Autographed Letter Dated February 23, 1870. San Antonio, Texas - Indian Problems

HARRISON

Publication: Written and sent from San Antonio, 1870, San Antonio

A 4-page autographed letter, written in purple ink and dated February 23, 1870. An interesting and "newsy" letter covering a number of subjects such as the Spanish language newspaper "is not published any more, but I send you an old copy for the Spanish. We have two daily ... weekly, etc., & one evening paper. Also comments further "You will see by the Express how near the Indians came to us this last moon. They are getting very bold of late, since they meet with little or no resistance, in their raids for horses. They seldom kill persons, unless they come upon them accidentally & are afraid of being informed on. The Govt don’t keep one tenth enough troops here to protect the frontier, & most of these are negroes. The only way the frontier can be protected is to raise about two hundred rangers a day, arm & equip them well & send them after the Indians, for the soldiers know nothing about the habits & warfare of the Indians & he must be hunted down in his own way. General Carleton commander of this post, sent out a scout after the Indians refused, but long before the information got to Carleton, the Indians were off & it was a mere farce, his sending out a scout. Today is a lovely day, a little warm but pleasant. We have the door & windows open. The winter has been a very mild in this month. We have had ---- of ice here, half a dozen times, but did not remain long. All of the gardens around here look so pretty - there are a great many Germans here & they are very energetic especially without ---. Exercised a little on a horizontal bar the other day, the first time for me over a year & naturally my muscles are very stiff today. My judgement was rather for you to remain where you are & glad it coincided with that so --- home. Your loving bro Harrison. My health is improving slowly." The letter is in fine condition and is housed in a 4-point cloth case with a leather spine label and titles stamped in gilt.

Inventory Number: 52730