Garcia Conde, Francisco: [Comanche-Mexico Wars]:

$2,750 · Offered by William Reese Company

EL GOBERNADOR Y COMANDANTE GENERAL DEL DEPARTAMENTO, A SUS HABITANTES. CHIHUAHUAENSES: COLOCADO SOBRE UNA ALTURA DESDE DONDE SE DESCUBRE TODO EL DEPARTAMENTO Y SE DIVISAN A LA VEZ SUS ECSIGENCIAS Y ... An exceptionally rare broadside set in the context of the devastation of the Comanche-Mexico wars, urging Chihuahuaenses to take up arms to fight invaders a scant few months before the ill-fated Texan Santa Fe expedition would cross their territory.Comanche raiders had been troubling northern Mexico for some years, but the size and severity of these raids increased in the middle of the century. In 1840, the Council House Massacre (where Texas slaughtered thirty-five Comanche chiefs who had come to attend peace talks) precipitated some of the bloodiest fighting, and the state of Chihuahua was powerless to curb the resulting loss of life and livestock. This broadside, issued by Governor Francisco Garcia Conde on January 8, 1841, represents a desperate bid to rally his citizens to their own defense. He pleads, in part (our translation):"Four hundred savages, spewed forth from the Mogollón, have come to fill our measure of calamity; and what, in such circumstances, are the recourses of the Government? What are the methods the laws have given to its authorities to repress such violence and to heal such grievous wounds? I will say it frankly: they are insufficient for even a tepid defense of your interests...until soon will come the day when they are none...."This is the fate I wish

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