Famous and Infamous Journeys

Famous and Infamous Journeys. . Big names and bigger dreams have contributed much to the history of Texas. Zebulon Pike, Stephen F. Austin, Davy Crockett, and others traveled along El Camino Real de los Tejas or stayed in the towns like Nacogdoches that grew up along it. They came to Texas from the United States looking for adventure, financial gain, and new opportunities., Others' journeys to Texas were forced migrations: enslaved African Americans accompanied many of the settlers from the United States, including some who came with Stephen F. Austin's original 300 families., Captions , Mary Adams Maverick , Pendleton, South Carolina , Born in Alabama, she moved to San Antonio with her husband, Sam Maverick, in 1838. They crossed the Sabine River into Texas around New Year's Day. Her memoir recounts staying in San Augustine and Nacogdoches, both stops on El Camino Real de los Tejas, on her journey through East Texas. In 1895, she published a memoir based on her diaries. It offers a vivid look at life on the early Texas frontier., Stephen F. Austin , Potosi, Missouri , "The Father of Texas" arrived in 1821 as Mexico declared its independence from Spain. He negotiated with the new Mexican government to bring 300 American families colonize the area between the Brazos and Colorado Rivers beginning in 1823. Austin was the first Secretary of State for the Republic of Texas, but only served for two months before he died of pneumonia on December 27, 1836., Zebulon Pike , Lamberton, New Jersey , Captured as a spy by the Spanish while exploring New Mexico (present-day Colorado) in 1807, Pike and his men were escorted back to American Louisiana along El Camino Real de los Tejas, stopping in San Antonio de Bexar and Nacogdoches along the way. Pike's journal suggests that his men camped at Caddo Mounds in June of 1807. The published reports of his experiences in Texas stirred American interest in the lands to the west., Davy Crockett , Rutherford, Tennessee , The former congressman from Tennessee arrived in Nacogdoches in early January 1836 to fight for Texas's independence from Mexico. He died during the famed Battle of the Alamo on March 6, 1836., "...I told the people of my district, that, if they saw fit to re-elect me, I would serve them as faithfully as I had done; but, if not, they might go to hell, and I would go to Texas." , -Davy Crockett, as quoted in the Louisville Journal (newspaper) after his death, April 9, 1836, The Mitchell Map was produced by the English in 1755. At that time it was the most comprehensive map of eastern North America made during the colonial era. , Images: Mary Ann Adams Maverick: Eugene C. Barker Texas History Collection, The University of Texas at Austin: Map of North America in 1755, Stephen F. Austin, General Zebulon M. Pike, and David Crockett: The Library of Congress