I'ape1.s: Bell.
Bell.
28,
Papers:
i?Ganl~nel
(con~p.).The
Tlre LllJm
Laul~of
of TeXllJ,
Tcsfu,III.
111, l!i:~3.
13yg.
;~Ganllnel
(comp.).
Sparzisfi and Mexica?~
Spanish
Mexican Land
Land Grants
46 i
S. Taylor and Robert H. Lane as the
nor E. M. Pease appointed Charles S.
two members of what came to be known as the Rio Grande Commission.
Even less is known about the activities of this commission, but
1855 they investigated titles as far
1854 and 1855
records confirm that in 1854
Counly. The
T h e commissioners submitted their report and
west as El Paso County.
1855, and the
the supporting evidence to Governor Pease in November 1855,
consideration. Because it
same was forwarded to the legislature for its consideration.
conlmission had not recommended for confirclaims that the commission
included claims
commismation and claims that had not even been presented to the commissioners, Governor Pease vetoed the confirmation act passed by the legsioners,
islature in August 1856,5:J
i856.j"
Following the second commission's
commission's failure,
failure, Texas lawmakers turned
Following
to the courts as the vehicle for handling outstanding claims, with the
laws. An Act of FebruFebruexception of grants handled through special laws.
1 1 , 1860,
1860, allowed claims
claims to be filed for three years in the state's disdisary 11,
trict courts.
1862 amendment to this law extended the time limit to
courts. An 1862
1 1 , 1865,
1865 Ten years later,
later, on August 15,
15, 1870,
1870, another act
February 11,
was passed allowing for claims to be filed,
filed, this time in Travis County
District Court,
years.:]
Court, for a period of two years,5!
These two acts
acts had a number of features
features in common,
common, most importantly that claims had to be based on grants made before December 19,
ig,
1836,
1836, the date on which the republic's congress claimed the Rio Grande
Texas. The most important difference between
as the boundary of Texas.
them was that the former allowed claims to be filed in the district court
where the land was located while the latter
latler allowed
allowed two years for f1ling
Iiling
in the Travis County District Court. The courts confirmed twenty-nine
1860, while the Travis County court confirmed
titles under the act of 1860,
thirteen. A number of rejected claims were upheld by the Texas Sujurisdiction in these laws.
Courl, which was given appellate jurisdiction
laws. An
preme Court,
1901, addressed the question of claims emanating
act of September 3, 1901,
from grants made subsequent to Texas independence but before the
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. Under its terms, claimants had two years
judgment in which to file
to file
file
file and,
and, if successful, six months from final
final judgment
Office. The
T h e court confirmed
the judgment
judgment and field notes in the Land Office.
fifteen claims
55
law.55
claims under this law.
53 Bowden,
Land
Acquisition, 96-97.
jaBowden, Spanish
S,!~iiti.slr and
nlrd l\<lexican
ILIPX~COII
L
a i ~ dGmnts
(;rcrirts in
ill the
tht, Chill1lalwan
Chihjralrua~~
Acq~lisilio~l,
96-97,
Gammel (comp.),
LalLls of
Texas, IV,
54Gan~mel
(conip.), The
TIIPLnu1.s
oJTpxns,
IV, 1471,
1471, V, S68,
568. For the confirmation
cor~lirmationhistories
his~uriesof the
he
EI
Mexiwn Lnrld
Lalld
El Paso County Spanish and Mexican land grams,
granls, see: Bowden,
Bowtlen, SjJanish
Spnui.!l aml
n~rtli\lrsiror~
Grants in the
Acquisitiun. Explanations of the confirmations of the handful
tlrr Chihuahzum
Clrik~rahlccr~~
Acq~tisilio~r.
hanclf'l~lof other
grants handled directly hy
by the
thc Texas
Tcsas legislature
lcgislat~lreare found
foulld in
ill Texas General
Gerleral Land Of11ce,
Oflice, Guide
Gilidr
lo Spanish and
a d Mexirtlil
Grntlts.
to
M exiwll Ln~ld
Land Grants.
""Spanish
Laws
55"S[~anishand Mexican
Mexicarl Land Grants-Act
Grants-Act to Provide for Testing
'resting Validity of," Genl'ml
Gerl~rnlLnul.~
~rthe State
oj'tlre
Slalc ofTl'xas,
oJTcxns, 27th Legis.,
1-cgis., 1st Called
Callecl Sess.,
Sess.. 1901
1901 (Austin: Von
VOIIBoeckmann,
Bueckn~anli,Schutze
Schutrc &
& Co"
Cia..
19°1),4-7;
LalLls 0fTI':""s,
1901). 4-7; Gammel
Gamlnel (comp,),
(co~iip.),The
Tlu~Lan?~
oJTc.su,s, [V,
IV, 1471,
1 4 7 1 ,VI.
VI, 375;
375: Totals [or
l o r confirmations
cor~lirn~a~iol~s
and
fHexiwll Ln11rl
Laml Grants.
taken from
fro111 Texas
l'exas General Land
Larlcl Office,
OtFice, GuidI'
Guitlp 10
lo SjJanish
Spci~~irh
arrd ~Vlesirtrll
Grn~~ts.
5<
Southwl's/erll Historical Quarterly
RECOGNIZED SOUTH TEXAS LAND
M D GRANTS
GRANTS
ACCORDING TO LEGISLATIVE
LEGISLATIVE ACT
February 1852 67%
Z23i4~IIIIIII~i
~
September 1850
1850 5%
5% 20
20
September
Special Acts 3% 10
No Adjud. 6% 19
Supreme Court 3% 10
Act of 1901 4% 15
Act of 1870
1870 4% 13
13
Act of 1860
1860 8% 29
Special acts are those passed by the Texas
to
Texas legislalure
Legislat~~re
t o settle
settle specific claims.
Those claims
ckainls that appear on
o n original
original county
coLmty granLee
grantee maps and are recognized
recog~~ized
by the stale
state but have
liave not been coniirmed
conlirmetl are labeled
labelecl "No Adjucl."
Aclj~lcl."The Suarising from
preme Court has settled a number of
of' disputes
clisp~~tes
f'ronl claims,
claims, including
overturning the decisions
decisions of lower courls
courts acting
acting under one of
of' the adjudication
atljuclication
in
acts.
acts. Source:
Sour.ce: Guide
Gzridc 10
Lo SjHluish
S ~ ) ( I I Lalld
und
~ . S~Mexican
~/ ~ P . T ~LLand
c((rLt ~Jd~Grants
C;).(~JI/.S
it1 Soutl!
Solrll~ Texas
Tex(r.s (Austin:
(flu~lijl:
Texas Gnteral
Land
G~?~ei.(il
L
( I . I0lJiCl',
qffic~,
L ~ 1988).
I 988).
T h e disposition of the records compiled
coinpiled by both boards of commiscornlnisThe
t h e perplexing questions about their work. The
T h e Texas
sioners is one of the
"IZeport" of
General Land Office eventually became repository for the "Report"
a n d Miller Commission, which contains a synopsis of the
the Bourland and
rcco~nmendatials.No
evidence for each claim and the commissioners' recommendations.
of' the remaining records.
clue has been found as to the whereabouts of
liles in the Texas General Land
L:und Office
Oflice contain
Nine original land grant files
examina~ionof these records
evidence gathered by this board. A close examination
concl~isivelythat private individuals filed
hled the documents
suggests quite conclusively
in the General Land Office at different times as corroborative proof in
tracts."' From
Frc)m this,
this, the inference
inf'el-ence can be
the process of patenting these tracts."';
Uoartl of
oFC:om~nissioners
drawn that each claimant beforc
before the Board
Commissioners received
t h e evidence prepared. However,
I-Iowever, the
he body of evievifrom them a copy of the
nncl presented to
to the legislature
legislalure
dence collected by the commissioners and
apparerltly been lost.
losL.
has apparently
"']oh11 L.
L.. Hayncs
ll;iy~rcs to
lo COl1llllissioncr
(:o~r~r~iissio~lcl.
S l c l ~ h c l lCrosby.
(:~.osl>y. AlIf.:.
'\LIA. ~H.
OX. tH!\4'
~ X : j ~ lLetler
I.L'IL~I.
.
Rcccivcd
;'GJohn
Stephen
Received
No.
1 7 $ ) 5 ~Texas
'1i'x;is
,
<;cncl.;d Lalld
L;ttltl O/lice
Oflict. CeJl'respofldence.
( ; ~ I - I ~ ~ S ( J ~ I I I ( ~ <'!L'Xil,1
'li.si~s
.I~L'C
(;c~lcl.:il
,
1,;111tl Ollict',
Ollicr. Auslill.
A~r.slill.
No, 17\)5;\,
Gcneral
(;cllcrill
Land
Sj~a?zisl~
and Mexican
Mexican Land
Land Grants
Grunts
Spanish
and
463
Even more
more mysterious
mysterious isis the
the disappearance
disappearance of
of the
the report
report and
and evieviEven
submitted by
by the
the Rio
Rio Grande
Grande Commission.
Commission. Just
Just two
two years
years after
after
dence submitted
dence
their report,
report, C.
C. W.
W. Buckley,
Buckley, chairman
chairman of
of
the commissioners
commissioners submitted
submitted their
the
Committee on
on Private
Private Land
Land Claims
Claims indicated:
indicated: "The
"The report
report of
of said
said
the Committee
the
Commission has
has not
not been
been seen,
seen, nor
nor can
can itit be
be found,
found, notwithstanding
notwithstanding
Commission
the most
most diligent
diligent search
search which
which has
has been
been made
made in
in every
every place
place where
where
the
such
such aa document
document should
should be
be found."57
found."" One
One Texas
Texas General
General Land
Land Office
Office
comrnissiori at
at Webb
Webb County
County in
in
file includes
includes evidence
evidence presented
presented to
to this
this commission
file
1855.~'
July 18
July
55. 58
T h e Bourland
Bourland and
and Miller
Miller Commission
Commission was
was the
the product
product of
of the
the sinsinThe
under which
which Texas
Texas joined
joined the
the United
United States.
States. Had
Had
gular circumstances
circumstances under
gular
the Lone
Lone Star
Star State
State entered
entered the
the Union
Union in
in the
the same
same manner
manner as
as the
the rest
rest
the
of the
the states
states its
its public
public land
land would
would have
have become
become federal
federal property.
property. In
In
of
transkeeping its
its public
public lands,
lands, Texas
Texas found
found itself
itself obliged
obliged to
to do
do in
in the
the transkeeping
Nueces and
and in
in the
the EI
El Paso
Paso area
area what
what Washington
Washington felt
felt compelled
compelled to
10 do
d o in
in
Nueces
California and
and New
New Mexico-establish
Mexico-establish the
the legal
legal foundations
foundations of
of all
all prepreCalifornia
existing land
land claims.
claims.
existing
resembles events
events in
in California
California than
than
That the
the Texas
Texas case
case more
more closely
closely resembles
That
those in
in New
New Mexico
Mexico isis not
not surprising.
surprising. As
As an
an important
important area
area of
of ecoecothose
nomic contact
contact between
between the
the United
United States
States and
and Mexico,
Mexico, the
the Rio
Rio Grande
Grande
nomic
Valley experienced
experienced aa surge
surge in
in growth
growth that,
that, though
though not
riot on
on the
the scale
scale of
of
Valley
the Gold
Gold Rush,
Rush, nonetheless
nonetheless put
put some
some pressure
pressure on
on the
the existing
existing land
land syssysthe
tem. Speculation
Speculation in
in South
South Texas
Texas lands
lands previous
previous to
to and
and immediately
immediately folfoltem.
lowing the
the Treaty
Treaty of
of Guadalupe
Guadalupe Hidalgo
Hidalgo resulted
resulted in
in aa transfer
transfer of
of large
large
lowing
amounts of
of land
land into
into Anglo-American
Anglo-American hands
hands from
from the
the original
original MexiMexiamounts
can owners,
owners, aa process
process that
that accelerated
accelerated once
once the
the bulk
bulk of
of the
the claims
claims had
had
can
in the
the west,
west, claiming
claiming
been confirmed.
confirmed. At
At the
the same
same time,
time, new
new arrivals
arrivals in
been
lands under
under Republic
Republic of
of Texas
Texas certificates
certificates or
or making
making claims
claims under
under fedfedlands
the respective
respective govgoveral land
land programs
programs in
in California,
California, put
put pressure
pressure on
on the
eral
ernments to
to identify
identify the
the available
available public
public domain.
domain. It
It isis therefore
therefore not
not
ernments
surprising that,
that, though
though the
the methods
methods used
used in
in California
California and
and Texas
Texas difdifsurprising
fered, the
the results
results were
were similar.
similar. A
A large
large proportion
proportion of
of all
all claims
claims filed
filed rerefered,
ceived confirmation.
confirmation.
ceived
claims fairly,
fairly, not
not in
in order
order to
to protect
protect the
the
Texas needed
needed to
to adjudicate
adjudicate claims
Texas
rights of
of Hispanic
Hispanic landowners-though
landowners-though this
this was
was an
an espoused
espoused goal
goal of
of
rights
governnienl and
and all
all landowners from
from the
the
some-but to
to protect the
the government
some-but
from inaction.
inaction. Also,
Also,
overwhelming volume
volume of litigation
litigation sure
sure to
to stem
stem from
overwhelming
Texas lawmakers
lawmakers were
were astute
astute enough
enough to
to realize
realize that land interests
interests could
coulcl
Texas
be selectively
selectively protected without endangering the
the state's credibility.
credibility.
not be
57
Land
ArquisitiulI,
"Bowden,
Bowden, Spanish
SPn~rblrand
nirrl Mexican
~ldrxirtl~r
Ltrrrtl Grants
Grtli~tsill
i11 the
tlrr ChihuahlUlII
Chilr~rnlr~icrr~
Arqtrkiilurr 116.
I 16,
jnBox 135,
135, Folder
Foldcr 2,
2 , Spanish
Spanish Collection,
Collection, Texas
Texas General
Gene121Land
L:ulrl Office,
Othce, Austin.
Austin.
'"Box
Southwestern Historical Quarterly
Through
Through the
the Bourland and
and Miller
Miller Commission
Commission and
and subsequent
subsequenl claims
clailns
legislation,
Texas
avoided
many
of
the
difficulties
the
adjudication legislation, Texas avoided many of the difficulties the
United
United States
States Congress
Congress created
created for
for itself
itself in
in New Mexico
Mexico by refusing
refusing to
to
deal
deal with
with the
the Spanish
Spanish and
and Mexican land
land grant
grant question.
question.
Thus,
~ h u s the
the
, state's
state's lawmakers
lawmakers recognized and
and gave
gave validity
validity (if
(if only
only
to the
the Spanish
Spanish and
and Mexican legal
legal and
and cultural
cultural forms
forms that
that
grudgingly) to
grudgingly)
had
had shaped
shaped the
the look
look of
of the
the land
land in
in South
South Texas.
Texas. Having discharged
discharged
that
obligation, lawmakers
la~vmakersleft
left Mexican American titleholders
titleholders to
to dedethat obligation,
fend
in the
the dangerous,
dangerous,
fend themselves
themselves against
against the
the onrushing
onrushing land
land sharks
sharks in
and
for these
these new
new Texans
Texans uncharted,
u~lcharted,realm of
of the
the Anglo-American
Anglo-American
and for
is
another
story,
one
that
deserves
legal
system.
But
this
legal system. But this is another story, one that deserves aa complete
complete and
and
detailed
.
detailed analysis
analysis of
of its
its own.
own.