I have just returned from
Waterloo, the contemplated new
seat of government which I
visited in company with Genl
Burleson. It is the most beau-
tiful and at the same time
the most sublime scene I
ever saw. I know you will be
delighted with it and I frequent-
ly wished that you were pres-
ent to enjoy the scenery as I
saw it in all the majesty
of nature and the verdure
of Spring[.] The atmosphere
[was?] charged with the most
delightful perfume and every
shrub and every hill and every
flower seemed to extend a
welcome to the weary trav-
eller. I never expected to
realize your eloquent descrip-
tion of Texas till I saw the
lanos [llanos: Spanish for plains] of the upper Colorado[.]
There are hundreds of the
most beautiful scites [sites] for
building around the town level
and Rome itself
with all its famous
hills could not have surpassed
the natural scenery of Waterloo.
Thomas Jefferson Jones to Mirabeau Lamar, April 15, 1839. Mirabeau B. Lamar Papers #1199, Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.