Fureign Colonieati<m of Tna..r, I820-I835
assured protection against prosecution for political opinions. Immigrants had to profess the Roman Catholic faith, take an oath of allegiance to the King of Spain, and present evidence of industry and good character, have a trade or profession, and ability to earn an independent living.1' Bhar's plan fur colonieation. Unaware of the liberal policy so recently adopted by the Cortes, the City Council of Bexar petitioned the provincial assembly in Monterrey-newly established under the restored Constitution of 1812-for authority to drive the Comanches and Lipans out of the province. It proposed a plan for the establishment of a line of presidios between Agua Verde, Coahuila, and Nacogdoches in Texas. A new presidio was to be erected at Atascosito· and another, between the Brazos and the Colorado to protect the province more effectively against attack. Once the proposed defense line was set up, a string of settlements on the San Antonio, the Medina, the Guadalupe, the San Marcos, the Colorado, and the San Sarni was to be established. Residents in Texas and the adjoining provinces might be induced to move to the new settlements by offering them liberal grants of la/Jures and sitios where they could raise crops and establish stock ranches. 20 The Moses Austin colonieation plan. While the San Antonio City Council, the Governor, the Commandant General, the Cortes, and tlie King puzzled over a policy for the occupation and development of the vast, unpopulated lands in northern Mexico, there arrived in San Antonio a singular person, destined to make practical arrangements for the actual colonization of Texas. A native of Connecticut, Moses Austin had made his way from Virginia to Missouri, where his last venture--lead mining-had proved a failure. More than twenty years he had struggled to carve out a fortune for himself and his family on the constantly advancing frontier. For more than twenty years, while Louisiana was yet Spanish territory, he had been contemplating entering the Spanish dominions. With this purpose in mind he had obtained a passport from the Spanish minister in Philadelphia on July 13, 1797. All this time he 1 'Dec,-elos dd las Corlds, VII, 345-346. The decree of October, 1817, in regard to Cuba was extracted from the /ou,-nal du Comm1,-ce, December S, 1818, and reported in the Louisiana Ct>Urier, February I J, 1818; Decree of September 20, 18:ao, in Decretos de las Cortes, VI, 52. 28 Ayuntamiento de Dexar to the Provincial Assembly, November 15, 1820, Na&ogdoclus A,-cl,ives. A labor was 1000 varas square (177 acres) of land suitable for cultivation. A sitio was 5000 varas square ( 1428 acres) of grazing land.
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