alt=A 7-4 vote, resulting in the relocation of the Texas Capital from Houston to Austin.|thumb|A map of senatorial districts of Texas during the 3rd session, showing the results of the vote to relocate the capital. Orange denotes for (Move) and green (Stay), while red means that the Senator from that district was absent. Districts in gray show land not claimed by a district or an undefined border.

The Texas Archive War was an 1842 dispute over an attempted move of the Republic of Texas national archives from Austin to Houston and, more broadly, over President Sam Houston's efforts to re-establish Houston as the capital of Texas.

Background

The Republic of Texas was formed in 1836. As the Texas Revolution continued, the papers that documented the workings of the interim government accompanied government officials as they evacuated to various towns to stay in front of the Mexican Army. After the war ended in April, Columbia became the nation's capital city, and the archives were located there. The center of government and the archives were then moved to Houston after it was legislated to be the capital of Texas on December 15, 1836.

thumb|upright|left|President [[Mirabeau B. Lamar moved the archives to Austin]]

In 1839, Mirabeau B. Lamar became President of Texas. Under his influence, the Texas Congress authorized the establishment of a planned city to serve as the seat of government. The new city, Austin, was at the edge of the frontier, near several hostile native tribes, with no easy way to get supplies.

The opposition, led by former President Sam Houston, wanted the government to remain near the current population center, along the Gulf Coast.

Vásquez retreated after a few days. Sam Houston may not have known of that, and on March 10, he ordered George Washington Hockley, Secretary of War, to move the archives to Houston. As justification, he cited the part of the Constitution of the Republic of Texas that stated, "The president and heads of departments shall keep their offices at the seat of government, unless removed by the permission of Congress, or unless, in case of emergency in time of war, the public interest may require their removal." On March 16, the committee of vigilance resolved that removing the archives was against the law. It formed a patrol at Bastrop to search every wagon and to seize any government records found. Sam Houston's private secretary, W.D. Miller, wrote to him that Austin residents "would much rather take their rifles to prevent a removal [of the archives] than to fight Mexicans." To resolve the issue, the president called a special session of Congress, which convened in Houston on June 27, 1842. Congress took no action to move the capital. On December 9, Senator Greer proposed "A Bill to provide for the safety of the National Archives." The men were encouraged to raise a small troop on the premise of conducting an excursion against the native tribes and then to secure the archives quickly and to transport them.

Smith and his men left quickly and headed northeast to avoid the men patrolling the road through Bastrop. Their progress was slow since a downpour made roads almost impassable for the already slowly-moving oxen.

In Austin, Captain Mark Lewis gathered a group of men to retrieve the archives. Some of the pursuers had no horses, and some had little or no weaponry.

Aftermath

The Texas House of Representatives formed a committee to investigate the attempted transferral of the archives. The committee admonished President Houston for his actions in trying to move the capital from Austin without the approval of Congress. A Senate committee reported that they did not agree that Austin should be the capital, but without an immediate threat to the city, Houston had no legal reason to move the records. In 1843, the Senate voted that the archives should be moved if there was not peace with Mexico. The vote was again tied, but this time Burleson cast his deciding vote in favor of the bill. The Texas House rejected it. Nevertheless, the legislature and government offices continued to run from Washington-on-the-Brazos. Former president Lamar received a letter in March 1843 that said the town of Austin was almost deserted; most businesses were closed, but the archives were still present.

References

Sources

  • Texas State Library, Texas Treasures - The Archives War