USA > Texas > A history of central and western Texas > Part 7
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Finally, in 1821, an expedition was sent to Galveston by the United States government, and Lafitte was compelled to evacuate the island. He paid off and dispersed his followers, and sailed away from the coast for- ever. Though Spain had been the chief sufferer from his depredations, her government had taken no effective steps to put an end to them. Never-
* Eugene C. Barker, "The African Slave Trade in Texas," in Tex. Hist. Assn. Quarterly, Vol. VI.
Vol. I-5
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theless her jealousy of any foreign interference in Texas had caused the Spanish minister to protest whenever the United States proposed to sup- press the establishment.
The romantically planned colony of the Champ d'Asile should also be mentioned as having been undertaken about this time. The leader was a French officer who had served under Napoleon, and his followers were other expatriates who hoped to find a garden of plenty in Texas. The site selected by them was on Trinity bay, about twelve miles from Galves- ton. The enterprise was undertaken without authority from Spain, and despite their bold beginning the colonists, on the approach of Spanish troops, abandoned their site and found refuge in Galveston, where some of them joined Lafitte's band.
The last invasion of Texas before the final overthrow of Spain in the Mexican provinces was "Long's expedition." James Long had been a surgeon in the army, and possessed many attractive personal qualities and the courage and enthusiasm of a leader. He was in business at Natchez for several years, and there loved and married the young girl who has often been called "the mother of Texas." She was Jane Wilkin- son, a niece of General James Wilkinson.
A great many people in the southwestern states were dissatisfied with the treaty of 1819, which fixed the boundary between Spain and the United States at the river Sabine. The Americans who had settled about Nacog- doches and others who sought material interests in that region were nat- urally disappointed when Spain's jurisdiction was ratified. Under these conditions Long's expedition was projected, the plan being apparently to set up an independent government in eastern Texas which would eventu- ally be recognized and brought under the protection of the American government, or would co-operate with the Mexican revolutionists and be rewarded with substantial privileges in the event of independence.
Proceeding to Natchitoches, Long gathered a considerable force, and in June, 1819, occupied Nacogdoches. Here a plan of government was drawn up, and Texas was declared a free and independent republic. A general council. was elected, with General Long as president. But the hopeful republic was short-lived. While Long was away seeking the co- operation of Lafitte at Galveston, the Spanish forces fell upon his outpost at the Brazos, and then advanced rapidly towards Nacogdoches, which was precipitately abandoned, and the republicans barely escaped to the eastern bank of the Sabine. Long returned to find his soldiers and settlers flying before the approaching Spaniards. His wife, who had loyally followed
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him to Texas, was safe on the Louusiana side, but many of his followers, among them his brother David, had been killed or captured.
After the failure of this invasion, Long went to New Orleans, where he continued to plan a Texas republic. Among his advisers and asso- ciates at this time was Col. Ben Milam. In 1821 he undertook another invasion. Point Bolivar, opposite Galveston, had been designated as the headquarters, where many of the survivors of the former expedition and such new recruits as had been obtained were assembled. From there Long led a force to La Bahia and took possession of the town in Oc- tober, but soon afterwards was compelled to surrender to the troops sent out from San Antonio. As he professed to be fighting for the independ- ence of Mexico, he and his followers were treated with more than usual consideration. Long himself was sent to Mexico, where he arrived soon after the complete success of the revolution. He was released as a sup- porter of independence, but was killed before leaving the city in what was apparently a private altercation with a guard.
After the failure of Long's expedition the Spanish soldiers once more harried eastern Texas. All American intruders were driven out and buildings and improvements destroyed. In 1820 the population of the province, exclusive of Indians, was estimated to be not more than four thousand. San Antonio was the only settlement worthy of name which survived the Indian depredations, filibuster invasions and successive shocks of revolution. "Such was the miserable witness of the craft of St. Denis, the patriotic work of Aguayo, the brave and patient self- sacrifice of the missionaries, and the vast expenditure of treasure and blood in the vain effort to plant Spanish civilization in Texas."
CHAPTER XI
THE REPUBLIC OF MEXICO-AUSTIN'S COLONY
The first revolution of Mexico was practically at an end by 1819, when the royalist armies were everywhere triumphant and the few sur- viving leaders of revolt were in hiding with their followers among the mountains. In Spain, King Ferdinand VII, weakest of Spanish sover- eigns, had been restored to his throne in 1814. With him the church had resumed its powerful and pervasive influence, and the inquisition was re- established. The despotism was short-lived. In 1820, beginning with an uprising in the army, Spain was again in revolution. The republicans forced upon the king a recognition of the constitution of 1812, with an elected junta acting in conjunction with the crown.
Though the two active leaders in the first revolution, Hidalgo and Morelos, were popular priests, the higher orders of clergy in Mexico opposed the revolution, seeing in its success a greater danger to their hierarchy than what they had already suffered from the exactions of the Spanish crown. But with the republican restoration in 1820 and the re- establishment of constitutional government in Spain, the supremacy of the Catholic authority was threatened with increased restrictions and burdens, so that the church, in order to preserve its spiritual despotism, suddenly turned and gave its support to the cause of Mexican inde- pendence. It is to be observed, however, in this apparent shift of allegiance that the church was not supporting the cause of popular gov- ernment, but hoped, in the establishment of an independent monarchy in Mexico, to find a new home for the old Spanish political and ecclesiastical system. The beginning of the second and final revolution of Mexico, therefore, was not a popular movement, but originated among the higher clergy and radical royalists.
Don Augustin Iturbide was the chief actor chosen to accomplish the revolution. He had been successfully employed as a royalist officer in the preceding campaigns. Having been appointed by the viceroy as com-
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mander of fifteen hundred troops to proceed against the scattered bands of patriots in the mountains, instead of attacking them he united with them, and thus precipitated the revolution. Thus the three classes- clergy, Spaniards and Mexicans-were all united temporarily against the existing government.
At Iguala, February 22, 1821, Iturbide submitted to the allied armies the plans of a new government, since called the "Plan of Iguala," the chief features of which were: Mexican independence of Spain ; the es- tablishment of a congress and constitution and a limited monarchy, the crown to be offered to Ferdinand or other members of the royal family on condition of their residence in America and fealty to the constitution ; full security for the Roman Catholic religion ; the admission of all classes of inhabitants to equal citizenship. The plan was a compromise, hence unsatisfactory to the radicals of all three parties, but was accepted in this crisis of affairs, and the revolution proceeded on this platform of princi- ples.
The revolution spread rapidly to all the provinces, and when a new viceroy arrived from Spain he found only two or three cities still loyal. Resistance being useless, a treaty was negotiated at Cordova, August 20, 1821, by which Spain was to recognize the independence of Mexico. In the meantime, until February, 1822, a provisional junta and regency directed the government, until the first constituent congress or cortes assembled.
With the achievement of independence, the original elements of the revolution were at once dissolved into three warring factions-the royal- ist Spaniards, the republicans consisting chiefly of the native Mexicans and those in favor of a free government, and the personal adherents of Iturbide, who as commander of the army exercised a power dangerous to any constituted government. Quarrels between Iturbide and the cortes delayed the progress of constitution-making, until on May 19, 1822, Iturbide was proclaimed by the army and the rabble of the capital as "Augustin I, Emperor of Mexico."
This bold usurpation, and the increasing violence that marked the succeeding months of his reign, soon alienated the majority of the peo- ple, resulting in insurrections in many parts of the empire. In March, 1823. Iturbide was forced to abdicate, and was expelled from the country. A provisional executive, composed of three revolutionary generals, admin- istered the affairs of the country until a new constituent cortes assembled in August. The latter took up the work of forming a constitution, which
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was promulgated January 31, 1824. and definitely sanctioned in the fol- lowing October.
The Mexican constitution of 1824 was patterned after that of the United States, but with certain limitations peculiar to the Spanish peo- ple that afterward played no small part in Texas history. One of these was the establishment of a national religion, the Roman Catholic Apos- tolic, the exercise of any other whatever being prohibited.
May 7, 1824, the congress provided for the union of the former provinces of Coahuila and Texas as one state, providing that when Texas possessed the elements necessary to the formation of a separate state, with the approval of the national congress, an independent state should be created.
The important fact of Mexican history, during the subsequent period in which Texas was concerned, may be stated briefly as follows: On the formation of the Mexican republic two parties at once sprang up-con- tending for principles somewhat similar to those upheld by the political parties in the United States during the first decades ; namely, centraliza- tion of government power, on the one hand, and, on the other, free de- velopment of republican institutions with as little interference as possible from the central authority. In Mexico, however, the political parties were of a constituent character, both more volatile and restive than in the United States. Under the control of self-seeking leaders, the minority party, when defeated at the polls, did not submit gracefully to the will of the majority, but too often sought to gain their ends by force. More- over, one party seems no sooner to have established itself in power than it began to overstep the limitations of the constitution of 1824. The drift throughout these years was towards centralization of all power at Mexico and the reduction of the states to departments of administration. The annals of the time abound in revolution and counter-revolution, which require only passing reference in the history of Texas. But the preceding account of the establishment of the Republic of Mexico is a necessary introduction to the story of American colonization in Texas, which began in the same year that Mexico was declared free and inde- pendent of Spain.
The story of the colonization of Texas has one great name, and the Austins-father and son-are the founders and fathers of Texas as we know it today. Moses Austin was born in Connecticut in 1764, was married at the age of twenty, and soon afterward embarked in mercan-
STEPHEN F. AUSTIN
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tile business at Richmond, Virginia, with his brother Stephen. They also became interested in lead mining and smelting in that state, and were the first manufacturers of shot and sheet lead in the United States. Financial reverses came, and to recoup his fortunes Moses Austin, in 1797, obtained a large grant of land in southern Missouri, then Louisiana territory, where he became the pioneer in the lead mining of that district, and laid the foundation of a prosperous colony and himself acquired wealth and influence. The failure, in 1818, of the Bank of St. Louis, in which he was a large stockholder, bankrupted him and he surrendered all his property to his creditors. In his fifty-fifth year, he still possessed a spirit undaunted by adversity and ready to endure the hardships of a new field of enterprise.
By the treaty of 1819 the governments of Spain and the United States had finally agreed upon the boundary line between Texas and Louisiana. The possession of Texas being thus secure, Spain felt justi- fied in relaxing somewhat her former exclusive policy against immigra- tion. The necessity of colonizing and developing Texas was apparent, and Spain having failed in her own efforts in that direction, it seemed wise to allow foreign immigration with proper restrictions and safe- guards.
Austin's idea of planting a large colony in Texas was conceived, therefore, at an opportune time. He perfected his plans conjointly with his son Stephen F. While the father went to San Antonio to gain the proper authority for his enterprise, the son began assembling the persons and means for carrying out the plan. It was in no spirit of the filibusterer or adventurer that Moses Austin entered upon his under- taking. As he meant his colony should contain the elements of perma- nence and prosperity, so he desired it to have proper legal authority.
Early in December, 1820, he arrived in San Antonio. When he sought audience with the governor, Martinez, he was rudely rebuffed, and the governor refused to listen to any explanation and ordered him to quit the province at once. Dejected by such a reception, he left the governor's house with the intention of returning home at once. As he was crossing the public square he unexpectedly met an old friend, the Baron de Bastrop. The latter, though not a high official, possessed much influence in the province and with the governor. When he learned of Austin's mission and the apparent frustration of his plans, he at once procured a second interview. Through Bastrop's influence the governor entertained the proposal with more favor, and though it was not in his
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power to grant the permission to establish a colony, he promised to send the memorial, with his recommendation, to the commandant-general.
The first step of his undertaking having been taken, Austin set out on his return to Missouri. The journey was a severe one, and the hard- ships and exposure to which he was subjected so undermined his health that in June, 1821, his dauntless spirit was calmed in death. Not, how- ever, until his last great enterprise was in a fair way to accomplishment. Just a few days before his death news had come that his plan had been approved, and that commissioners would be sent to Louisiana to confer with him on the establishment of the colony. The project for which the father had given his life was to be carried out to full success by his equally enterprising son.
In the meantime, Stephen F. Austin was at New Orleans arranging the business details of the colony. Leaving that city in June, 1821, he arrived a few days later at Natchitoches, where he met the Spanish com- missioner, Jose Erastus Seguin, who was appointed to conduct him to San Antonio. The purpose of Austin's entrance at this time was to ex- plore the Texas country and select a location for his settlers. On the road between Natchitoches and Nacogdoches the son was informed of his father's death, and just before reaching San Antonio, on August 12th, the news came of the independence of Mexico. Austin found Nacog- doches in ruins, with only the church and seven houses, including the Stone House. He also describes La Bahia as a ruined settlement, so that outside of San Antonio the entire region was practically unoccupied. Six weeks were spent in exploration of the country about the Guadalupe and Colorado rivers, and Austin then returned to Louisiana to lead the settlers to the chosen land.
The plan which Moses Austin had submitted to the Spanish authori- ties provided for the settlement of three hundred families; each head of family was to receive 640 acres, his wife 320 acres, 100 acres for each child, and 80 acres for each slave; all settlers to accept the Catholic re- ligion, to give allegiance to Spain, and to be of good moral character. Another provision which Austin carefully considered with the governor included the payment by each settler to Austin of twelve and a half cents an acre for the homestead, a liberal time being allowed in which to com- plete the payment. This was the only expense which the individual set- tlers were to bear in the cost of the enterprise, and the only source of compensation to Austin for his management of the colony. Besides the long and hard traveling done by the two Austins in behalf of the colony,
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Austin had the heavy responsibility of managing the business affairs of the colony and acting as its provisional governor until a civil organization could be effected.
On his return to Louisiana, Austin published this plan of colonization, including the terms by which each settler was to pay Austin for the land, and made energetic preparations to introduce the first quota of settlers. As agriculture was to be the foundation of the colony, the attractions of the enterprise appealed to a more thrifty and stable class of people than had taken part in previous expeditions, and the majority of settlers under Austin's standard were of a representative grade of hardy colonizers.
Austin and his followers, coming from Natchitoches by the La Bahia road, arrived at the Brazos in December, 1821. In November a schooner, the Lively, had left New Orleans with supplies of all kinds and a small body of colonists, intending to come up the Colorado river and form a junction with those who went overland. The vessel never reached the rendezvous, and the colonists were deprived of the implements and pro- visions needed during the first months of their residence. It was with difficulty that they managed to live for a time. Such hardships would have been fatal to a colony of adventurers, but the followers of Austin were of sterner stuff, and this germ of modern Texas was not to be destroyed.
After the arrival of his colony it became necessary for Austin to report to the governor at San Antonio. When he arrived there for that purpose, in March, 1822, he found that the local government could no longer treat with him under a contract made with Spain, and that his colony must be legalized by the Mexican congress. The success of the enterprise demanded an immediate journey to the capital, notwithstand- ing the precarious situation of the settlers. It was characteristic of Austin that he never avoided any duty demanded of his position as leader. With only one companion he set out for the capital, journeying much of the distance in disguise as poor pensioners in order to escape the banditti of the road, and arrived in Mexico City the last of April. There he found several other Americans petitioning for land grants similar to Austin's, among them Green DeWitt and Haden Edwards.
For more than a year, during the turbulent period of Iturbide's reign, Austin was detained in the capital seeking a confirmation of his father's contract. On account of the presence of other petitioners, the government chose to draw up a general law for colonization instead of confirming Austin's individual contract. The first congress was at work
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on such a law when Iturbide usurped the government as emperor, and the work had to be done all over again by his council. The law was finally drafted and received the approval of the emperor and his junta on January 4, 1823. Under the provisions of this law, Austin's contract was submitted to the government, and an imperial decree of February 18, 1823, confirmed the original contract with Moses Austin. His mis- sion accomplished, Stephen Austin was preparing to return when the imperial government was overthrown and all its acts annulled. With admirable persistence, Austin now presented his cause before the pro- visional government. The colonization law of January 4th was suspended, but on April 14, 1823, the supreme executive power confirmed and sus- tained the imperial concession to Austin of date of February 18th. There seemed satisfactory assurance that the congress, when it assembled, would confirm this act of the provisional government, so Austin felt that at last his colony had legal sanction.
Austin may be said to have obtained a special charter for his first colony, all other empresario contracts having been undertaken under the general colonization laws of the republic and the state. Under this special contract, the local government was committed to him until government could be otherwise organized on constitutional lines. This provisional government of the colony was not superseded until February 1, 1828.
The original plan of Austin for the distribution of land to the set- tlers was based on the American system of sections of 640 acres. But the decree confirming his contract declared that he was not authorized to assign the quantity of land to be given to each settler. It fixed the quantity to be given to each head of family as one labor or one league, the former quantity to the colonist whose purpose was solely agriculture, and the latter to the colonist who intended to engage in stock-raising, but it was also provided that to the colonist who followed both occupations there might be granted "a league and a labor."*
The decree also provided that Austin, as contractor or empresario of the colony, should receive a premium of fifteen leagues and two labores for every two hundred families introduced. Each colonist had to culti- vate or use his land within two years under penalty of forfeit, but when this condition was complied with his title to the land was clear and abso- lute.
+ A labor, in Spanish land measure, is a tract of 1,000 varas square, or about 177 acres; a league is a tract 5,000 varas square, or approximately 4,428 English acres.
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Another distinctive feature of Austin's original colony is that the colonists were not restricted to definite limits in their settlement. Each of the three hundred families belonged to the colony wherever its lands were located. The result was that these original settlers were dispersed from the east bank of the Lavaca to the east side of the San Jacinto, and from the coast to the San Antonio road. In this area all the lands not occupied by the three hundred colonists belonged to the government. This wide distribution of the immigrants, while it exposed them to Indian attacks, eventually proved advantageous in the development of the coun- try, since those that came later were better served with supplies by means of these scattered settlements than they could have been from one central point.
When Austin returned to Texas in August, 1823, he found the colony almost dissipated, and immigration had entirely ceased. Many of the new settlers had stopped about Nacogdoches and in the vicinity of the Trinity river, and thus began the settlement of East Texas. But Austin's success in obtaining a confirmation of his contract and his energetic prosecution of affairs soon turned the tide in his favor, and by the following year the stipulated number of three hundred families had arrived. He was favored by the fact that, until after the general colonization law of the state of Coahuila-Texas was passed in March, 1825, Austin was the only empresario who had authority to settle families in Texas and secure them valid titles to their lands. This not only resulted in the rapid completion of the colony numbers, but also gave Austin opportunity to select his set- tlers and reject unworthy applicants. Austin's management in this latter particular was no doubt an important factor in the subsequent welfare of all Texas.
The commissioner appointed by the governor to survey the lands was Baron de Bastrop, who had been so instrumental in the beginning of the colony. He was also instructed by the governor, in a letter of July 26, 1823, to lay out the capital town of the colony, to which the governor gave the name San Felipe de Austin.
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