In 1830, a dispute over the boundaries between the Texas, then a state of Mexico and the United States territory of Arkansas threatened the "quiet of that frontier". The dispute occurred when a Mexican land agent or Empresario distributed a land grant to a settler from the England for land that was neither under the jurisdiction of Mexico nor the United States. Jackson reported that instructions were given to both the Governor of Arkansas and to Mexico's minster to the United States to resolve the issue peacefully. This was 6 years prior to Texas gaining its independence from Mexico, and 15 years before our war with Mexico.
In 1821, Spain was pushed out of Texas and for a short period Texas was in the hands of Mexico. At the time, most of the peoples in the area were natives with only about 2,500 settlers in all of Texas. Under Spanish rule, foreign immigration was forbidden for much of the country. In order to increase the population along the frontier, Mexico established what is known as the "General Colonization Law". This law allowed foreigners (mostly from the United States) to gain title to land and be exempt from taxes for ten years. Under these laws, the foreigners had to take an oath to uphold federal and state constitutions, practice Christianity and lead a moral and upright life. To aid in the distribution of land grants, Mexico established a system of empresarios or agents who allocated the land and oversaw the enforcement of the laws of Mexico. These agents were compensated with land and laborers based upon the number of families they settled. Technically, slavery was not allowed, but the laws were so vague that it mostly just prohibited the slave trade. Nevertheless by 1830, concerns over Mexico's attitude towards slavery and fear that abolition might become the law held back many citizens of the United States from making the move.
In 1830, another concern dealt a blow to the colonization of Texas along the Arkansas border. While surveying the land that was to be handed over to a Scottish settler by the name of Arthur Goodall Wavell, a dispute rose up over the southwestern boundary line between Arkansas and Texas. According to Adams–Onís Treaty concluded in 1819 which authorized the purchase of Florida from Spain, the border between Arkansas ran along the Sabine River from the Gulf of Mexico Northward to the Red River. After Mexico's independence, the United States and Mexico entered negotiations to accept this line as the border between Mexico and the United States. In 1828, a new treaty was signed, but due to delays in the ratification process, the treaty reached Washington too late. Because Mexico and the United States failed to agree on the boundary location of where the Sabine River and the Red River, a section of the land east of the Sabine river was left in dispute. The United States tried to clarify the boundary lines, but after passing in the House died in Senate. As of 1830, the land remained in dispute with neither Mexico, nor the United States having legal jurisdiction.
Wavell appointed Benjamin Rush Milam as an agent on his behalf to look over his affairs and ensure that the land was properly granted. Milam contacted the Governor John Pope of Arkansas (which then included Louisiana) to help with gaining authorization of his land grant, but Governor Pope turned the issue over to the Secretary of State Martin Van Buren. Van Buren wrote back to Governor Pope that President Jackson regretted this entire affair, but would rely on the Governor to take conciliatory measures to avoid any clash with the Mexican government. Secretary Van Buren also, contacted the Mexican Minister José Maria Tornél to contest the actives of Mr. Milam, stating that he was acting against the advice of Governor Pope. Van Buren asked the Mexican government to suspend the actions of Mr. Milam. Tornél responded that Van Buren order Pope not to resort to any violence until the "Treaty of Limits" was to be ratified at the next session of congress. At this point, Van Buren asked that Anthony Butler, the United States minister at Mexico City visit the Mexican government to share the details of what Van Buren considered serious evils.
In President Andrew Jackson's 1830 State of the Union Address, he acknowledged that the "harmony" of our relations with Mexico might be "disturbed by the acts of certain claimants" over what Jackson described "Mexican grants, of territory which had hitherto been under our jurisdiction". Jackson shared that instructions were delivered to the governor of Arkansas and the officers in command of Texas in hopes that the peaceful state of our frontier would be preserved until a final border line could be obtained.
"There was reason to fear in the course of the last summer that the harmony of our relations might be disturbed by the acts of certain claimants, under Mexican grants, of territory which had hitherto been under our jurisdiction. The cooperation of the representative of Mexico near this Government was asked on the occasion and was readily afforded. Instructions and advice have been given to the governor of Arkansas and the officers in command in the adjoining Mexican State by which it is hoped the quiet of that frontier will be preserved until a final settlement of the dividing line shall have removed all ground of controversy."
In February of 1831, the Mexican government ordered a suspension of Milam's activities until April 15, 1831 when a commercial treaty was signed between the United States and Mexico. Unfortunately, the treaty still did not resolve the boundary issue.
Four years later, the boundary issue was still not resolved because Mexico was mired in civil war. In Jackson's 1834 State of the Union Address he announced that Mexico met with our chargé d'affaires in December 1833 and were ready to add an additional article to the treaty that would allow for the boundary lines to be defined by the surveyors.
"The Government of Mexico made known in [1833] December last the appointment of commissioners and a surveyor on its part to run, in conjunction with ours, the boundary line between its territories and the United States, and excused the delay for the reasons anticipated -- the prevalence of civil war. The commissioners and surveyors not having met within the time stipulated by the treaty, a new arrangement became necessary, and our chargé d'affaires was instructed in [1833] January to negotiate in Mexico an article additional to the pre-existing treaty. This instruction was acknowledged, and no difficulty was apprehended in the accomplishment of that object. By information just received that additional article to the treaty will be obtained and transmitted to this country as soon as it can receive the ratification of the Mexican Congress."
References
Presidency.ucsb.edu. (2019). Second Annual Message | The American Presidency Project. [online] Available at: https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/second-annual-message-3 [Accessed 23 Jan. 2019].
Presidency.ucsb.edu. (2019). Sixth Annual Message | The American Presidency Project. [online] Available at: https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/sixth-annual-message-2 [Accessed 5 Mar. 2020].
Amsler, R. (2019). General Arthur G. Wavell: A Soldier of Fortune in Texas on, The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, pgs. 186-209 [online] Jstor.org. Available at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/30243748?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents [Accessed 23 Jan. 2019].
Tshaonline.org. (2019). LAND GRANTS | The Handbook of Texas Online| Texas State Historical Association (TSHA). [online] Available at: https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/mpl01 [Accessed 23 Jan. 2019].
En.wikipedia.org. (2019). General Colonization Law. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Colonization_Law [Accessed 23 Jan. 2019].
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