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THE
TREATIES OF VELASCO
by Archie P. McDonald, PhD |
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are all aware that the Battle of
San Jacinto effectively ended the Texas Revolution in the Texan's favor,
mostly because it resulted in the capture of Mexico's leader, Antonio Lopez
de Santa Anna. Hoping to save his life, Santa Anna agreed to order his troops,
about 5,000 of them and more than enough to have defeated the few hundred victors
at San Jacinto, to return to Mexico.
Contrary to what was best for Mexico,
they did so. That left Santa Anna in the custody of the Texans, and many still
wanted to kill him. But General Sam Houston, and later Interim President
David G. Burnett, chose negotiation instead of revenge for the massacres
at the Alamo and Goliad.
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The
"negotiations" that Santa Anna accept, began on the battlefield,
then moved to Velasco,
located on the lower Brazos River. The Treaty of Velasco, or more accurately
the treaties of Velasco, for there were two of them, were concluded on May
14, 1836.
In the public treaty, Santa Anna agreed that all
hostilities would cease; that he would not resume fighting in the future; that
all Mexican troops in Texas would return home; that all Texan prisoners would
be released; and that the treaty would be binding on General Vicente Filisola,
then commanding Mexican soldiers in Texas. Burnet
agreed that Santa Anna would be released and return to Vera Cruz as soon as possible.
A secret treaty turned out to be more important. By its terms,
Santa Anna agreed to work for the recognition of Texas independence by
Mexico's new government when he returned home, and most importantly, that the
Rio Grande would be the boundary between Mexico
and Texas.
That river had never been a boundary
before. If anything, Anglo settlement ended at the Nueces
River, which was a boundary between Coahuilla and Texas
when they were joined in Mexican statehood. Remember that the Rio Grande does
not stop in El Paso through
central New Mexico to headwaters in the San Juan Mountains of southwestern Colorado.
That meant that all of what we recognize as Texas
today, plus half of New Mexico, and by projecting a line north of the San Juans
to the Adams-Onis Treaty line, half
of Colorado and some of Wyoming, were all in Texas!
Texas was whittled
to its present borders through the Compromise of 1850, but for a time, it was
a really big place.
All
Things Historical August 3, 2004 Column
A syndicated column
in over 70 East Texas newspapers
This column is provided as a public service
by the East Texas Historical Association. Archie P. McDonald is director of the
Association and author of more than 20 books on Texas. | |
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