Have you heard about the empresarios of Texas?
The term “empresario” is Spanish for “entrepreneur”. It is a fitting term for the people who played such a vital role in the settlement of Texas. They were entrepreneurs who took on the challenge of bringing new settlers to a remote and sparsely populated region.
The empresario was responsible for recruiting settlers, providing them with land, and helping them to establish their new homes. Texas pioneers endured significant hardships to settle Texas. They also experienced great progress for their families on the frontiers of Texas.
The Mexican government offered land grants to empresarios in order to encourage American immigration to Texas. The government believed that American settlers would help to develop the region and make it more prosperous. They helped to attract thousands of American settlers to the region, and their grants helped to create new communities and businesses. The empresarios also helped to shape the political and cultural development of Texas.
They faced many challenges, but they ultimately succeeded in helping to make Texas the thriving state it is today.
Here are some of the most famous empresarios who helped to settle Texas:
- Stephen F. Austin: Austin was the first empresario to receive a land grant from Mexico. He brought over 300 families to Texas and founded the colony of Austin.
- Moses Austin: Austin’s father, Moses Austin, was the first American to receive permission from the Mexican government to settle in Texas. He died before he could bring any settlers to Texas, but his son Stephen F. Austin was able to fulfill his father’s dream.
- Green DeWitt: DeWitt received a land grant for 300 families in 1825. He brought over 500 families to Texas and founded the colony of DeWitt.
- Martin De León: De León and his son-in-law, Baron de Bastrop, received a land grant for 400 families in 1825. They brought over 200 families to Texas and founded the colony of Bastrop.
- Baron de Bastrop: Bastrop was a German immigrant who served as a mediator between the Mexican government and the American settlers in Texas. He was granted a land grant in his own name, but he also helped to recruit settlers for the colonies of Austin and De León.
more to come …
