6/10/1821: Moses Austin dies
On this day in 1821, Moses Austin died in Missouri. Austin, born in Connecticut in 1761, was the first man to receive permission to bring Anglo-American colonists into Spanish Texas.
In 1798, while consolidating his position as a pioneer in the American lead industry, he established the first Anglo-American settlement west of and back from the Mississippi River, at modern Potosi, Missouri. When the Bank of St. Louis, which he had helped found, failed in 1819, Austin found himself in financial difficulties and developed a plan for settling American colonists in Spanish Texas. He traveled to San Antonio in 1820 seeking permission for his plan. Spurned by Governor Antonio María Martínez, he chanced to meet an old acquaintance, the Baron de Bastrop, who returned with him to the governor's office and convinced Martínez to endorse the plan and forward it to higher authorities. On the trip out of Texas, Austin contracted pneumonia. Shortly after he reached home, he learned that permission for the colony had been granted, but he lived barely two months more. It was his deathbed request that his son, Stephen F. Austin, take over the colonization scheme.
6/10/1832: First armed clash between Anglo Texans and Mexican troops
On this day in 1832, a rebel force attacked Anahuac in the first armed clash between Anglo-Texans and Mexican troops.
In 1830, Manuel de Mier y Terán ordered John Davis Bradburn to locate a site for a fort, military town, and customhouse, to be named Anahuac. Bradburn encountered hostility from his fellow Anglo-Americans when he tried to carry out his orders, which included inspecting land titles, issuing licenses to Anglo lawyers, and enforcing Mexican customs laws. The attack was a response to Bradburn's arrest of William B. Travis and other insurgent leaders. Bradburn agreed to exchange Travis and the other Anglos for nineteen cavalrymen held by the insurgents. The cavalrymen were released, but when Bradburn discovered that a number of rebels had remained in town overnight, he refused to free his prisoners and began firing on the town. The insurgents withdrew to Turtle Bayou, where they drew up a series of resolutions explaining their action. Bradburn appealed for help from other military commanders in Texas. Col. José de las Piedras marched from Nacogdoches but met with Anglo insurgents near Liberty and agreed to remove Bradburn from command and free Travis and the others.
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