William Carey Crane

“ Victoria was commenced as a new settlement, and Gonzales laid off as a town in 1825.
In 1828, Stephen F. Austin obtained another contract to colonize three hundred families more, on land near the Gulf of Mexico. Texas had now become the point of attraction to thousands of adventurers from all parts of the United States. Men of desperate fortunes and roving habits, speculators in lands, broken-down politicians, refugees from justice, as well as multitudes of a better class, desirous of finding homes for their growing families and increasing slaves, [3] swelled the tide of Texan immigration. ”

“ Until 1821, the old Spanish settlements continued to be surrounded by savage Indians, and Texas was, for the most part, an unexplored wilderness. During the American Revolution, of which the 4th of July is the memorial day, the Spanish possessions of Mexico and Texas remained in quiet. Texas was safe from danger; her harbors were almost unknown; her property offered no temptation to pillage, and her scattered population could afford no recruits. The Spanish settlement at Natchez had opened a trade with Texas through Nacogdoches. ”

“ In nine years from the first settlement of Austin, the Americans had explored the whole southern portion of the province, and redeemed it from the wilderness of the wild beast and the Indian, and covered it with an industrious and thrifty population. The news of Austin's Colony spread rapidly over the Western States, and many adventurers sought to join him. Colonists came faster than provision could be made for their support. ”

“ Prosperity did not attend these efforts and sacrifices; as may be evinced by the fact, that the entire population in Texas in 1745 did not exceed fifteen.hundred people, with perhaps an equal number of Indians. The fearful butchery of priests, soldiers, and Indian converts at San Saba, by hostile Indians— not leaving one alive to tell the tale — in 1758, caused Spanish missions in Texas everywhere to decline. ”

“ Enduring incredible hardships, and meeting with many wild and romantic adventures, he was finally murdered by one of his own men. Hearing of La Salle's death, the Indians attacked Fort St. Louis, killed or scattered all the colonists, and this ended the French attempt to found a colony in Texas. Early in 1686 the Spaniards, holding possession of Mexico, heard of the efforts of the French under La Salle to make settlements in Texas, and determined to drive them out of the country. In 1689, an expedition of one hundred men left the Spanish settlement of Monclova, and reached Fort St. ”