Excerpt from A History of Texas, Vol. 2 of 5: From Wilderness to Commonwealth That it was the intention of Alaman that this pro vision should stop American immigration altogether, there can be little doubt. But in practice American immigration continued. In the first place, it was not difficult to cross the border without being Observed, and many Americans came into Texas at points remote from those guarded by Mexican troops. But, in addition to this, Austin took the position that the law did not apply to immigration to his colony, and the Mexican officials, faced with the peculiar difficulties which would arise from any attempt to interfere with Austin's contracts, agreed to this interpretation. It was Austin's policy at all times to Obtain his ends with the least friction, and while he would not have supinely submitted to an out-and-out cancellation of his contracts, which would have resulted in great loss to him, Instead of registering a protest, he smilingly assumed that the Mexicans had no intention Of interfering with him; and the authori ties On their part smilingly assured him that such was the case. But it was necessary that there should be an appearance Of legality, and Austin's colonists' would have to be introduced in accordance with the law. SO an arrangement was worked out. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.