Stephen F. Austin State Park

Stephen Fuller Austin was an American-born empresario, i.e. a person granted the right to settle on land in exchange for recruiting and taking responsibility for settling the eastern areas of the Tejas region of Mexico in the early nineteenth century. Known as the "Father of Texas" and the founder of Anglo Texas, he led the second and, ultimately, the successful colonization of the region by bringing 300 families and their slaves from the United States in 1825. Stephen F. Austin received the title “Father of Texas” because he was the prominent leader who helped create the Anglo American settlement in Texas. He brought settlers into the area with the use of contracts with the Mexican government, he organized colonies, and also helped to create early systems of local government and order which allowed settlements to grow and survive.