States
TX
1845

Several Spanish expeditions contributed to the early exploration of Texas, beginning in 1519. In 1528, an expedition was shipwrecked on the Texas coast. After wandering for eight years among the Indians, the group returned to Mexico with stories of cities of great wealth that they had supposedly seen. Expeditions were sent out repeatedly in the next few years, but gold was never found.

French explorers visited Texas in the 1680s, and La Salle claimed much of Texas as part of his huge claim of land for France. The French attempted to establish a colony, but when the Spanish sent an expedition to destroy it, they found only abandoned ruins. The territory remained firmly under Spanish control through the 18th century, but when the United States made the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, it put forward claims of its own, based on earlier French claims. However, the border issue was resolved through treaty.

Growing numbers of American settlers, who were at first welcomed, began to concern Mexico. When Mexico closed Texas to further American immigration, tensions rose. Independence was declared and after a war that saw defeat at the Alamo and victory at the Battle of San Jacinto, Texas emerged as a Republic. Although Texans would have readily joined the United States, pressures from various sources kept them out until 1845. After the Mexican war of 1846 to 1848, Mexico gave up all claims to Texas.

Although Texas joined the Confederacy during the Civil War, there was considerable pro-Union sentiment in the state. Governor Sam Houston refused to support the Confederacy and was removed from office. The final battle of the Civil War was fought near the mouth of the Rio Grande by soldiers who were unaware that the war had ended a month earlier.

Texas continued to grow rapidly. In the 1870s, cattle from Texas was driven to market along trails to Missouri and Kansas. Starting with the discovery of the Spindletop oil field in 1901, Texas' petroleum and natural gas industries grew to be the largest in the United States.

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