Citizen Governor of the State, Victoria City to A copy. CAYETANO ROMERO, Secretary. Washington, D. C. , June 12, 1884, February 15, 1884

As the Government will, acquaint itself by the inclosures that I have the honor to annex, a party of fifty men, coming from the State of Texas, and headed by W. W. Bohrman and O. W. Brewerton, took possession, on the 20th day of January last, of the island of Morteritos, in the Rio Bravo del Norte, an island in the possession of its owners, residents of this city, and appertaining to the territory of Mexico on account of its having remained on the right of the larger arm and deepest channel of the Rio at the fixing of the limits of the two nations by the treaties of 1848 and 1854, that established as the dividing line between the two Republics at the parallel of the 31° 47′ latitude north, the deepest channel of the river where there was more than one channel, as it was at that time.

The invaders on taking possession of said island drove away with threats the owners who were found sowing the ground. They cut down and carried off timber, they scattered over the island, destroying the fences and buildings that were there, made by the owners, residents of this city. A recent change made in the channel of the Rio by the swelling of the waters has given occasion for the event, because, owing to this change in the basin, the island of Morteritos, that was, at the date of the treaties of limits on the right of the larger arm and deepest channel of the Rio Grande, has now remained on the left of it.

The political authorities here were informed of the event by Don Manual Garza Pena, resident of this place and one of the owners of the island that were driven away from it by those that invaded it. I instituted an inquiry on the situation of said island of Morteritos, the result of which was that by the declarations of Don Francisco Flores Gonzales, commissioned colonel of cavalry, native and resident of this city, seventy-eight years of age; Don Anastasio Barrera, land-holder and resident, sixty-eight years old; Don Juan Sabas Flores, land-owner, native, and resident of this city, seventy years old; Don Pedro Barrera, land-holder, resident of this city, fifty-one years old; Don José Nazario Rodriguez, land-owner, native and resident of this city, sixty years old, and Don José Maria Garza Pena, land-owner, native and resident of this city, fifty-two years old, all personally known to the undersigned, president of this republican council, and all persons that, for their age, capacity, instruction, probity, the independence of their means, and their personal antecedents, have always deserved faith and credence, having no direct or indirect interest in said island of Morteritos; the result, I repeat, of which was that by the declarations of these individuals, “the said island has always belonged to Mexico and been under the jurisdiction of Mier, the heirs of Don Francisco Garcia possessing it by ownership, one of whom is Don Manuel Garza Peña, already referred to; that though there has recently been a change in the deepest channel of the river, before this the largest arm of the same, and its deepest channel have always been on the side of Texas, so much so that the steamer during the war with the United States used to pass through it, and a long time after.”

In view of these declarations, and besides because it is notorious that said island has always been recognized by all, both authorities and inhabitants of both banks of the river, as Mexican territory and an integral part of the municipality of Mier in the State of Tamaulipas, to which municipality and State it has always paid the taxes there established, as the owners can prove by their receipts, I ordered the administrator of justice of the demarkation of Guardado, in which the said island is placed, to verify the facts as they were stated by Don Manuel Garza Peña.

In view thereof, there being no in Starr County, Texas, whence the invaders came (i. e, W. W. Bohrman, justice of the peace of the town of Roma, and O. W. Brewerton, the surveyor of that county, and residents of the same, who accompanied them), I addressed to the county judge of Starr County the letter of which a copy is given, in reply to which I received a letter from that judge, of which I inclose a copy in order that the Government may he informed of the event, which is of great importance to the integrity of our territory, if left as a precedent uncared for by the authorities, because other events of the same nature will follow, and in view of the accompanying documents, may take suitable measures in the case, addressing the supreme Government, I hasten to inform it of all that is stated in this communication and copies annexed, hoping to receive the determination reached on this subject, observing that the invaders have had recourse to the tribunals of Texas, begging that the land of said island of Morteritos should be declared to have been acquired by right of accession by the owners of the land on the left bank of the Rio Bravo del Norte.