Note 4 — THE DEATH BELL OF THE BRAZOS
Reading edition
Charles D. Hudgins, a lawyer who grew up near the mouth of the Brazos, says in his book of poems called The Maid of San Jacinto: “It is said that shortly after Texas obtained her independence, a ship loaded with slaves from Africa was chased into the Brazos by a United States man of war; that she had a number of sick negroes on board; that the well negroes were landed and hurried through the woods, while the sick ones were weighed down with chains and thrown into the river.”4