NOTES AND FRAGMENTS.

The Mexican Advocate.—A brief note on the Mexican Advocate appeared in Volume VII, p. 243, of the Quarterly. This note will now be supplemented by the following extracts from The Arkansas Gazette, a weekly contemporary of the Advocate, published at Little Rock. The earliest reference found was printed in the issue of the Gazette of September 9, 1829, and is a quotation from the Natchitoches (La.) Courier:

Extract of a letter from the Editor of the Mexican Advocate, at Nacogdoches, Texas, to a respectable gentleman of this town— “It is said Com. [David] Porter and Lorenzo de Zavalas ¹¹⁷ Ser. of Haciendas, [Minister of the Treasury,] have obtained a grant of Land of the Ayish Bayou, down as far as the Sea Coast.”

In the issue of September 23, 1829, appeared the following editorial notice:

A newspaper has been established at Nacogdoches, Texas, and is published in the Spanish and English language, by Milton Slocumb. ¹¹⁸

A third reference to the Mexican Advocate is contained in the following article, which was taken from its columns, and was printed in the Gazette of October 20, 1829:

Nacogdoches, Texas, Sept. 4.

By a letter from the interior we learn that an action has been fought near Cabo-Rojo, between the Mexicans and Gauchapines, in which the latter were defeated with the loss of 200 killed.

It is stated that Gen. Terran has taken command of the eastern division of the army, and that Col. Ahumada has marched with the Sattillo troops to join the main army. It is likewise stated that as the European Spaniards in Tampico, who had their time prolonged to settle their business were on the eve of sending $400,000 to the Spanish army, they were discovered and the money seized and confiscated.

Mex. Adv.

The date of the first number of the Advocate is fixed by these extracts on or about September 4, 1829. Perhaps it was a few days earlier. The article below, dated “Nacogdoches, Sept. 1,” may possibly have appeared in an earlier number. This article was printed in the St. Louis Beacon of Nov. 21, 1829. There is nothing in the Beacon to indicate whether it is original or copied. The points that suggested its appearance in the Advocate are: (1) the date; (2) the editorial we; (3) the almost verbatim reproduction in the New York Courier's notice ¹¹⁹ of the “first number” of the Advocate, of the second sentence in this article, beginning “Nacogdoches is situated in 31 deg. 42m N. L.” etc.; and (4) it contains facts that would have occurred only to one who wrote on the spot described.

Nacogdoches, Sept. 1.

There are probably few places of the size of Nacogdoches, of which more has been said and of which less is known at a distance; we shall therefore give a short description of it. Nacogdoches is situated in 31 deg. 42m. N. L. on the main road from Natchitoches to San Felipe de Austin and Bejar. The situation of the town is beautiful, it being on an eminence just above the junction of two beautiful creeks, the Nana on the east and the Banito on the west—the waters of which are as clear as crystal.

Few places have undergone more changes and been the seat of more or greater imaginary undertakings for the benefit of mankind and the projectors, if all they have said could be strictly relied on, than Nacogdoches; in it new imaginary republics have been conceived and brought to mature perfection—new empires, with all the reverence shown the gallant founders which has since been magnanimously conferred on the exploits of Francis Berrian, ¹²⁰ and for a short time the residence of the youthful hero, who at the time had the honor of belonging to the staff of a young Spanish nobleman. From the time of the commencement of the first revolution in this section of country which gave birth to the fame of that pink of chivalry, Francis Berrian, there has been no less than seven different flags displayed at different times, with the usual formalities in cases of conquests.

Previous to the first expedition which passed through this place, and of which General Gutterez was appointed commander, but afterwards superseded in his command by the traitor Toledo, through intrigue, Nacogdoches was a village of considerable importance; since then it has passed through every vicissitude of fortune, and at the time it was evacuated by the Fredonians only contained five or six houses, and one small store. Within less than three years about one hundred and twenty-five houses have been erected, of rough construction; many of them, however, are very comfortable, and the country in the vicinity is settling very rapidly with inhabitants, principally from the United States of America. The inhabitants of the town probably amount to about 630, exclusive of the military, of whom there is 269 stationed here under command of Colonel Pedras. It likewise contains 8 stores, a post office, tannery, with a considerable shoe manufactory attached to it; 1 saddler's shop, 3 blacksmith shops, 1 silver and gunsmith's shop, 1 hatter, 2 bakers, 1 confectioner, 2 tailors, 2 wagon makers, and 2 public houses.

How long the Mexican Advocate maintained an existence is not known. The fact that Mr. Slocumb is still set down as a printer in the Padron for 1831 may or may not aid in determining this fact. Certain it is, however that Nacogdoches is entitled to the honor of having the second as well as the first newspaper to be published within the present limits of Texas; for the first number of The Texas Gazette, published at San Felipe de Austin, did not appear until about September 29, 1829. ¹²¹ Niles' Register, of Nov. 28, 1829, expressed this fact in the paragraph below, taken from “Interesting Items”:

Texas.—Mr. G. B. Cotton is about to commence a newspaper at St. Felipe de Austin, in Texas. A newspaper has been recently commenced at Nacogdoches.

E. W. Winkler.