Chapter 8 Section 3

The Austin Colonies

The Story Continues…

• Life in the Texas colonies was hard

- Crude cabins without any floors or windows

-Frightened families huddled together in hopes to fend off Indian attacks

- Swarms of mosquitos spread deadly diseases

- Alligators prowled at night eating dogs and people on occasion

Early Problems in Austin’s Colony• Austin returned to his

colony in 1823 from Mexico

• Baron de Bastrop was appointed to hand out land titles

• By the time they returned many of the settlers were discouraged and threatened to leave

While Austin Was Away…

• Several Problems Arose Within the Colony

- Drought ruined the colony’s first crop

- Local Indians often raided the colonists

• Austin Tried To Reassure the Colonists…- To bring order to the colony he set up a headquarters near present-day La Grange- Set up a system of government and created rules to guide the colony-Formed a militia which led several attacks against the Karankawa and Tonkawa-Tried to form peaceful relations with the Indians with limited success-Looked upon the settlers “as one great family who are under my care.”

The Old Three Hundred

• By fall of 1824 Austin nearly fulfilled his contract by having 297 people receive land in his colony

• These settlers were known as the old three hundred

• Most came from the Southern United States, particularly Louisiana

• They were mostly farmers and many were slave holders

• Out of the 1,790 colonists living in Austin’s colony in 1825 about 440 were enslaved African Americans.

• Jared Groce- the wealthiest U.S. settler brought 90 slaves to the colony

• Fairly well educated- only four of the white colonists could not read

Well Known Members of the Old Three Hundred

• Samuel May Williams- served as Austin’s colonial secretary

• John P. Coles- built a sawmill that supplied lumber for the colony

Famous Women

• Jane Long- wife of filibuster James Long

• Rebekah Cumings- came to Austin’s colony in 1822 with her 5 children.

San Felipe de Austin

• Austin’s colony needed a capital

• 1824- Austin founded San Felipe de Austin, better known as San Felipe

• This was the center of the colony, halfway between the coast and El Camino Real. The road became known as Old San Antonio Road

• San Felipe de Austin quickly became the heart of the colony

• Austin put his land office there and built a cabin on the edge of town

• The population quickly grew as the settlers moved to the capital

Well Known Citizens

• Gail Borden Jr with brother Thomas and Joseph Baker- published the Telegraph and Texas Register newspaper

• Robert Williamson- a judge who wore a wooded peg to support the knee of a weak leg- a.k.a Three-Legged Willie- would later help form the Texas court system

By the early 1830’s…

• San Felipe was the largest business center in Texas, after San Antonio

• Homes and stores lined the main street, Atascosito Road

• Lumber mill, newspaper office, and post office provided services

• A hotel was even opened for weary travelers

Austin’s Other Colonies• Several Tejano leaders helped Austin’s

colonization efforts. Miguel de Arciniega, Gaspar Flores de Abrego, Jose Antonio Saucedo, and Erasmo Seguin offered valuable assistance

• Between 1825-1831 Austin received approval for 4 new colonies.

• They each partially overlapped his first except for one that became known as Austin’s Little Colony

Austin’s Little Colony• Contract provided for settlement of 100

families north of the Old San Antonio Road, east of the Colorado River

• Main Town- Bastrop- was near Comanche hunting grounds and suffered attacks

• Isolation caused it to grow slowly• Austin tried to help it by organizing a militia

and recruiting some Tonkawa allies• 1830-One bachelor and two families lived

in Bastrop