This is a fantastic question which has a complex answer. I cannot speak to what is in newspapers without checking them. I’ll try to check my databases later but in the interim here is some information.

In terms of the reaction, it is really not a singular reaction but a series of events over time that slightly pre-date the Republic. It is also much more complicated than mere commentary. Texas was engaged with indigenous people for a variety of reasons in the early days of the Republic.

Immediately prior to the Texas Revolution, the Cherokee were the most prominent indigenous tribe in Texas. The Cherokee were attempting to actually secure title to their lands from the Mexican government.

During the Texas Revolution, Sam Houston, who was actually an adopted Cherokee, negotiated neutrality. Part of that was a pledge to honor the Cherokee land claims.

Eventually, the Republic established a reservation for the Cherokee in parts of what is now Gregg, Van Zandt, Smith, and Cherokee Counties.

An 1836 treaty was never ratified by the Congress of the Republic. Later on, Cherokees actually aided the government of the Republic by patrolling frontier lands west of their territory.

However, neutrality during the Revolution and such niceties were soon forgotten as white settlers wanted more land.

Under President Lamar, as settlers wanted more land, the Cherokee were told to go north of the Red River in to Indian Territory and that such would be done peaceably or by force, and the government didn’t care too much which was the case.

Chief Bowles (Diwal'li) of the Cherokee ultimately led a force in battle against Texans occupying their promised territories during the Cherokee War of 1839, which culminated in the bloody, 1839 Battle of the Neches near a community called Redland near Tyler, Texas. It was a slaughter. Kikapoos, Delaware, and Swanee were allies with the Cherokee in the fight. Those who survived fled to Indian Territory, the far west of Texas, or Mexico.

Today, a monument to Chief Bowl stands near Redland, it is a Texas Centennial Marker erected in 1936. An annual ceremony honors the battle and Chief Bowls. For many years, the current Chief of the Cherokee Nation has attended. I’ve gone several times. The battle itself also has a historical marker.

Although the Alabama and Coushattas continued to remain as they had in the eastern section of the state, the Battle of the Neches marked the end of “Indian troubles” in the settled eastern half of the state. It would not become a major issue again until after the Civil War as western Texas began to be settled in larger numbers.

Sources: the following articles in the Handbook of Texas: Chief Bowl, Cherokee Indians, Cherokee War, Battle of the Neches.