Brooks: Diplomacy and the Borderlands


to its logical conclusion, a move which Pizarro had advocated but
had not been authorized to execute.
 Pizarro left a long instruction for Onis on the table. His succes-
sor revised it in some minor details of wording and sent it along,
dated October 10." Irujo did make one important change, however,
in telling Onis to set 1804 as the date after which the Florida land
grants should be invalid, instead of 1803. Pizarro later charged
that this was done in order to include some grants which Irujo had
obtained in the region." However that may be, the instruction was
so worded as to convey the worthy idea that to insist on the validity
of the very recent grants would be to favor the interests of in-
dividuals at the expense of obtaining a better bargain for the good
of the nation. This contributes to the opinion that it was not the
intention of the Spanish foreign office to deceive the United States
in the matter of the land grants, whatever machinations the cama-
rilla may have sponsored. The despatch emphasized two things:
that Onis was to be not too particular over the satisfaction ob-
tained for the Florida invasion, and that he was to achieve the best
arrangement he could in the west. If the United States would
agree to turn over the seized territory just long enough to permit
the Spanish flag to be raised previous to the cession, for appear-
ance' sake, further indemnification was not to be demanded. With
respect to Texas, the minister was to obtain the Sabine as the
boundary line if possible, but again he was told that he could go
as far west as the Colorado if that were absolutely necessary to
avoid a break, recognition of the insurgents, or an invasion of the
Provincias Internas. North of the Red River, Onis was told simply
to settle as best he could, preferably running the boundary along
the Missouri to its source and thence to the ocean as far north as
possible.
 This letter reached Washington on January 4. Onis thought,
 however, that it would be of no help to him because it did not au-
 thorize him to treat on the basis of Adams' "ultimatum" of October
 31. He indicated the importance of the boundary question at this
 time when he wrote:
 I do not believe that [thee instructions will further matter, because they do
 not anthorise me to take for limits the Bed river to its source, from there the
 rest of the Snowymountains to the 41st degree, and that line west to the Paede,
 and it is doubtful if this government will yield an inh from these limit.