THE U.S. ARMY AND STILLMAN: "THE LAND DIDN'T BELONG TO ANYBODY..."

 

(Ed.'s Note: Ever since we were children, we have been told that when Gen. Zachary Taylor arrived on the site of present-day Brownsville, he found nothing but barren land and upon that land he built Fort Texas, afterwards named Ft. Brown for Major Jacob Brown, killed after being struck in the knee by a Mexican cannon ball that bounced off  a wall. Brown did die, but when the U.S. Army came upon the land, there was a prosperous rancho, growing cotton, sugar cane and beans, etc., and at least 12 "substantial" buildings and strong fencing. The U.S. entered into a rental agreement with its owner Miguel Salinas, who now lies buried in the Santa Rosalia Cemetery.

Army engineers used his fencing to fortify the earthworks, and then, to prevent Mexican soldiers from using the buildings as cover, they demolished them. Neither Salinas nor his heirs ever got paid for his land, the buildings or for the crops destroyed by the soldiers at Ft. Brown. Below is a record of the hearings before the U.S. House Committee on War Claims on the Salinas family claim, some 40 yeas after the government took their land. Then Charles Stillman and his lawyers tied up the title in court and eventually sold the land without clear title to establish the town. We thank Dr. Marie Theresa Hernandez Ramirez, Professor and Researcher of World Cultures and Literatures from the University of Houston for providing us with this document.)

By Juan Montoya

51st Congress, First Session

April 21, 1890.

Committee on War Claims

The Committee on War Claims, to whom was referred the bill (H. B. 3433) for the relief of the heirs of Miguel Salinas, have had the same under consideration, and respectfully report:

This bill was presented in the Fiftieth Congress, first session, and favorably reported from the Committee on War Claims. The report of that committee is concurred in and adopted by this committee. Miguel Salinas was the owner and occupant.of a large plantation on the Rio Grande, in Cameron County, Texas, and had been for twenty years prior to 1840. That year, in the month of March, the United States troops, commanded by General Zachary Taylor, encamped upon this plantation, which
was an exceedingly valuable one, and at this time, as in prior years, in a high state of cultivation. 

The lands were very extensive, and at the time of occupation by the Army, as above stated, had growing upon them very large crops of cotton, corn, sugar cane, beans, about half matured.

There were also twelve houses, and built of concrete brick, some of them being very large and commodious, and all of them substantial and serviceable. Three of these were the permanent residence of Miguel Salinas and his family, and the others were used by the servants and for store-houses. There was also a wind-mill, a large and very strong cattle-pen, a great amount of fencing in perfect condition and with upright posts, together with farming utensils and other belongings necessary for conducting the operations of so large a ranch.

The troops took possession of all the houses on the plantation, and on the 14th of April, 1846, Capt. G. H. Crossman, assistant quarter-master U. S. Army, rented seven of them, by contract with Miguel
Salinas, at $1.50 a day each, for as long a time as the Government thought proper to occupy them. This contract was approved by the commanding officer General General Zachary Taylor, and the original is now on file with the Comptroller's office; a copy herewith.

It was also further stipulated in the said contract that if any alterations were found necessary to be made while occupied by the Government, it would only be done with the consent of the owner, and should not detract from their value. A fort was built upon the plantation of said Miguel Salinas; and called Fort  (Texas), later Brown, after the officer in command. In order to render it bomb-proof, Assistant Quartermaster Captain Crossman ordered all the fences on the place hauled to the fort and used by Captain and Engineer Mansfield for that purpose. The work gave great protection to the troops, and part of the fencing was also used by them for fuel.

There was also one cattle pen or corral used by the troops, which was of the best material and strongly built. The houses were used for the storage of supplies for the troops, officers' quarters, hospital purposes, and quarters for the men who were not furnished with tents. In the attack upon Fort (Texas), Major Brown who was in charge of the fort, ordered the destruction of these houses as a matter of safety to our men who were then working on the fort.

This was done with the approval of General Taylor, who had previously given instructions to Major Brown, before the battle of Palo Alto was fought, to destroy these houses if he found they were in  anywise an impediment to the operations of the fort.

The occupancy by the United States Army of the plantation of the said Miguel Salinas, the building of Fort Brown thereon, the burning of his houses, together with the destruction of his crop, fences, and
corral, etc., nearly beggared him, and he was compelled to procure a home for himself and family in Matamoros, as everything on his plantation was swept away completely.

He was in undisputed possession of the said lands for twenty years previous to the Mexican War, and yet but $11.12 (and that amount was paid in pork by Captain G.H. Crossman) did he ever receive from the Government for or on account of rent of his houses or compensation for damages and loss of all his property.

While litigation has caused delay to determine ownership of several undivided interests of the grant of land of which his plantation is a part, and the Government has hitherto declined to pass on his accounts for rent notwithstanding its contract with the said Miguel Salinas, it is conclusively shown that the latter acquired his right by purchase and his claim against the United States has continuously remained unchallenged, by anyone.

At the close of the war with Mexico a permanent garrison was established on a portion of these grounds. In 1848 the Government refused the first-time payment of rent for the same, as there were numerous claimants for title. The contestants went into court, and the matter was not finally adjudicated until October, 1879, when time United States Supreme Court decreed in a favor of Cavazos (see volume 100, page 138, of United States Supreme Court Reports); and Miguel Salinas holds title to his land from Cavazos by Purchase. Salinas again presented this claim in 1849, only to be again advised that settlement of disputed title caused further delay. 

He made subsequent applications, but met with no success.

This claim was presented in 1849 to Quartermaster-General Thomas S. Jesup and in August of that year that officer wrote to Major Crossman, who made the contract with Salinas for the renting of the buildings requesting him to furnish information regarding this claim and others for rest of grounds.

After the receipt of the above report from Major Crossman, General Thomas S. Jesup (Quartermaster General) writes to Conrad, Secretary of War, under the date of August 13, 1852, as follows, in reference to this claim:

"As far as the public agents entered into contracts we are unquestionably bound in good faith. to fulfill  them, but the contracts were limited to a compensation of $1.50 a day for the houses and cattle-pen on the land when it was occupied and these contracts probably terminated with the destruction of the buildings; but, having rented them, it is a question whether we are not bound to pay for them, they having been destroyed by order of the commanding officer.

I submit a report of Major Crossman giving the facts in relationship to the original establishment of the troops upon the site and the contract with Mr. Salinas; also a report of Major Crossman in relation to the arrangement with Mr. (Charles) Stillman, whose title has merged in that of Mr. Cavazos."

The heirs of Salinas, being wholly unfamiliar with the English language, and having to depend upon the attorneys for Cavazos, who were also interested in the suits, and the incidental change of' counsel by death, removal from the country, and other circumstances, left claimants wholly at their mercy and the delay by the Government in the settlement of the accounts of the claimants is one which otherwise can be regarded than seriously unjust, and should be immediately remedied, as the title to the ownership of the various claimants to the land has been settled by a recent opinion of the Attorney General, and which pretext the Government has availed itself of heretofore refusing payment.

Then, in January 31, 1891, the Committee on Military Affairs contradicted the 1846 contract and earlier report by Quartermaster Crossman and the value of the Salinas ranch, buildings and improvements by stating that: 

(To read about the theft of Miguel Salinas' land by the U.S. Government, and later, by Charles Stillman, click on link below. The author, Sara C. Bronin, is a property law professor at Cornell University and a direct descendant of Miguel Salinas.)

https://www.latinobookreview.com/8203land-grab-the-untold-story-of-fort-brown-by-sara-c-bronin--latino-book-review.html