Stephen Austin (1793-1836) was an American who led the settlement of Texas.
When his father Moses Austin died in 1821, he took over a Spanish land grant to bring American settlers (and their slaves) into Spanish Texas. Under the terms of a special act in 1824 and additional contracts in 1825, 1827, and 1828--all granted by the newly independent Mexican government--Austin handled the settlement of more than 1,200 American families in Texas.
In 1835 Austin urged Texans to join "Federalists" (a Mexican political party) in revolt against the centralist dictatorship of Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna. During the Texas Revolution (1835-36), Austin briefly commanded Texas volunteers and then went to the United States to gain support for the Texan cause. He served as secretary of state of the new republic.