Our Catholic Heritaee in Texas
John Sibley, Samuel Davenport, John G. Burnett, Joshua Child, Pedro Procela, and Gutierrez de Lara. In its first manifesto the council promised the people the early establishment of representative government and guaranteed religious liberty, freedom of the press, a liberal system of education, and the blessings of free trade. The council next turned its attention to encouraging immigration. A decree was published promising, upon attainment of peace, ten sec- tions of land to each private who enlisted before October in the army of liberation. To the prospective immigrant the council held out the enticement of rich farms easily acquired. A bill was passed setting forth a plan for the survey and sale of land on the Red River. Each tract fronting the river was to extend one-half mile and inland, two miles. Prices were to range from fifty cents an acre for the best to twenty-five cents; land without water frontage was to sell from twenty-five cent~ to twelve cents. Upon application, settlers were to be given grants, for which they had until October I, 1820, to pay half the price, and the balance within a year. Fully aware of the scarcity of specie on the frontier, the council provided in the bill that payment could be made in either cash or kind. Heads of families were entitled to a section of land, plus a quarter section for each child or dependent under eighteen, and a section for each between eighteen and twenty-one. Single men had the right to half a section. Prospective immigrants were warned, however, that these liberal terms would be in force only until March I, 1820. 32 The significance of the Long expedition lies in the emphasis placed on the opportunities to acquire land for settlement. It may be said that the principal objective of this last filibustering enterprise was to open Texas to Anglo-American settlement. Long's expedition undoubtedly paved the way for formal colonization, which was soon to follow under the leadership of Moses Austin and his capable son, Stephen. Considered in this light, the Long expedition is of extreme importance. It was the publicity given to Long's enter- prise that brought to the attention of the restless and land-hungry frontiersmen of the West the opportunities which Texas offered. Thus, it prepared the way for the successful colonization of the coveted prov- ince by Anglo-Americans. Robinson gave expression to the feeling of the Westerner shortly l2Douglas C. McMurtrie, "The First Texas Newspaper," Quarterl,y XXXVI, 44-45.
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