Map of Texas, 1835 (CEC)

TEXAS MAP OF GRANTS BY THE COLORADO AND RED RIVER LAND COMPANY 1835

The Colorado and Red River Land Company is a good example of the Mexican empresario system being manipulated by American capitalists and land speculators. Instead of bringing people to Texas as had Stephen F. Austin and Green De Witt, some later empresarios sold their contracts to well-financed concerns in New York and elsewhere. These enterprises, often through the sale of stock, had the resources to market this opportunity and advertise the chance to own Texas land broadly. Most did not care if the colonists were reputable as long as they signed up . . . and paid up.