50 POINTS TEXAS HISTORY

After becoming an empresario in 1823, Stephen Austin worked diligently with the Mexican government to protect his colonists’ rights. Ten years after his arrival in present-day Texas, and 182 years ago today, this letter ordering his arrest signaled an end to his days as a trusted diplomat.

For months Austin had been negotiating with officials in Mexico City to convince them that Texas should be its own state. Texas was then part of the combined state of Coahuila y Tejas and its interests were often outweighed by the larger and better represented Coahuila. The state capital, Saltillo, was 500 miles from Austin's Colony, far removed from the needs of the colonists. Finally in frustration, Austin wrote to the San Antonio town council in October 1833 encouraging them to join with other towns to organize a local government independent of Coahuila.

The town council turned Austin’s letter over to the Mexican government. Mexican officials considered Austin’s words an act of treason. In this letter to San Antonio alcalde José Miguel de Arciniega, J. Miguel Falcón, the secretary of state for Coahuila y Tejas, ordered Austin’s arrest.

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