CHAPTER XXIX.

RETROSPECTIVE GLANCE at the GREAT MISSISSIPPI VALLEY--character, appearance and natural productions--conclusion. 266

APPENDIX.

MICHIGAN, 285--population, 285--face of the country, 286--Wayne county, 292--Monroe county, 294--Washtenaw county, 295--Macomb county, 297--Oakland county, 299--St. Clair county, 301--St. Joseph county, 302--Cass county, 304--Berrien county, 306--Lapeer and Saginaw counties, 308--Shiawassee county, 309--Calhoun county, 309--Kalamazoo county, 310--Branch and Hillsdale counties, 311--Lenawee county, 312--Barry, Eaton and Ingham counties on grand river, 312.

TEXIAN REVOLUTION.

FIRST CAMPAIGN.

Introductory remarks, 323--causes of the war, 324--parallel case, 326--Col. Austin released and sent to Texas, 329--capture of the armed schooner Correo, 330--first battle on land at Gonzales, 331--capture of Goliad, 333--Col. Milam, 335--army marched towards San Antonio, 339--San Antonio besieged, 340--Commissioners to the United States appointed, 340--San Antonio stormed and taken, 341--the brave Col. Milam killed, and sketch of his life, 342.

Gen. Mexia's expedition, 345--28 men shot at Tampico, 347--volunteers from the United States--Col. Stanley's regiment, 348--General Council convened, and citizens of Goliad make a declaration of independence, 349--state of affairs in Mexico, decree of Santa Anna, 351--embargo laid, 352--Indians called to aid Santa Anna, 353--flag of Texas, 354--post-offices and mail routes, 354--Mexicans preparing for another campaign, 355--situation of Texas, 356.

SECOND CAMPAIGN.

The Mexican army arrive in Texas, commanded by Santa Anna in person, 358--Situation of San Antonio, 359--capture and massacre of Col. Johnson's party, 360--second attack upon the fort, 361--the fort attacked at midnight, taken and the garrison all slain, 362--Gen. Cos, 365--Declaration of Independence, 366--officers of the government, 368--Goliad abandoned, and Col. Fanning party attacked in the prairie, 369--Col. Fanning surrenders, and his party massacred, 370.

Gen. Houston retreats to the Brazos, 371--the inhabitants become alarmed and flee, 371--massacre at Copano, 372--skirmish at sea, 372--Gen. Gaines marches to the frontier of Texas, 372--Indians on the western prairies, 373--CAPTURE OF SANTA ANNA, 375--the Independence of Texas certain, 378--Texian Independence agitated in U.S. Congress, 378--Table of the Chief Towns in Texas and distances from San Felipe, 380.

ADVERTISEMENT.

The public approbation of this work, so fully manifested by a rapid and entire sale of the first edition, has induced the publishers to issue another, much enlarged and improved edition. The broad expanse of country, stretching from the Alleghany mountains to the Pacific ocean, much of which is unsurveyed, unsettled and unexplored, is an interesting portion of the United States. It is believed, there are two hundred million acres of public lands yet unsurveyed in Wisconsin Territory--fifty millions in Michigan--and 800 millions in Missouri, Mississippi, and Arkansas. To all these, are to be added the illimitable tracts, hardly yet trodden by the foot of civilized man, which lie in the unpeopled immensity, on both sides of the rocky mountains. The value of this vast domain, at the minimum government price, defies all calculation. What a source of revenue for the present and the future!

But when the boundless resources that now lie hidden in its hills and mountains shall have become developed--when the vast plains shall have been settled--and towns, villages and farm houses arise in the lonely wilderness, and the teeming soil be cultivated--who then will be able to estimate the value of this great territory of the West? In ten years, the West will have a majority in the United States Congress; in a century, a large portion of it will contain a population as dense, perhaps, as that of the Atlantic States. Public attention, within a few years, has been directed to this section of our country--emigration has received a new impulse--government lands are sought for with avidity, and the whole country is rapidly settling. To the emigrant, speculator, and indeed, the whole people of the United States as joint owners of the public domain, any book giving information upon this subject, must be acceptable and of real value. The publishers, therefore, anticipate a rapid sale of the present edition.

TRIP TO THE WEST AND TEXAS.