The Rangers of Austin's Colony
Columbus, Colorado County, Texas
Marker Inscription
By March 1822, Stephen F. Austin had attracted about 150 colonists to Texas. The pioneers faced many hardships, including concern for their protection form Indians along the Colorado and Brazos rivers. In December of that year, Trespalacios, the Mexican governor, divided the colony into two districts, each having an alcalde to preside over matters of local administration and captain to handle protection of the colonists. In 1823, after several Indian attacks on members of Austin's colony, Captain Robert Kuykendall and Alcalde John Tumlinson of the Colorado District requested permission form Tresplacios to raise a company to protect the colonists. Ten men were recruited to serve under the command of Moses Morrison. When Stephen F. Austin returned from Mexico City in August 1823, he found the colony still plagued by Indian disturbances and announced that he would employ ten additional men, at his own expense, to serve as "Rangers" for the common defense. Although the law enforcement group known as the Texas Rangers was not formally organized until 1835, the "Rangers" of Austin's Colony are the earliest recorded force of this type raised in Texas and served as a model for the later formation of the Texas Rangers. Texas Sesquicentennial 1836 - 1986
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
By 1822 Stephen F. Austin had drawn some 150 families to his colony on the Colorado and Brazos rivers, where fear of Indian raids was constant. After the Mexican governor Trespalacios organized local defense, colonists in 1823 raised a small company under Moses Morrison, and Austin pledged ten more men at his own expense to serve as "Rangers." Though the Texas Rangers were not formally organized until 1835, these earliest ranging companies became the model for the force that followed.
Why it matters
This site marks the seed of the Texas Rangers, one of the oldest law-enforcement traditions in North America, born from the dangers of the very first Anglo-American colony in Texas.
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Related people
- · Stephen F. Austin
- · Moses Morrison
- · Robert Kuykendall
- · John Tumlinson
Related events
- · Formation of the Texas Rangers (1835)
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Colorado County, City of Columbus
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Columbus traces its roots to 1823, when Stephen F. Austin eyed the site — shown on his 1835 map as Montezuma — for his colony's capital. The provisional government created the municipality of Colorado in January 1836 and ordered the town laid out as its seat; that spring the county was born and the town soon incorporated. As a railroad terminal from 1869 to 1873 it thrived as a trading hub, and its marker honors generations of pioneers, defenders of Gonzales, San Jacinto veterans, Confederate officers, and citizens of distinction who called the county home.
Townsend-Koliba House
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The front of this Columbus house dates to the mid-1800s, when it was owned by Stephen Townsend, a member of a prominent local family and a veteran of the Battle of San Jacinto who, as the county's first sheriff in 1837, took part in a court held under a famous nearby oak. A later owner joined a second structure to the first in 1902 and added a porch, and since 1951 the home has belonged to former State Representative Homer Koliba and his wife Bernice, a Townsend descendant.
Beason's (Beeson's) Crossing
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Benjamin Beason, one of Stephen F. Austin's original 300 colonists, settled by a busy Colorado River crossing in 1822 and built an inn, gristmill, sawmill, gin, and ferry that grew into a small settlement. In the spring of 1836 the crossing became a pivot of the Texas Revolution: Sam Houston camped his army on the east bank as a Mexican force approached from the west. Houston abruptly withdrew toward the Brazos, and his troops burned the settlement to the ground just before the enemy arrived.
Colonel Joseph Worthington Elliott Wallace
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A Philadelphia native, Wallace served as United States Consul to the Texas colonies from 1829 to 1832 before joining Austin's Colony and the campaigns for Texas independence. In 1837 he helped plat the town of Columbus with W. B. DeWees, and he later fought at the 1840 Battle of Plum Creek against the Comanche and under General Edward Burleson in the 1842 defense against Mexican invasion.