Sir: The commissioners sent by me to the Rio Grande have reported that the territory of Texas has been invaded. The banditti recruit their forces and gain supplies in the face of the authorities of Matamoras, and they are unable to restrain them. The steamer Ranchero was fired into from the Mexican side of the river on the third (3d) instant. The Texans thereupon crossed the river with sixty men, and, after an engagement with some two hundred banditti, repulsed them, with a loss of twenty-five or thirty of the enemy. The immediate interposition of the federal arm is besought. I have used all necessary caution and prudence, and may now act, upon the facts before me. Unless prompt measures are adopted by the federal government, circumstances may impel a course on the part of Texas which she desires to avoid. Texas cannot be invaded with impunity. If thrown upon her own resources, she will not only resist, but adopt measures to prevent a recurrence of the outrage.
A reply is respectfully asked, stating the decision of the department. I would request that that this despatch be submitted to his excellency President Buchanan.
The report of the commissioners will be sent by mail.
I have the honor to be,
Sam Houston.
Hon. John B. Floyd.
A telegram in Difficulties on Southwestern Border, House Documents, Volume 126; Volume 128, United States House of Representatives, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1860
During the 12 years following the Mexican-American War there were present on the frontiers of Texas and Mexico many factors that tended to create disturbances. The topography of the country, the sparsity and general character of its population, the lack of an extradition treaty and of sufficient national authority, wild Indians of uncertain abode, the Mexican tariff system, all caused friction and gave encouragement to lawlessness which not only retarded the development of the region but often threatened to interrupt friendly relations between the two republics. [Border Troubles along the Rio Grande, 1848-1860, The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Vol. 23, No. 2 (OCTOBER, 1919)]
