Texas Texas Who has Texas Early in Texas

“Texas, Texas” ? “Who has Texas? ”

Early in Texas history, Texas was passed from country to country, and many individuals claimed parts of Texas as their own.

By 1800, Spain owned most of the American Southwest including Texas.

People seeking adventure began coming to Spanish Texas. Some of these adventurers came for profit, others came to establish independent states. These adventure-seekers were called filibusters

In 1800, Philip Nolan, Nolan perhaps the most famous filibuster, filibuster came to Texas from the United States for business reasons to catch and sell wild mustangs. Many others followed suit. The Spanish were suspicious of many people, and they thought that all filibusters were trying to make Texas part of the U. S.

Spain was suspicious of some people such as James Long came to Texas, captured Nacogdoches, and claimed Texas as a free and independent state. Eventually, the term filibuster became synonymous with a trouble maker who wanted to start rebellion.

Both Philip Nolan and James Long were executed by the Spanish government because of the fear that the filibusters wanted to take Texas away from Spain.

To make this whole story a little more complicated, Mexicans living in New Spain had been pushing for independence. Father Miguel Hidalgo called for Mexico’s independence from Spain.

Father Hidalgo was executed by the Spanish government, and Spain exercised tighter control of its land. But, people began to see the cracks in Spanish control.

One of Hidalgo’s supporters, Bernardo Gutierrez de Lara, and a former U. S. soldier, Augustus Magee, decided to invade Texas and free it from Spanish rule. Their effort became known as the Gutierrez-Magee Expedition They raised an army of 800 and successfully defeated the Spanish over a period of a few months.

The expedition members established an independent state, but could not agree on how to run the government. Eventually the larger Spanish army defeated the Gutierrez-Magee and restored control over Texas.

There were other means of owning a piece of Spanish Texas besides rebellion. George Morgan had already been serving as a land agent Land for the Spanish government Grant in modern day Missouri. In 1820 Moses Austin met with Governor Martinez of Spain to request permission to establish a colony in Texas. Moses was given permission to settle three hundred families in Texas.

The new land grant was the fertile farmland between the Colorado and Brazos Rivers.

Moses Austin paved the way for Anglo American colonization of Texas. However, he died in 1821, before his dream to colonize Texas was realized. His dying wish was that his son, Stephen, fulfill his vision to colonize Texas.

Stephen F. Austin was given permission to colonize, and thus many more Anglo Americans came to Texas. They felt like part of Texas belonged to them since they had permission to settle and had purchased land.

The Anglo Americans were drawn here by the abundance of cheap land 12. 5 cents an acre that had never been touched by a plow (very fertile).

Meanwhile, adventurous individuals called filibusters tried to take parts of Texas and create independent states. Philip Nolan James Long Guiterrez-Magee Expedition

Empresarios such as Stephen F. Austin were given land grants to settle Texas. Land Grant

The Anglo American colonization of Texas well under way. However, with colonization came conflict between the Mexican government and the colonists.

What do you think will be sources of conflict between these two groups?

“Texas, Texas” ? “Who has Texas? ”