Austin, Stephen Fuller

Stephen Fuller (1792-1836), a Texan pioneer. From his father, Moses Austin of Connecticut, he inherited a grant from the Mexican government for the settlement of 300 American families somewhere in Texas. This colony Stephen located at what is now the city of Austin, the present capital of the state. When this and other American colonies had received a considerable number of settlers, they met in convention, and sent Austin to Mexico to request permission for the formation of a Mexican state, to be known as Texas. The evasive answer of the Mexican government, Santa Anna's invasion of the country, the siege of the Alamo, and Texan independence are all a part of the history of the Southwest. Austin did much for the new state and may be regarded justly as one of the American founders of empire. See Texas; Alamo