From the Annals of the Revolution – In 1836, Mexican General Antonio López de Santa Anna and Republic of Texas provisional president David Burnett signed two Treaties of Velasco ending the Texas Revolution.  The public treaty, signed not surprisingly at Velasco (now Surfside Beach), ceased the fighting, called for withdrawal of Mexican troops and exchanges of prisoners, but Mexico did not formally recognize Texas’ independence.  The self-styled “secret treaty” had provisions for normalization of relations after the terms of the public treaty had been met.  The still vastly superior Mexican forces in the field honored the treaty and withdrew to Mexico.  In effect, the treaty was a venal effort by Santa Anna to save his own skin as it provided for his immediate transport to Veracruz. The story of Texas might have been vastly different if Gens. Urea and Filasola had decided to ignore Santa Anna’s command to stand down.

Despite the treaties, disputes over whether the Texas/Mexico boundary was on the Rio Grande or the Nueces continued and ultimately was the provocation that started the Mexican-American War that John Polk desperately wanted.  As a result, Texas’ boundary was never finally resolved during the days of the Republic.  It was not determined until the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed in 1848 at the end of the Mexican-American War.