1836 A New Map of Texas, with the Contiguous American & Mexican States
By: Samuel Augustus Mitchell & J.H. Young
Date: 1836 (dated) Philadelphia
Dimensions: 13 x 15.5 inches (33 x 39.5 cm)
This is a very important map of Texas, published the same year as the battle of the Alamo and Texas becoming a republic, after declaring its independence from Mexico. The map shows the republic with clearly defined borders, with large swaths of land broken up into 'empresario' grants with the most notable being "Austin's Colony," which included the town of "San Felipe de Austin," otherwise known today as Austin. The other large land grants would be further divided into counties that would form the modern day makeup of Texas.
Notable places found within the map include "Brazoria, Harrisburg," located near present-day Houston, which served as the first capitol of Texas. San Antonio de Bexar (present-day San Antonio) was the site of the Battle of the Alamo, which was fought the same year this map was published. Nacogdoches, the first Spanish settlement established in 1716 can also be found.
The southern border of Texas is defined in the map to run along the "Rio las Neuces," however Texas would claim the region below named "Mustang or Wild Horse Desert," as part of its territory in the 1836 Treaty of Velasco, expanding the southern border to the Rio del Norte "Rio Gande." The Mexican government would dispute this concession which would later serve as one of the reasons President James Polk would instigate the Mexican-American War nine years later.
Probably one of the most influential elements of this map are the several text boxes that lure would-be settlers to the Republic. The text offers land as "labors of 177 acres" for $10 / labor and one individual could purchase a total of 273 labors, roughly 50,000 acres. The map touts "cattle being raised in great abundance and with little trouble," and that "many settlers count their hers by hundreds and great numbers are annually purchased." Another section of text pays special attention to the abundance of clean, deep rivers that run through Texas.
Inventory #12011
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