Mapping Texas — Coahuila y Texas: A Meeting Place
After its 1821 independence from Spain, Mexico sought to reclaim its northern frontier through the establishment of new centers of population.[1] Under the newly-established state of Coahuila y Texas, empresarios (contractors) introduced citizens from the United States, Mexico, and Europe into their colonies.[2] The influx of these new families forever changed the cultural landscape of Texas. They adopted existing local customs, including language, religion, foods, and ranching, and once their grants had been surveyed and mapped, these colonists set up permanent markers indicating their land ownership.
To view any of the maps below in greater detail, click on the image to access the map’s database entry, then click on the magnifying glass icon to enter “Zoomify” mode.
Based primarily on H.S. Tanner’s 1825 Map of the United States of Mexico, this Spanish-language map, Mapa de los Estados Unidos de Méjico, shows the full extent of the state of Coahuila y Texas, from its capital at Saltillo in the southernmost corner to the Louisiana and Arkansas borders. The map was originally housed in the accompanying hardcover case. The national symbol of Mexico, an eagle perched on a cactus devouring a snake, appears on the top right corner; each cactus pad contains the name of one of the states or territories.
David H. Burr’s 1833 map, Texas, depicts new additions to the empresario colonies in Texas, including contract dates and the number of families to be introduced to each location. He delineates Texas as its own entity, despite it being part of the Mexican state of Coahuila y Texas. The map shows grants in the Panhandle, a “Grant to the Shawnee Indians” on the Red River, and includes as an inset a navigational chart of Galveston Bay.
J. H. Young’s A New Map of Texas…, modeled after Stephen F. Austin’s 1830 map of the area, shows Texas in relation to its neighboring American and Mexican states. Like many mapmakers of the period, Young incorporated the various empresario grants, including a description of the land grant process, the lands claimed by indigenous groups, and many of the features noted in Austin’s map, like “Immense Level Prairies,” “Droves of Wild Cattle & Horses,” and “Large Groups of Buffalo.”
By the mid-1830s, land speculation in Texas had become a big business. One of the primary agents was John Charles Beales, an English surgeon who, along with his American business partners, sought to profit from the sale of company stock and the premium lands awarded to them via the empresario system.[3] Based on Stephen F. Austin’s work, P. Desobry’s Map of Texas…shows the territories in which the Colorado and Red River Land Company sought to make its claim in Texas.
Published shortly after Texas’s independence, E. F. Lee’s Map of Texas containing the latest Grants and Discoveries accompanied David Edward’s History of Texas, a guide for new immigrants on Texas, its character, and climate. On the top right, a note showing Benjamin Milam’s empresario contract reads that he “fell at the storming of Ft. Alamo (St. Antonio de Béxar) Dec. 10, 1835.” Another notation on the bottom right, citing Edward, speaks to the “desire by its inhabitants” to have the Rio Grande become the “western boundary of Texas.”
[1] For more on Mexico’s independence from Spain see Handbook of Texas Online, Jesús F. de la Teja, “Mexican War of Independence,” http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/qdmcg.
[2] For more on the laws pertaining to the settlement and governing of Coahuila y Texas see “Colonization Laws,” http://www.tamu.edu/faculty/ccbn/dewitt/cololaws.htm
[3] For more on John Charles Beales and his land speculating in Texas see https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fbe03
