De León's Colony (Texas)
Encyclopedia
De León's Colony was established by Martín De León
Martín De León
Martín De León was a rancher and wealthy Mexican empresario descended from Spanish aristocracy. He was the patriarch of one of the prominent founding families of early Texas. De León and his wife Patricia de la Garza established De León's Colony, the only predominantly Mexican colony in Texas...

 in 1824, and was the only
predominantly Mexican colony in Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

 in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. Victoria
Victoria, Texas
Victoria is a city in and the seat of Victoria County, Texas, United States. The population was 60,603 at the 2000 census. The three counties of the Victoria Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 111,163 at the 2000 census,...

 was the center of the colony, which was part of an effort by the Mexican government to settle what would become known as Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

. De León was one of several empresario
Empresario
An empresario was a person who, in the early years of the settlement of Texas, had been granted the right to settle on Mexican land in exchange for recruiting and taking responsibility for new settlers. The word is Spanish for entrepreneur.- Background :...

s in Texas who were granted colonization contracts under the Mexican government. Others were Stephen F. Austin
Stephen F. Austin
Stephen Fuller Austin was born in Virginia and raised in southeastern Missouri. He was known as the Father of Texas, led the second, but first legal and ultimately successful colonization of the region by bringing 300 families from the United States. The capital of Texas, Austin in Travis County,...

, Green DeWitt
Green DeWitt
Green DeWitt was an empresario in Mexican Texas. He founded the DeWitt Colony, one of the most successful.-Early years:...

, Haden Edwards, David G. Burnet
David G. Burnet
David Gouverneur Burnet was an early politician within the Republic of Texas, serving as interim President of Texas , second Vice President of the Republic of Texas , and Secretary of State for the new state of Texas after it was annexed to the United States of America.Burnet was born in Newark,...

, Lorenzo de Zavala
Lorenzo de Zavala
Manuel Lorenzo Justiniano de Zavala y Saenz was a 19th-century Mexican politician. He served as finance minister under President Vicente Guerrero. A colonizer and statesman, he was also the interim Vice President of the Republic of Texas, serving under interim President David G...

 and Sterling C. Robertson
Sterling C. Robertson
Sterling Clack Robertson was an empresario from Tennessee, during Mexican Texas. He introduced 600 families into Robertson's Colony. Robertson was also an elected delegate to the Washington-on-the-Brazos convention, signing both the Texas Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the...

. Of these, only De León and Austin successfully completed the colonizations. Upon De León's death in 1833, the colony's value was estimated at $1 million.

Petitions to the Spanish government

In 1799, Martín De León
Martín De León
Martín De León was a rancher and wealthy Mexican empresario descended from Spanish aristocracy. He was the patriarch of one of the prominent founding families of early Texas. De León and his wife Patricia de la Garza established De León's Colony, the only predominantly Mexican colony in Texas...

 and his wife Patricia de la Garza De León
Patricia de la Garza De León
Patricia de la Garza De León was the matriarch of one of the prominent founding families of early Texas. Doña Patricia raised ten children, some of whom helped change the course of history. At age 49, she uprooted her life in 1824 to help her husband Martín De León establish the predominantly...

 established a cattle ranch in the vicinity of San Patricio County, Texas. In both 1807 and 1809 Martín De León petitioned the Spanish government for permission to colonize in the area. Both petitions were denied.

Petition to Mexican government

After Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

 gained its independence from Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

 in 1821, colonization possibilities looked more favorable. On April 13, 1824, prior to the 1824 Constitution of Mexico
1824 Constitution of Mexico
The Federal Constitution of the United Mexican States of 1824 was enacted on October 4 of 1824, after the overthrow of the Mexican Empire of Agustin de Iturbide. In the new constitution, the republic took the name of United Mexican States, and was defined as a representative federal republic, with...

 enactment on October 4, the provisional Mexican government approved a contract allowing Martín De León to settle forty-one Mexican families on the lower Guadalupe
Guadalupe River (Texas)
The Guadalupe River runs from Kerr County, Texas to San Antonio Bay on the Gulf of Mexico. The river is a popular destination for rafters and canoers. Larger cities along the river include New Braunfels, Kerrville, Seguin, Gonzales, Cuero, and Victoria...

 and Lavaca
Lavaca River
The Lavaca River is a river in the U.S. state of Texas. It begins in the northeastern part of Gonzales County, and travels generally southeast for 115 miles until it empties into Lavaca Bay, which is a component of Matagorda Bay.-History:...

 rivers, in the vicinity of Coleto, Garcitas, Arenosa, and Zorillo (Placido) creeks. It was the only predominantly Mexican colony in Texas. Under the contract, each settler received a town lot, plus one league (4,228 acres) of grazing land and one labor (177 acres) of arable land. De León was to receive five leagues (22,140-acre) upon the settlement of the forty-one families. The site of the Martín De León ranch would be located on Garcitas Creek.

Establishing the colony

Patricia De León's contribution to the colony was her inheritance of $9,800, plus another $300 valuation of cows, horses, and mules. Coahuila y Tejas
Coahuila y Tejas
Coahuila y Tejas was one of the constituent states of the newly established United Mexican States under its 1824 Constitution.It had two capitals: first Saltillo, and then Monclova...

 appointed Fernando De León the first commissioner and colonization manager of De León's Colony. Plácido Benavides became Fernando's secretary. The settlement made provisions for priests and a school. Benavides built a house fortress with first-floor gun slits and reinforced door, that became known alternately as "Plácido's Round House" and the "Round Top House".

The settlement of Victoria
Victoria, Texas
Victoria is a city in and the seat of Victoria County, Texas, United States. The population was 60,603 at the 2000 census. The three counties of the Victoria Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 111,163 at the 2000 census,...

 was originally named in honor of Guadalupe Victoria
Guadalupe Victoria
Guadalupe Victoria born José Miguel Ramón Adaucto Fernández y Félix, was a Mexican politician and military man who fought for independence against the Spanish Empire in the Mexican War of Independence. He was a deputy for Durango and a member of the Supreme Executive Power...

 who had just become the first president of Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

. Martín De León became the settlement's first alcalde
Alcalde
Alcalde , or Alcalde ordinario, is the traditional Spanish municipal magistrate, who had both judicial and administrative functions. An alcalde was, in the absence of a corregidor, the presiding officer of the Castilian cabildo and judge of first instance of a town...

. Plácido Benavides would become the second alcalde, and Silvestre De León was the third. When José María Jesús Carbajal platted the town, De León named the main street Calle de los Diez Amigos (Street of Ten Friends), after the ten leading citizens entrusted with the community. The ten friends were:

  • Martín De León
  • Fernando De León
    Fernando De León
    Fernando De León was a co-founder of Victoria, Texas, and the first commissioner and colonization manager of De León's Colony. He fought against Antonio López de Santa Anna. De León was an aide-de-camp to provisional Texas governor James W. Robinson...

  • Silvestre De León
    Silvestre De León
    Silvestre De León was the second son born to the influential De León family in Victoria, Texas. He became the third alcalde of Victoria. De León joined his brother-in-law Plácido Benavides to fight with Stephen F. Austin at the 1835 Siege of Béxar...


  • José María Jesús Carbajal
    José María Jesús Carbajal
    José María Jesús Carbajal was a Mexican freedom fighter, who opposed the Centralist government installed by Antonio López de Santa Anna. Carbajal was a direct descendant of Canary Islands settlers who emigrated to San Antonio, Texas in the 18th Century. As a teenager in San Antonio, he was...

  • Plácido Benavides
    Plácido Benavides
    Plácido Benavides was an early Mexican-born settler in De Leon's Colony, Victoria County, Texas. Benavides earned himself the sobriquet of the Paul Revere of Texas for his 1836 journey from San Patricio to Goliad to Victoria, warning residents of the approaching Mexican army. He was twice elected...

  • Rafael Manchola
    Rafael Manchola
    Rafael Antonio Manchola was a politician and military officer in Mexican Texas. He twice served as commandant of Presidio La Bahía. He served two terms in the legislature of the state of Coahuila y Tejas. At his behest, the community which had grown outside the fort was renamed Goliad and...


  • Leónardo Manso
  • Julian de la Garza
  • Valentino Garcia
  • Pedro Gellardro


Conflict with Green DeWitt

A conflict arose when the Coahuila y Tejas
Coahuila y Tejas
Coahuila y Tejas was one of the constituent states of the newly established United Mexican States under its 1824 Constitution.It had two capitals: first Saltillo, and then Monclova...

 government granted an empresario contract to Green DeWitt on April 15, 1825. The new government had not yet received notification of where De León had established his grant's settlement of Guadalupe Victoria, and included the area in DeWitt's contract. On October 6, 1825, the Coahuila y Tejas government settled the dispute in favor of De León. Antagonist conflicts, however, continued between De León and Dewitt, with an October 26, 1826 incident that resulted in De León and his son-in-law Rafael Manchola arresting DeWitt. Resolution required the intervention of Stephen F. Austin.

De León was authorized by the Coahuila y Tejas government in 1829 to bring an additional 150 families to the colony. DeWitt's contact expired in 1831, and the government denied him an extension. In May 1832, the government ruled in favor of De León's colonists settling on DeWitt's land.

Legacy

Martín De León died of cholera
Cholera
Cholera is an infection of the small intestine that is caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. The main symptoms are profuse watery diarrhea and vomiting. Transmission occurs primarily by drinking or eating water or food that has been contaminated by the diarrhea of an infected person or the feces...

 in 1833. Upon his death, the estimated wealth of the colony was $1 million. The government authorized Fernando De León to assumed his father's position. More than one hundred titles were given in the colony by July 1835. Other empresarios granted colonization contracts under the Mexican government were Stephen F. Austin
Stephen F. Austin
Stephen Fuller Austin was born in Virginia and raised in southeastern Missouri. He was known as the Father of Texas, led the second, but first legal and ultimately successful colonization of the region by bringing 300 families from the United States. The capital of Texas, Austin in Travis County,...

, Green DeWitt
Green DeWitt
Green DeWitt was an empresario in Mexican Texas. He founded the DeWitt Colony, one of the most successful.-Early years:...

, Haden Edwards, David G. Burnet
David G. Burnet
David Gouverneur Burnet was an early politician within the Republic of Texas, serving as interim President of Texas , second Vice President of the Republic of Texas , and Secretary of State for the new state of Texas after it was annexed to the United States of America.Burnet was born in Newark,...

, Lorenzo de Zavala
Lorenzo de Zavala
Manuel Lorenzo Justiniano de Zavala y Saenz was a 19th-century Mexican politician. He served as finance minister under President Vicente Guerrero. A colonizer and statesman, he was also the interim Vice President of the Republic of Texas, serving under interim President David G...

 and Sterling C. Robertson
Sterling C. Robertson
Sterling Clack Robertson was an empresario from Tennessee, during Mexican Texas. He introduced 600 families into Robertson's Colony. Robertson was also an elected delegate to the Washington-on-the-Brazos convention, signing both the Texas Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the...

. Martín De León and Stephen F. Austin were the only empresarios who completely fulfilled their contracts.

External links

  • Wikisource:Cook v. Burnley (78 U.S. 659)/Opinion of the Court
  • Wikisource:White v. Burnley/Opinion of the Court
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