1836 James / Lee Map of the Republic of Texas in the Year it was Founded

The rare 1836 Edmund F. Lee map of Texas produced for David Barnett Edward's History of Texas - a seminal work published on the eve of the March 1836 Texan Revolution and founding of the Republic of Texas. The map is loosely derived from the Stephen Austin map, the only readily available source at the time, but has been reduced and revised by Lee for smaller format publication. It unveils Texas extending from the Sabine to the Nueces River and from Corpus Christi to the Red River. A note in the lower left expresses the Texan ambition to extend the boundary west as far as the Rio Grande. The map notes several early Texas Empresario Land Grants, including: 'McMullen and McGlone', Woodbury, Cameron (2), 'Austin and Williams', Austin, DeWitt, Austin's Colony, De Leon, Burnet, Powers, Whelin, Zavallo, and Felisola.

Texas Empresario Land Grants

In the early 19th century, Spain instituted a series of reforms intended to settle and develop Texas, the most significant of which occurred in 1820, when it began to allow colonists of any religion (previously they had to be Catholic) to settle. The only colonist to receive land under the Spanish system was Moses Austin (1761 - 1821), who claimed his grant in 1820, only to die a year later in 1821. In that same year, 1821, the Mexican War of Independence (1810 - 1821) ended with Mexican independence from Spain. The new Mexican government continued the reforms, instituting the Texas Empresario system. Stephen F. Austin (1793 - 1836) took over his father Moses's grant and began an aggressive campaign to draw English speaking protestant settlers to Texas. Austin's efforts were aided by the Mexican Provisional Government, who approved the 1824 General Colonization Law authorizing all heads of household who were citizens or immigrants to Mexico to claim land. After the law passed, the government was inundated with requests by foreign speculators to establish colonies - many of whom received grants of their own. In the wake of the Panic of 1819, the United States underwent an extended period of inflation marked by soaring land prices. Texas, with vast tracks of arable land, warm climate, and free grant system, became a very attractive prospect. Austin's drive to populate Texas with English speaking settlers was thus enormously successful. Conflicts between the English protestant 'Emprasarios' and the Catholic Mexican government ultimately led to the Seccession of Texas (1836) and the Mexican American War (1846 - 1848).

Texas Borders

In the lower left Edward adds an interesting note regarding the Texan ambition to expand the boundaries of Texas westward to the Rio Grande,

If this river [Rio Grande] should ever become the western boundary of TEXAS (as desired by its inhabitants,) it will add 100 miles to its sea coast and 50,000 square miles to its superfices.

Texas would indeed take this step in the coming months, with the Texan Revolution and the founding of the Republic of Texas. The borders of the Republic of Texas were in dispute from the earliest days of the Texan Revolution. The Republic-claimed borders followed the Treaties of Velasco between the newly created Texas Republic and Mexican leader, Antonio López de Santa Anna. The treaties established an eastern boundary following the 1819 Adams-Onís Treaty between the United States and Spain, which established the Sabine River as the eastern boundary of Spanish Texas and western boundary of the Missouri Territory. The Republic's southern and western boundary with Mexico was more nuanced. Texas claimed the Rio Grande del Norte as its western and southernmost border, while Mexico argued for a boundary much further east at the Nueces River. When Texas was annexed into the United States, the agreement followed the Republic claimed boundary, thus absorbing Mexican claimed territory as far west as Santa Fe. This escalated already existing tensions between the United States, the former Republic of Texas, and Mexico, ultimately triggering for the Mexican-American War (1846 - 1848).

Republic of Texas

The Republic of Texas was a short-lived nation established in March of 1836 when it seceded from Mexico. Following the independence of Mexico from Spain, the American Stephen Fuller Austin led a group of 300 Empresarios to settle Texas, near Austin, where they received a grant from the Mexican government. As more Americans moved to Texas, resentment and strife began to build between the American settlers and Mexican authorities. This and other factors ultimately led to the Texan Revolution in 1835 and the declaration of Texan independence in 1836. Texas remained an independent republic until it joined the United States ten years later in 1846.

Publication History and Census

This map was prepared for publication in David B. Edward's The History of Texas; or, The Emigrant's, Farmer's, and Politician's Guide to the Character, Climate, Soil, and Productions of that Country, one of the seminal early works on Texas. The map was drawn by E. F. Lee and published in Cincinnati by J. A. James. It can only have been published in January or February of 1836, as it notes Col. Benjamin Rush Milam's (1788 - 1835) death at the December 10, 1835, Texan storming of Bexar, but predates the March 1836 Texan Revolution. We note examples of the separate map at the Sam Houston State University and the Family History Library. The book is well represented institutionally, but it is unclear if the represented works are the first edition or a more common 1975 reissue. Scarce on the market.