From Missouri to the Brazos: The Making of Austin's Colony

In 1821, Missouri entrepreneur Moses Austin won Spanish permission to settle 300 families in Texas, but his death left the vision to his son, Stephen F. Austin. At 27, Stephen secured the contract from newly independent Mexico, becoming empresario and recruiting pioneers from the southern U.S. The famous "Old Three Hundred" (actually 297 grantees) arrived between 1821 and 1827, claiming fertile lands along the Brazos and Colorado rivers. With Baron de Bastrop issuing titles, these farmers, ranchers, widows, and adventurers built communities like San Felipe de Austin amid frontier challenges, Mexican laws, slavery debates, and Comanche threats. Through land records, settler profiles, and Austin's diplomacy, this book reveals how one family's ambition forged the cradle of Anglo Texas—setting the stage for revolution and a new republic.

Chapters

Texas Under Spanish Rule
1. The Casas Revolt
  The Casas Revolt: Hidalgo's Echo in Texas History
2. The Gutiérrez-Magee Expedition
  Gutiérrez-Magee Expedition 1812–1813: First Texas Republic
3. The Battle of Alazán Heights
  Battle of Alazán Creek 1813: Republican Victory at San Antonio
4. Adams-Onís Treaty
  Adams-Onís Treaty 1819: Florida Cession & Transcontinental Border
5. James Long Expedition
  James Long Expedition 1819: First Lone Star Flag & Texas Filibuster
6. Treaty of Córdoba
  Treaty of Córdoba (1821): Mexico's Independence from Spain
Moses Austin
1. First Land Grant from Spain
  Moses Austin's 1798 Spanish Land Grant in Missouri
2. Bank of St. Louis
  Moses Austin: Bank of St. Louis Failure, Panic of 1819
3. On to Texas
  Moses Austin: Petition for Texas Colony, 1820–1821