De León's Colony was established in 1824 in the northern

Coahuila y Tejas Coahuila y Tejas, officially the Estado Libre y Soberano de 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 (1822–1825) f ...

state of the

First Mexican Republic The First Mexican Republic, known also as the First Federal Republic (), existed from 1824 to 1835. It was a Federal republic, federated republic, established by the 1824 Constitution of Mexico, Constitution of 1824, the first constitution of ...

, by

empresario An empresario () was a person who had been granted the right to settle on land in exchange for recruiting and taking responsibility for settling the eastern areas of Coahuila y Tejas in the early nineteenth century. Since ''empresarios'' attract ...

Martín De León. It was the only ethnically Mexican colony founded during the Mexican period (1824-1835) that is located within the present-day U.S. state of

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. Victoria was the center of the colony. Attracting new settlers to this area was part of an effort by the Mexican government to develop Coahuila y Tejas, which was sparsely populated. De León was one of several empresarios who were granted colonization contracts by the Mexican government. Others were Stephen F. Austin, Green DeWitt, Haden Edwards, David G. Burnet,

Lorenzo de Zavala Manuel Lorenzo Justiniano de Zavala y Sánchez (October 3, 1788 – November 15, 1836), known simply as Lorenzo de Zavala, was a Mexican and later Tejano physician, politician, diplomat and author. Born in Yucatán (state), Yucatán under Vicero ...

and Sterling C. Robertson. Of these, only De León and Austin successfully established colonies. Upon De León's death in 1833, his colony's value was estimated at $1 million.

Petitions to the Spanish government

In 1799, Martín De León and his wife Patricia de la Garza De León established a cattle ranch in

Spanish Texas Spanish Texas was one of the interior provinces of the colonial Viceroyalty of New Spain from 1519 until 1821. Spain claimed ownership of the region in 1519. Slave raids by Spaniards into what became Texas began in the 16th century and created ...

, in the area of present-day San Patricio County, Texas. In both 1807 and 1809, Martín de León petitioned the Spanish government in the

Viceroyalty of New Spain New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( ; Nahuatl: ''Yankwik Kaxtillan Birreiyotl''), originally the Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain. It was one of several ...

for permission to colonize in this area. Both petitions were denied.

Petition to Mexican government

After

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

gained its independence from

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

in 1821, colonization possibilities looked more favorable. On April 13, 1824, prior to the

1824 Constitution of Mexico The Federal Constitution of the United Mexican States of 1824 () was the first constitution of Mexico, enacted on October 4 of 1824, inaugurating the First Mexican Republic. Background During the Mexican War of Independence, the liberal domin ...

enactment on October 4, the provisional Mexican government approved a contract allowing De León to settle forty-one Mexican families on the lower Guadalupe and Lavaca rivers, in the vicinity of Coleto, Garcitas, Arenosa, and Zorillo (Placido) creeks. 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. It was the only colony in Texas settled predominately by Mexicans, as opposed to colonists who immigrated from outside Mexico. De León was to receive five leagues (22,140-acres) upon the settlement of the forty-one families. De León located his ranch along Garcitas Creek.

Establishing the colony

Patricia de la Garza De León invested $9,800 from her inheritance into the colony, plus another $300 valuation of cows, horses, and mules.}

appointed her son, Fernando De León, as the first commissioner and colonization manager of De León's Colony. Plácido Benavides became De Leon's secretary. The settlement provided for a living for Catholic priests and land for a school. Benavides built a house fortress, fortified with first-floor gun slits and a reinforced door. It was known as "Plácido's Round House" and the "Round Top House". The settlement was originally named "''Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe Victoria''" in honor of

Guadalupe Victoria Guadalupe Victoria (; 29 September 178621 March 1843), born José Miguel Ramón Adaucto Fernández y Félix, was a Mexican general and politician who fought for independence against the Spanish Empire in the Mexican War of Independence and afte ...

, who had just become the first president of Mexico, and the Guadalupe River. Empresario Martín De León was appointed as the settlement's first

alcalde ''Alcalde'' (; ) is the traditional Spanish municipal magistrate, who had both judicial and Administration (government), administrative functions. An ''alcalde'' was, in the absence of a corregidor (position), corregidor, the presiding officer o ...

. His assistant Plácido Benavides would become the second alcalde, and his son 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 leadership of the community. The ten friends were: *Martín De León * Fernando De León, a son * Silvestre De León, a son * José María Jesús Carbajal * Plácido Benavides * Rafael Manchola *Leónardo Manso *Julian de la Garza, brother-in-law *Valentino Garcia *Pedro Gellardro

Conflict with Green DeWitt

A conflict arose when the

state 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 that area in DeWitt's contract. On October 6, 1825, the Coahuila y Tejas government settled the dispute in favor of De León. But competitive conflicts broke out 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. American Stephen F. Austin, another empresario in Texas, was called on to resolve the issues. In 1829 De León was authorized by the Coahuila y Tejas government to bring an additional 150 families to the colony. His contract 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 () is an infection of the small intestine by some Strain (biology), strains of the Bacteria, bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea last ...

in 1833, during an epidemic that swept towns along many of North America's waterways. Upon his death, the estimated wealth of his colony was $1 million. The government authorized his son Fernando De León to assume his father's position as empresario. 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, Green DeWitt, Haden Edwards, David G. Burnet,

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

References

External links

* Wikisource:Cook v. Burnley (78 U.S. 659)/Opinion of the Court * Wikisource:White v. Burnley/Opinion of the Court {{DEFAULTSORT:De León's Colony Mexican Texas Former populated places in Texas Victoria, Texas Victoria County, Texas 1824 establishments in Mexico 1824 establishments in Texas Populated places established in 1824