German Pioneers in Texas; A Brief History of Their Hardships, Struggles and Achievements Page: 6
3 p.l., 230 p. incl. plates, ports. 23 cm.View a full description of this book.
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of Leftwiich's claim to this company and gave the land to
Austin and to S. M. Williams. Four years later the Mexican
government reversed its decision and permitted the Nashville
company to succeed as owners of the Leftwich grant.
Thereupon Sterling C. Robertson brought 500 families from
Tennessee and South Carolina as settlers on this fertile
land.
In the meantime Texas was getting a great deal of
publicity, not only throughout the United States, but in
Europe. Among the pioneers in this publicity business was
J. V. Hecke, an educated gentleman, an ardent adventurer
and a former officer in the Prussian army. As a part of his
itinerary in the United States he arrived in Texas some
time in 1818, then a part of Mexico, and there spent several
months. He returned to Germany, and in 1821 published
a book relating his travels in the United States. He gave
an especially glowing description of Texas and its possibilities.
He was the first man to see the possibilities of limited
acreage and intensive cultivation. He maintained that fifty
acres properly tilled would make the owner independent
and enable him to repay to the government the cost of
transportation and for necessary provisions and farming
implements. As Prof. Tiling puts it: "When we remember
that the Monroe doctrine was at that time not yet promulgated,
and that Iturbide who had just proclaimed himself
emperor of Mexico, might have been quite willing to part
with the province of Texas for a monetary consideration,
Hecke's plan for a new Prussia on this side of the Atlantic
does not look like an iridescent dream, and leaves a wide
field for speculation as to what might have happened had
his ideas been carried out."
At any rate the publication of Hecke's book created
a great deal of interest throughout Europe, and especially
among the German people.
According to Mr. von Rosenberg's pamplet: "A troup
of 53 adventurers of different nationalities landed in New
Orleans in the fall of 1821, and in October of the same
year they reached the Texas coast and marched into the
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Biggers, Don Hampton, 1869-1957. German Pioneers in Texas; A Brief History of Their Hardships, Struggles and Achievements, book, 1925; Fredericksburg, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth29394/m1/12/: accessed April 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting University of Texas at Arlington Library.