GLO Working To Preserve 1836 Goliad Letter

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Later this week, we’ll celebrate Texas Independence Day. And, today happens to be the same day that William B. Travis wrote his famous letter from the Alamo that begins, “To The People of Texas & All Americans in the world.”

But, there is another, though less famous, letter penned that day the General Land Office is working to preserve.  This is one of those stories that, as a huge history buff (complete with a degree with the same major), facinates me to no end.
John C. Logan, a Kentuckian fighting at Goliad, wrote a letter to a friend that describes other events of the Texas Revolution:

Logan’s letter was more personal, and heavily peppered with misspellings and grammatical errors. “Most Respected Friend,” he writes. “I again take the liberty of adressing a few lines to you to let you know That I am well at Present whoping that these Few lines may find you in the same.”

But Logan was not fine. He writes that his company has just returned from San Patricio and was preparing to move toward Bexar and the Alamo. They have had a “hard time” on the Texas frontier, he writes, and they have had no corn nor flour for their rations. They have eaten only beef.

“We are all most naked as we are cuting Up tent cloth to make us Panteloons & Every man is his own Taylor in this Army & a good many of us are bare footed,” he writes. “Worst of all the the Schooner that was bringing provision & clothes has been wrecked.”

The men are fatigued, he continues, and in what was clearly a moment of despair, he writes, “all for the chance of us tripping up a few mexicans.”

Logan, a member of the Louisville Volunteers, says he was planning on coming home, back to the United States, but his plans have changed. “There is a force from mexico of about 7000 men marching to retake this Country again & our whole force at this time dont Exceed 800 men but we are willing to meet them when Ever the arive.”

Logan’s letter is made more poignant by the knowledge that he was serving with Col. James Fannin. On Palm Sunday, March 27, a little more than a month after he wrote his friend, Logan, along with more than 300 other soldiers, was executed in what became known as the Goliad Massacre.

Logan’s name could have drifted away from history, but his letter allows it to remain a part of the public record. He will never have the identity of a Fannin, but he won’t be lost either.

This is one of 35 million documents in the GLO archives (yes, thirty five MILLION) that are important parts of Texas history and are in dire need of preservation:

Patterson is putting a spotlight on Logan’s letter because it is one of 35 million documents in the Land Office archives that need professional conservation. Those documents include maps, land grants, surveys and field notes.

They bear the signatures of Stephen F. Austin, Jim Bowie, and others. Patterson is urging all Texans to help preserve these documents by donating to Save Texas History this March and honor 171 years of Texas independence.

The Texas Land Office can take donations online, or people may purchase prints of historical maps housed in the state archives.

So, if you have some change to spare, please head on over to Save Texas History and make your donation today. You’ll be glad you did, and you’ll be helping preserve an important part of Texas History.

Written by Vince Leibowitz

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Vince Leibowitz posted this article under Texas History on Saturday, February 24th, 2007 at 11:08 am You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a comment. Pinging is currently not allowed. View Technorati Linkbacks.