A Guide to the Baron de Bastrop Papers in the Natchez Trace Collection

Biographical Note

Probably born in Holland in 1766. Bastrop was in Louisiana in 1795 and Texas by 1805, and settled in 1806 in San Antonio, from which he served as representative to the legislature of the Mexican state of Coahuila y Texas from 1824 until his death in 1827. He used his influence to help Moses Austin secure a land grant from the Mexican government on which to settle Mexican-Americans in Texas and aided Stephen F. Austin in the venture that resulted in the establishment of the Republic of Texas.

Scope and Contents

Document the business dealings of the Baron de Bastrop. Included is a Spanish land grant (1796) giving Bastrop control of a 12-square-league tract of land on the Ouachita River (La.); a certified copy (1823) of a four-part document (1796-1797) concerning the Ouachita colony, the role of Governor Baron de Carondelet, and supplies for the settlers; a bill of sale (1803) for the slave Baptiste Agai, sold to Francois Cavet by Don Vincente Fernandez Texeiro; a deed (1796) for land on the Ouachita River sold to August Briard by Guillerme Epinet; articles of agreement (1805) between Bastrop and Charles Lynch relinquishing ownership of the land grant to Abram Morhouse; and Bastrop's petition (1814) against Stephen Wante.

LANGUAGE NOTE: Land grant documents in Spanish. Slave bill of sale and deed in French. Articles of agreement and petition in English.

Related Material

Administrative Information

Cite as

Baron de Bastrop Papers, 1795-1823, Natchez Trace Collection, Center for American History, University of Texas at Austin

Detailed Description of the Collection