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Home > Backing the Republic of Texas
  • Backing the Republic of Texas

    As dust settled from the Texas Revolution from Mexico, Texans and Tejanos struggled to solidify a newly-formed independent Republic. Meet the rugged soldiers, politicos, and entrepreneurial financers who built up the Lonestar State.

Table of Contents:

  • Stephen Austin and the Texas Revolution
  • Financing the Republic of Texas
  • Sam Houston and the Texas Rangers
  • Stephen Austin and the Texas Revolution

    Map of military campaign routes from the Texas Revolt & a postage stamp depicting Sam Houston, Stephen Austin, and the Alamo

    Stephen Austin, the “Father of Texas,” led several successful attacks during the Texas Revolution, including the Battle of Béxar. After Generalisimo Santa Anna countered with the Siege of Béxar, later known as the Battle of the Alamo, Texans engaged in a propaganda campaign and innovative financing, allowing the rebellion to persevere.

    Read more about Stephen Austin and the Texas Revolution

    Left Image: Texas Revolt campaigns 1835–1836 map; author Joseph L. Cain courtesy Wikimedia Commons [1]. Right Image: 1936 U.S. Postal Stamp shows Austin, Houston, and the Alamo; author U.S. Post Office Bureau of Engraving and Printing courtesy Wikimedia Commons [2].

  • Financing the Republic of Texas

    $50 bill produced by the Republic of Texas and a map of the Republic of Texas

    After gaining independence from Mexico in 1836, the newly formed Republic of Texas struggled to pay back borrowed money and build an economy. Bonds like these were issued in attempt to re-balance a bankrupt republic and offset the devalued Texas “redback” dollar in circulation at the time.

    Read more about Financing the Republic of Texas

    Left Image: This Texian $50 bill was called a “redback” were devalued at pennies on the American dollar, 1839; author Treasury Department of the Republic of Texas courtesy Wikimedia Commons [3]. Right Image: This map shows the Republic of Texas and other generalized US territories in 1837, 1919; author James McConnell and the Mcconnell Map Co, courtesy Library of Congress [4].

  • Sam Houston and the Texas Rangers

    Portrait of Sam Houston and an illustration of a Texas Ranger on horseback with a rifle

    “Remember the Alamo” rang loud as Sam Houston led a surprise attack on Generalísimo Santa Anna at the Battle San Jacinto. Only lasting 18 minutes, this victory ultimately led to the Republic of Texas’ independence from Mexico. Houston became a major figure in Texas memory, as a war hero, the Republic of Texas’ first President, and for his role in creating the Texas Rangers.

    Read more about Sam Houston and the Texas Rangers

    Left Image: Portrait of Sam Houston; courtesy Wikimedia Commons [5]. Right Image: Texas Ranger illustration, 1846; courtesy Library of Congress via Wikimedia Commons [6].

Related Bonds

Certificate with black ink shows intricate borders, lettering, and vignettes with Native Americans-one with a bow, a train, and flora

The Tombstone Mill and Mining Company

Certificate with black and green ink shows intricate bordering, lettering, a company seal, signatures and a vignette of men on horses with cattle

The International and Great Northern Railroad Company

Certificate with black and red ink shows intricate borders, lettering, signatures, and a vignette with an eagle, miners, and a cart

The Grand Belt Copper Company

Certificate with blue and black ink shows intricate borders, lettering, signatures, a company seal, a cancel stamp, and Greek woman vignette

The San Juan Consolidated Mining Company

Certificate with black, green, orange and gold ink shows intricate bordering, lettering, a company seal, signatures, and vignettes of a train

Selma, Marion and Memphis Railroad Company

Certificate with brown ink shows handwritten language and signatures

Bank of the United States

Certificate with black and yellow ink shows intricate bordering, lettering, a seal, signatures, and vignettes of an eagle, train, and coal mine

Cody’s Wyoming Coal Company

Related Stories

  • Rawhide and the Era of Boosterism Full Story

  • Generalisimo Santa Anna Attempts a Coup Full Story

  • William M. Rice: Philanthropy, Murder, and the I&GN Railroad Full Story

  • Buffalo Bill Cody: Romancing the Western Frontier Full Story

Sources

  1. Left Image: Cain, J.L. (1928). Campaigns of the Texas Revolution 1835–1836. Pageant of America, Vol. 2, The Lure of the Frontier. Yale University Press. Public Domain from Wikimedia Commons. Retrieved from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Campaigns_of_the_Texas_Revolution.jpg
  2. Right Image: U.S. Post Office Bureau of Engraving and Printing. (1936). Alamo 1936 issue-3c. U.S. Post Office. Public Domain from Wikimedia Commons. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_Texas#/media/File:Alamo_1936_Issue-3c.jpg
  3. Left Image: Treasury Department of the Republic of Texas (1839). The Front of a 50 Dollar Bill of the Republic of Texas. Treasury Department of the Republic of Texas. Public Domain from Wikimedia Commons. retrieved from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Republic_of_Texas_Fifty_Dollars.jpg.
  4. Right Image: McConnell Map Co, McConnell, J. McConnell's Historical Maps of the United States: The Republic of Texas and the United States in 1837. [Chicago, Ill.: McConnell Map Co, 1919] Map. Retrieved from the Library of Congress https://www.loc.gov/item/2009581130/.
  5. Left Image: Sam Houston. (ca. 1850). Portrait photograph of Sam Houston from a 1/6th plate daguerreotype. George Eastman Museum. Public Domain from Wikimedia Commons. Retrieved from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sam_Houston_c1850-crop.jpg
  6. Right Image: A Texas Ranger. (1846). Public Domain from Library of Congress via Wikimedia Commons. Retrieved from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Texas_Ranger_1846.png
  7. Kreneck, T.H. Houston, S. (2010). In Handbook of Texas Online, Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved from https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fho73
  8. Procter, B. (2010). Texas Rangers. In Handbook of Texas Online, Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved from https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/met04
  9. Tumilson, S.H. (2010). Tumilson, John Jackson Jr. In Handbook of Texas Online, Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved from https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/ftu30
  10. Tumilson, S.H. (2010). Tumilson, Peter. In Handbook of Texas Online, Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved from https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/ftu26
  11. Williams, Crutchfield W. (2014). State of Texas. Retrieved from http://www.crutchwilliams.com/TEXAS/StateOfTexas.html
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Story Themes

  • Art of the Bond
  • Backing the Republic of Texas
  • Bankrolling the Revolutionary and Civil Wars
  • Forging the Wild West
  • Nevada’s Promises and Perils
  • Railroads and Trade Routes
  • Scandals and Swindlers
  • Tycoons and Benefactors

Resources

  • Resources for Researchers
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