At the beginning of 1832, Austin was so concerned about the future of Texas that he dictated in this January 10, 1832, letter his final words to his fellow Texans, that should he die in a hazardous looming journey: "Be calm, be prudent, but firm and united." Austin also fulminates against the Law of April 6, 1830 which sought to halt immigration from the United States and canceled empresario grants, conditional gifts of land from Mexico to settlers, including Austin's father, Moses Austin. He maintains that Texas should "form a state of the Mexican Confederation," but adds, "I will adhere firmly to this opinion unless driven by dire necessity from it."
Also included in the sale is W.W. Heartsill's privately printed Civil War journal. Described by Jenkins as "the rarest and most coveted book on the American Civil War," it offers a firsthand account of the conflict from the perspective of a Confederate soldier. It was personally hand-printed by Heartsill who pasted in 61 albumen portraits of his compatriots in the war.
An additional lot features Union soldier Martin Luther Moore's correspondence archive. Comprising 80 letters, it includes extensive descriptions of Confederate Commander John Salmon 'Rip' Ford's activities along the Rio Grande as he advanced toward Fort Brown with his 'Cavalry of the West'. Moore's letters are particularly significant because they trace Ford's movements.
