The Mexican government, wracked by political and economic turmoil following Independence, cannot protect farms and ranches its northern territories from Indian raids.
At the request of Stephen F. Austin, through his administrator John Jackson Tumlinson, José Félix Trespalacios, the Governor of the Mexican State of Tejas, authorizes empresario Stephen F. Austin to organize two companies of “men . . . to act as rangers for the common defense.” These men are commonly regarded as the first Texas Rangers.