Mexican-American War folded letter

September 17, 1846

Nineteen-year-old Lieutenant William McKean of Ultima Thula, Arkansas wrote letters to his family over a three-month period in late 1846 as Company G moved through Texas into Mexico. On two-sides of this sheet sent to his brother, McKean recorded observations of San Antonio ten years after the Texas struggle for independence, writing that ". . . The first place I came to was the celebrated Alamo. . . ." The letter contains racist, xenophobic language about the enemy combatants and civilians.