Don Wildman

What's going on in Tejas in 1820?

It's a vast expanse, but had a low settler population, making it difficult to project colonial authority, especially against these Apache and Comanche tribes.

I imagine settlements were few and far between in those days, right?

Yeah.

Mexico itself had been unable to encourage its own population to settle that land.

So this is what you're talking about.

They're encouraging these outsiders to come in instead after 1821.

Anglo-Americans from the USA start to migrate to the territory.

Stephen F. Austin, the famous name, led a band of colonists to this Texas region.

And over time, tensions begin to grow between the Anglo-Americans, the indigenous nations, and the Mexican authorities.

This is really what starts to boil up, right?

He's really, what a fascinating man, Stephen Austin, really known to Anglos anyway as the father of Texas.

In 1823, the precursor of what becomes the Texas Rangers is founded.

How so and why?

Yeah, exactly.

And just to remind people who are rusty on this, the Texas Republic is founded between what years?

Just important to keep that political backdrop in mind as this group is founded.

That is really, is it fair to call it a militia?

Not really, right?

Yeah.