Stephen F. Austin

Stephen Austin was born in Virginia, and grew up in Missouri. His father (name?) heard about the Tejas territory in northern Mexico, which was controlled by the the Spanish. The Spanish wanted people to settle there. Settlers had to become Mexican citizens and be catholic, so not many people wanted to settle there. Austin's father didn't care about being Mexican or Catholic, so he bought a large tract of land near the Brazos and Colorado rivers, and planned to settle there. His father died, so Stephen finished his father's dream.

In 1822, Stephen Austin led 300 settlers from Missouri to Texas, and began the first English speaking settlement in Texas. That is one of the reasons he is called the Founder, or Father of Texas. In 1824, Mexico became a seperate country from Spain, and had a constitution like America. This made a lot of Americans want to move to Tejas (Texas), because there was a lot of land (and a lot of heat!) By 1833, there were more Americans living in Texas than Mexicans.

Austin went to Mexico in 1833 to ask the Mexicans if Texas could make their own laws. He got put in prison for two years. :-( Bum, bum, bum, bum). When he got out of prison 1835, he went back to Texas and asked to lead the Army against Mexico.

He helped form the Texas government, making Texas its own country in 1836, and asked the United States to help Texas fight for independence from Mexico. For rest of his life, he worked in the Texas government. :-(

--Bobby Conselatore