Feb 04, 2016 - Sale 2404

Sale 2404 - Lot 248

Price Realized: $ 1,000
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 1,500 - $ 2,500
(TEXAS.) Comision Pesquisidora de la Frontera del Norte: Noticia sobre algunos sirvientes prófugos. 109 manuscript leaves, most of them individual documents, bound in one volume with many folded to fit. Folio, contemporary 1/4 sheep, minor wear; a few documents with wear to fore-edge. Vp, 1873
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Additional Details

The porous border between the United States and Mexico is not a new issue. In the 1870s it was a great concern to both countries, but especially to Mexico. Bandits and Indians from the north often raided towns in northern Mexico. A related concern, documented here, was the flight of thousands of servants from Nuevo Leon and Coahuila into Texas. In the eyes of the government, these servants were in default of their legal and financial obligations in Mexico, and sometimes stole from their employers as they left.
These concerns were published in "Reports of the Committee of Investigation Sent in 1873 by the Mexican Government to the Frontier of Texas," translated into English in 1875. The problem of disappearing servants is addressed specifically on pages 402-3 of the report. To back up its claims, the published report cites data from "Cuaderno no. 9 of vouchers, pp. 1-108"--the present volume. These manuscript notes offer immense detail on these servants which does not appear in the published report, including not only annual summaries, but also extensive lists of individual fugitives and their obligations--an important source on immigrants to Texas who might otherwise be difficult to document.