The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 50, July 1946 - April, 1947 Page: 433
582 p. : ill. (some col.), maps ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Land Grants in Texas South of the Nueces
the state and brought in one hundred families, or, if on the
northern frontier, fifty families. In only one respect were for-
eigners to receive special treatment: in conformity with the
Federal Colonization Law they might not, without previous
consent of the federal executive, locate a town within ten leagues
of the coast.
The steps in granting land were the same as under Spain:
the colonizer selected (designated) the land; if there were no
counter-claimants, the state issued the title of adjudication and
ownership; and the local alcalde gave possession. One sensible
provision required that projected towns "so far as the sites
permit," be continuous with already established settlements in
order to reduce the hazards from Indian attack. For every fifty
families introduced, the contractor for a new town on the
northern frontier received five sitios (approximately 22,000
acres) and five labores (885 acres), one-half of the labores
tillable. Each family of settlers received one labor, if they
planned to cultivate the soil, or one sitio, if they planned to
raise stock. From both contractor and settlers the state col-
lected the nominal sum of thirty dollars for each sitio (less than
one cent an acre) "as an acknowledgment." For ten years the
products of rural industry from these lands would be free from
every tax, unless congress specifically enacted a tax for the
new settlements. For the same number of years machines and
tools brought in by the new settlers were declared exempt from
state duties but might have to pay municipal taxes.
Comparison of the Coahuila-Texas Colonization Law of March
24, 1825, with this Tamaulipas law reveals similar provisions,8
yet the results were vastly different. Grants made in northern
Tamaulipas were principally grants to Mexican rancheros for
large private grazing establishments, not to empresarios for
colonizing projects.4 Between Mexican independence and the
Texan Revolution serious efforts were made to establish new
colonies in northern Tamaulipas on only three occasions.
The first of these was the attempt of the state government
in 1830 to encourage by special legislation the founding of new
towns in the territory bordering on the Nueces. Three years
earlier, when John McMullen and James McGloin were nego-
8lbid., I, 64-73.
4See Foscue, "Agricultural History of the Lower Rio Grande Valley
Region," Agricultural History, VIII, 130-133, for a list of these grants in
Cameron and Hidalgo counties.433
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 50, July 1946 - April, 1947, periodical, 1947; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101117/m1/541/: accessed March 29, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.