It’s been three months since your family moved to Texas, and more and more people are coming into town every day. When a new wagon rolls past your house, you and your sister run after it.
You try to guess who might be inside. Maybe it’s a family from Missouri, where you’re from. If the travelers are from Mexico, the kids might help you practice your Spanish. You might even meet some French kids, or a family from Switzerland!
Mexico won its independence from Spain in 1821. After that, the new Mexican government gained control over a lot of the Southwest, including Texas. Mexico’s leaders gave its citizens land in Texas to get them to move there. People from other places were interested in this new frontier too. By 1830, thousands of Mexicans, Americans, and Europeans had built homes and communities in Texas.
