Texas History

The history of Texas begins more than 12,000 years ago when prehistoric peoples of the High Plains first inhabited the area. Europeans first came to the region in 1519, eventually introducing ranching to the area as well as horses. The Spanish flew the first of six flags that marked this area once known as Tejas; the subsequent entities to hoist flags over the region were France, Mexico, the Confederacy, the U.S. and the Republic of Texas.

In the late 1600s, the Spanish started to establish a system of missions in the piney woods, gradually moving west and eventually reaching the central plains when San Antonio de Valera (later known as the Alamo) was founded in 1718. The missions were intended to convert Native Americans to Christianity. To encourage European migration to the region, the Spanish granted land to colonists. In 1821, Spain lost Mexico; in the meantime, Mexico, busy elsewhere, held a loose control over those settlers in present-day Texas.

The Americans and British settlers were in favor of Anglo-American jurisprudence, Protestantism, decentralism, and slavery--all against the laws of Mexico.

As immigration grew, the tensions increased, culminating in the Texas Revolution (1835-36). After a short skirmish, the Mexican soldiers withdrew but in early 1836, a large Mexican army under the command of General Santa Anna marched toward San Antonio. The battle of the Alamo followed as the larger Mexican army prevailed. On March 6, 1836, the Alamo fell; all its defenders including Davy Crockett, James Bowie and commander William B. Travis, were killed. The victory was costly for General Santa Anna with one-third of the army sustaining casualties.

A little over a month later, Santa Anna was defeated by Sam Houston and his men at the battle of San Jacinto with the cries of “Remember the Alamo.” That stint as an independent nation from 1836 to 1845 makes Texas unique. It's the only U.S. state to ever serve as a sovereign nation. In Austin, visitors can tour an historic foreign embassy, a reminder of the days of independence.

Sam Houston was elected first president of the Republic of Texas. Texas remained a separate country until 1845 when the US government agreed to allow another slaveholding state into the Union.

In 1860, Texas seceded from the Union but remained largely out of the Civil War. The last battle of the Civil War was fought in Brownsville by Texas troops who didn’t know yet that the Confederacy had already fallen.

When the war ended, ranchers began driving their cattle east to markets in Kansas and Missouri and the period of the American cowboy was begun. In 1901, oil was discovered in Texas and dominated the state’s economy for the next 80 years. When the wells began to dry up and oil was discovered in other parts of the world, Texas’s economy became decentralized. Today the state has a broad-based economy which continues to include ranching and oil but also boasts many high-tech industries, especially in the Austin area, and service industries.

Texas is also a standout for its rich cultural diversity, a reminder of the immigrants from 32 nations that helped settle the region. Today this diversity, combined with the Mexican influence, is still palpable to visitors throughout the state and is evidenced in the state's restaurants, special events, and architectural styles.

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