A transcript of an 1826 letter to Stephen Austin regarding 500 Louisiana families wishing to settle in Texas.
Stephen Austin organized the first major settlements of American colonists in the Mexican province of Texas. Stephen’s father, Moses Austin, spearheaded the initial efforts to establish an American colony in Texas by securing a land grant and permission to settle 300 families in Texas in 1820, but died before the project was complete. Stephen Austin took over and began settling Americans in Texas in 1822. As the leader of the colony, Austin served as an intermediary between the colonists and the Mexican government.