Muse Collection
relating to Mexico, Texas, and California

The Muse Collection relating to Mexico, Texas, and California was acquired by the Benson Latin American Collection in 1968 from Benjamin Muse, Jr., a bookdealer with Parnassus Book Service in Yarmouth Port, Massachusetts. The materials were described by the Benson's Mexican Archives Project in July 1994.

The physical extent of the Muse Collection is seven inches. Its materials are in Spanish.

The suggested citation is "Muse Collection Relating to Mexico, Texas, and California, 1830-1844, Benson Latin American Collection, General Libraries, University of Texas at Austin."

Letters and official communications pertaining to Mexican military and governmental affairs during the years 1830 to 1844, especially to Mexican internal affairs during 1831-1832, the Texas Revolution in 1835-1836, and events in Veracruz in 1839.

In Series I, documents from 1831 are primarily about internal rebellions in Mexico and largely concern military efforts to subdue them; many relate to Nicolás Bravo, who commanded defending forces, and Vicente Guerrero and Juan Álvarez, who led rebel forces. Items from 1832 relate almost exclusively to the Veracruz garrison, commanded by Tomás Illanes, and its need for money and supplies. Materials from 1843 and 1844 pertain to Pedro de Ampudia; they deal mostly with administrative matters during his tenure as Comandante General in Tabasco but include his 24-page account of Francisco Sentmanat's 1844 attack on Tabasco and Ampudia's response to it. Only two items date from 1830.

In Series II, materials dated 1835 are about the Texas Revolution; they often concern Mexican generals Martín Perfecto de Cos and Domingo de Ugartechea. Documents dated 1836 and 1837 pertain to Mexican plans for an invasion of Texas and related military matters, to the unsettled situation in California, and to an expedition to San Blas, California, to be led by José Urréa. Items in Series III illustrate the aftermath of the 1838 French invasion at Veracruz; they concern the fortress of San Juan de Ulúa, the treaty ending hostilities, an investigation into a loss of money at the Veracruz residence of Antonio López de Santa Anna, and the Comandancia General of Veracruz (headed at this time by Guadalupe Victoria and his successor, Francisco Toro).

The Muse Collection was processed in July 1994 as part of the Mexican Archives Project. Its documents have been rearranged into series by topic (in essence into a chronological arrangement which falls naturally into topics), then chronologically (not numerically) within folders. This arrangement is fully expressed in the attached container list. The series are:

I. Mexican internal affairs, 1830-1832 and 1843-1844.

II. Political and military affairs in Texas and California, 1835-1837.

III. The French in Veracruz, 1839 (aftermath of the Pastry War).

Please ignore all item numbers, whether stamped or pencilled, which appear on the documents; also to be ignored are all notations of folder numbers. Such markings are obsolete with respect to arrangement.

The item numbers can be used to access item cards prepared before the Muse Collection was processed by the Mexican Archives Project. Because the item numbers are not unique, however, the item card for a specific document can be found only by the combined use of the item number and either a chronological or alphabetical approach. To go to a specific document from an item card requires reliance primarily on the date of the document. The date should be used to select a folder from the container list, within which one may find the item by its date.

Alamán, Lucas
Ampudia, Pedro de
Austin, Stephen F.
Bowie, James
Bravo, Nicolás
Bustamante, Anastasio
Cos, Martín Perfecto de
Filisola, Vicente
García Conde, Francisco
Gritten, Eduardo
Guerrero, Vicente
Illanes, Tomás
Inclán, Ignacio de
Paredes y Arrillaga, Mariano (one item only)
Santa Anna, Antonio López de
Ugartechea, Domingo de
Urréa, José
Victoria, Guadalupe

Return to Mexican Archives Project-Index