“WHY,” ROARED THE GENERAL, “YOU ARE THE GOVERNMENT, YOURSELF, YOU ARE DICTATOR” 304 [Illustration: Courtesy Harper & Bros. GENERAL SAM HOUSTON AT THE BATTLE OF SAN JACINTO From a painting by the Texan artist S. Seymour, exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1898] THE RISE OF TEXAS 1513–1519――The Gulf of Mexico explored by the Spanish. 1521――Following upon the conquest of Mexico by Captain Hernando Cortes, Texas forms a part of that indefinite New Spain. 1528–1536――Texas first entered by white men when the shipwrecked Spaniards, Cabeza de Vaca, Alonzo del Castillo Maldonado, and Andres Dorantes, with the negro Estavanico (Stephen), cross the interior. They assume it to be a part of Florida. 1540–1684――Penetrated by Coronado, de Soto, and other Spanish officials. 1685――Robert Cavalier, Sieur de la Salle, in the name of France takes possession of Matagorda Bay, deeming it one of the mouths of the Mississippi River. Erects inland Fort St. Louis, the first white settlement. 1689――Captain Alonzo de Leon and Father Manzanet, dispatched from Mexico to expel the French, find Fort St. Louis abandoned. 1690――The Spanish from Mexico establish the Mission San Francisco among the Tejas Indians, in East Texas, southwest of present Nacogdoches. The country begins to be called the Land of the Tejas; or “Tejas” (Texas). 1691――Don Domingo Teran de los Rios appointed first Spanish governor of the provinces of Coahuila and Texas. 1714――Captain Louis Juchereau de Saint-Denis is sent from the French post at Mobile into Texas, to report upon colonizing it. 1716――The Spanish captain, Domingo Ramon, and party of sixty-four men and women, are sent to locate missions and colonies in East Texas and oppose the French, who have advanced to the Red River. 1718――The Spanish presidio of San Antonio de Bejar (Bexar), the site of the storied town, is founded. Here arises also the mission San Antonio de Valero, predecessor to the famous Alamo. 1720–1722――Other missions and forts are established, along the Sabine River, the Spanish frontier in Texas. 1721――The French claim to the Sabine River, from the east. Captain Bernard de la Harpe is ordered to reoccupy Fort St. Louis at Matagorda Bay. The landing party are driven off by Indians. 1722–1762――The French out-posts along the Red River and the Spanish out-posts along the Sabine River are separated by only some twenty miles; but the Spanish hold Texas. 1744――The mission later known as the Alamo is rebuilt at San Antonio. 1762――France cedes to Spain all the Province of Louisiana as presumed to be the country from the Mississippi River to the Rio Grande River and the Rocky Mountains. Under Spanish and Mexican rule for virtually seventy-five years, Texas progresses little except through the efforts of American settlers. 1782――By the Revolutionary War the United States succeeds England in North America east of the Mississippi, and becomes the neighbor of Texas.