The men — who owned cattle — needed to present reliable witnesses who would testify that they had sufficient means to make use of the land. Other important empresarios included Haden Edwards, Robert Leftwich, Frost Thorn, Martín De León, James Power, James Hewetson, John McMullen, James McGloin, Lorenzo de Zavala, David G. Burnet, and Joseph Vehlein (see ANGLO-AMERICAN COLONIZATION). The Texas Surveyors Association was established in the 1940s. Induced by titles and estates, Spanish adventurers ventured into the frontier, followed by traders and artisans. After Iturbide's downfall in March 1823, the new Mexican government passed the state colonization law of March 24, 1825, which opened the way for Americans to settle in the northern province of Coahuila and Texas. reset. Other lands were subsequently set aside for state educational and eleemosynary institutions, but they are more appropriately classified as land appropriations for education rather than grants. And, although it is not mentioned in the testimonio, as part of the final process of taking possession of the land, the local authorities would have instructed the Peredas to pull grass, dig the earth, walk the land, throw stones, and place fixed landmarks at the corners to affirm their ownership of the tract. Along the upper Rio Grande few formal grants were made. endstream endobj startxref Following the course of approximately 300 years of change, this documentation and these histories specify the shifts that large tracts of property underwent. They had a tendency, when land was cheap and unoccupied, to add twenty to 100 varas to each mile of line to make certain that no one was cheated; hence, a supposed section of land has often been found to contain from one to 100 acres of excess. thesis, University of Texas, 1906). The origin of the blood remains a mystery, but there was enough of it to soak through more than 15 pages of the document after pooling in three spots. Font size: They then trace their history back to the original land grants awarded by the King of Spain in the 18th century when this region was claimed and settled by Spain and organized as the province of Nuevo Santander. %PDF-1.5 %���� In 1902 this testimonio made its way to the archives of the Texas General Land Office, many years after the confirmation and patenting of the land. 537 0 obj <> endobj In 1836 the first Congress of the Republic of Texas declared that the Texas boundaries extended to the Rio Grande, but the state of Tamaulipas continued to issue land titles in the trans-Nueces region until the Mexican War ended in 1848. "Third class" headrights of 640 acres for heads of families and 320 acres for single men went to recipients who immigrated to Texas after October 1, 1837, and before January 1, 1840. Among the most important empresarios were Green DeWitt, who secured a contract to settle 400 families west of the Lavaca River and south of the Old San Antonio Road; Benjamin R. Milam, who received a contract in 1826 to settle three hundred families between the Guadalupe and Colorado rivers; and Sterling C. Robertson, agent for the Nashville Company who obtained a contract in 1825 to settle 800 families. Support the Handbook today. We created this eBook for you, and it was made possible through the contributions of our members and supporters. In compensation he was entitled to five leagues and five labores for each 100 families they settled. ARISPE, MARIANO Santa Maria de los Angeles de Arriba Webb, Duval Counties at 22140, 9448 acres respectively Granted: 1835 BALLI… Discrepancies and mistakes from inaccurate surveys have caused numerous and expensive lawsuits. Land grants in other regions followed somewhat different patterns. https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/surveying. Section 107 related to Copyright and “Fair Use” for Non-Profit educational institutions, which permits the Texas State Historical Association (TSHA), to utilize copyrighted materials to further scholarship, education, and inform the public. Florence J. Scott, Royal Land Grants North of the Rio Grande, 1777–1821 (Waco: Texian Press, 1969). Investigation of the mineral estate status on Spanish and Mexican land grants in South Texas reveals that many appear to have royalties going into suspense, or have in the past had royalties going into suspense. The collection provides an overview of historical developments as they relate to land ownership by highlighting research on land title deeds/abstracts, maps of porciones and present-day colonias or unincorporated subdivisions, census records and published genealogical (or family) trees of the various families who owned porciones. An empresario selected colonists, allocated land, and oversaw the enforcement of Mexican law. from Mission Tejas. In order to attract settlers, the Republic of Texas also made colonization contracts with various individuals to establish colonies in the republic and receive payment in land. To view the full length video, come to the Border Studies Archive Monday - Friday 1-5pm. Grants were made to Mexican ranchers, but the attempts to attract large numbers of settlers proved unsuccessful. Pre-emptors, or homesteaders, were required to cover their locations with valid certificates within three years. Officials of Tamaulipas, which included much of what is now South Texas, also sought to encourage colonization of its vacant lands through the colonization law of 1825. The 1808 description of the property is vivid: “…the plants are chaparral, huisache, mesquite, and retama, and such vegetation is so plentiful that it makes the land uninhabitable…The animals are tigers, leopards, wolves, coyotes, rabbits, hares, deer, antelope and snakes, and these last named are abundant.”. In the twentieth century surveyors in Texas used increasingly advanced technology to survey subdivisions, highways, railroads, pipelines, and wells. Galen D. Greaser and Jesús F. de la Teja, "Quieting Title to Spanish and Mexican Land Grants in the Trans-Nueces: The Bourland and Miller Commission, 1850–1852," Southwestern Historical Quarterly 95 (April 1992). The grantee indicated his acknowledgement of the grant by throwing rocks, shouting aloud, firing guns, and making other and sundry noises. In Nacogdoches and other areas along the northern frontier, families usually received land through oral agreements with local officials. El Paso, TX: Texas Western Press, University of Texas at El Paso, 1971. Individuals could petition for grants directly, but more often applications were handled by immigration agents, or empresarios. https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/land-grants. One device used to speed up surveying in the prairie country was to tie a rag to a buggy wheel, drive over the lines following a magnetic compass, and count the revolutions of the buggy wheel to obtain the distance.
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