Texas

History

  The document related to Texas was a map of the Gulf Coast, created in 1519 by Spanish explorer Alonso Álvarez de Pineda. Nine years later, shipwrecked Spanish explorer Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca and his cohort became the first Europeans in Texas. European powers ignored Texas until accidentally settling there in 1685. Miscalculations by René Robert Cavelier de La Salleresulted in his establishing the colony of Fort Saint Louis at Matagorda Bay rather than along theMississippi River. The colony lasted only four years before succumbing to harsh conditions and hostile natives.

In 1690 Spanish authorities, concerned that France posed competitive threat, constructed severalmissions in East Texas.  After Native American resistance, the Spanish missionaries returned to Mexico.  When France began settling Louisiana, mostly in the southern part of the state, in 1716 Spanish authorities responded by founding a new series of missions in East Texas. Two years later, they created San Antonio as the first Spanish civilian settlement in Texas.

Hostile native tribes and distance from nearby Spanish colonies discouraged settlers from moving to Texas. It was one of New Spain’s least populated provinces. In 1749, the Spanish peace treaty with the Lipan Apacheangered many tribes, including the Comanche, Tonkawa, and Hasinai. The Comanche signed a treaty with Spain in 1785 and later helped to defeat the Lipan Apache and Karankawa tribes. With more numerous missions being established, priests led a peaceful conversion of most tribes. By the end of the 1700s only a few nomadic tribes had not converted to Christianity.

When the United States purchased Louisiana from France in 1801, American authorities insisted that the agreement also included Texas. The boundary between New Spain and the United States was finally set at the Sabine River in 1819. Eager for new land, many United States settlers refused to recognize the agreement. Several filibusters raised armies to invade Texas. In 1821, the Mexican War of Independenceincluded the Texas territory, which became part of Mexico.  Due to its low population, Mexico made the area part of the state of Coahuila y Tejas.