Stephen F. Austin founded Tax Rangers.
Stephen Fuller Austin was born on November 3, 1793. He is known as the “Father of the State of Texas” and is credited with leading the second and eventually successful colonization of the region in 1825 by importing 300 families and their slaves from the United States.
Austin was born in Virginia and grew up in southeast Missouri before going to Arkansas Territory and then Louisiana. Austin served in the Missouri territory legislature before moving on to other positions in the United States. His father, Moses Austin, was granted an empresario grant by the Spanish government to settle in Texas.
After Moses Austin’s death in 1821, Stephen Austin was successful in having the empresario grant recognized by the newly formed state of Mexico, which had recently gained independence. Austin persuaded a large number of American immigrants to go to Texas, and by 1825, Austin had brought the first 300 American families to the territory.
Throughout the 1820s, Austin worked hard to preserve good ties with the Mexican government, and he was instrumental in putting down the Fredonian Rebellion in Texas. He also had a role in ensuring the introduction of slavery into Texas, despite the efforts of the Mexican government to prevent the institution from being established. He was the driving force behind the first round of attacks against the Karankawa people in this area.
