Important People in Texas History

Francisco Hidalgo

A Catholic priest and Spanish missionary who established the mission Nuestro Padre San Francisco de los Tejas in 1719.

Erasmo Seguin

Tejano rancher who represented Texas at the Mexican Constitutional convention; located land for the Austin Colony and supported Texas independence

George Childress

Author of the Texas Declaration of Independence

Lorenzo de Zavala

Spanish leader in the Texan revolution, later became vice-president of Texas

James Fannin

colonel in Texas army who surrendered at Coleto Creek and was massacred at Goliad

Sam Houston

Commander of the Texas army at the battle of San Jacinto; later elected the 1st and 3rd president of the Republic of Texas. Adopted a conciliatory approach to Native relations through treaties. Supported the institution of slavery, and focused on promoting economic development and attracting settlers to Texas. Instrumental in achieving Texas' independence and played a key role in negotiating annexation

Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna

Mexican general who tried to crush the Texas revolt and who lost battles to Winfield Scott and Zachary Taylor in the Mexican War (1795-1876)

Mirabeau B. Lamar

Second president of Texas who took a more agressive stance against Native groups. Supported slavery and did not seek to abolish the institution. Sought to diversify the Texas economy by promoting industrial development. Opposed annexation

Anson Jones

was the last president of Texas and was key in getting Texas annexed into the U.S.

Jack Coffee Hays

One of the best-known Texas Rangers. A surveyor of the Republic of Texas and a captain of a Texas Ranger company.

Alonso Alvarez de Pineda (1519)

A Spanish explorer who, in 1519, mapped the coast of Texas as well as surrounding coastlines.

Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca (1527)

Sailed from Florida and got shipwrecked in the Gulf of Mexico at Galveston; became a slave of the Karankawa Indians. He was the first Spaniard to see and explore Texas and he kept a diary that astonished others with tales of riches of TX

Fray Damian Massanet

A Catholic priest and Spanish missionary who established the mission San Francisco de los Tejas in 1690.

Antonio Margil de Jesus

A Catholic friar that established several missions in East Texas by 1717; Spanish tension with the French; these missions had to be abandoned; fled to San Antonio; there he founded San Jose y San Miguel de Aguayo, the most successful of all the Texas missions

Father Miguel Hidalgo

Mexican priest who established independence movement among American Indians and mestizos in 1810; despite early victories, was captured and executed

Jose Gutierrez de Lara

A rebel leader sent to the U.S. for money and supplies; he wanted to use Texas as a base to plan the liberation of Mexico from Spain; he also recruited soldiers in Texas such as American Augustus Magee to fight for liberation

Moses Austin

First America to receive Spanish land grant in Mexico, later Texas. He died and passed land to his son.

Stephen F. Austin

known as the Father of Texas, led the second and ultimately successful colonization of the region by bringing 300 families from the United States.

Martin de Leon

The only empresario to found a Texas colony of Mexican settlers, given permission to establish a colony along the lower Guadalupe River in the town of Victoria

Green DeWitt

He is known as the 2nd most successful empresario; he established the town of Gonzales; and his colony became prosperous in farming & ranching.

Chief Bowles

Cherokee leader in Texas who was involved in many conflicts with the Texas government over land claims. Ultimately, he was killed at the battle of the Neches when attempting to resist an order by President Lamar forcing the Cherokee to vacate Texas

William Goyens

Free African American who served as an interpreter for Sam Houston with Native Americans during the Texas Revolution. He would later gain considerable wealth in real estate when Texas becomes a nation.

Mary Maverick

Wrote memoirs that help historians understand this period of Texas history. Her most notable contribution was documenting the Council House Fight (1840) where Texas troops killed a group of Comanche seeking a ceasefire

Jose Antonio Navarro

He was one of three Tejanos who signed the Texas Declaration of Independence. He would become a leader of the Tejano community in Texas.

Quannah Parker

Parker was a skilled warrior and diplomat. He led his people through a period of conflict with the U.S. government but ultimately recognized the inevitability of their defeat. He worked to integrate the Comanche into American society while preserving their cultural heritage. His efforts helped to establish the Comanche Indian Reservation in Oklahoma, where he served as a leader and advocate for his people. Quanah Parker's legacy is one of resilience, adaptation, and cultural preservation.

James Hogg

First Texas-born governor who was elected for his views on railroad regulation, established the Texas Railroad Commission in 1891 to fight unfair practices, created Texas Railroad Commission in 1891, supported by the Farmers' Alliance because of his efforts to reform the railroads

James L. Farmer Jr. (Civil Rights)

1. Civil Rights Activist

2. Formed a group that would be called the "Congress of Racial Equality."

3. Participated in Freedom Rides; coined the term "Freedom Riders" in 1961.

Hector P. Garcia

Founder of American GI Forum, Hispanic Civil rights, veteran WWII

Oveta Culp Hobby

Director of the Women's Army Corps during World War II; she held the rank of colonel and later became the second woman cabinet member, serving as secretary of health, education, and welfare.

Lyndon B. Johnson

signed the civil rights act of 1964 into law and the voting rights act of 1965. he had a war on poverty in his agenda. in an attempt to win, he set a few goals, including the great society, the economic opportunity act, and other programs that provided food stamps and welfare to needy famillies. he also created a department of housing and urban development. his most important legislation was probably medicare and medicaid.

Jane McCallum

Suffragist leader who fought for women's suffrage and Prohibition during the early twentieth century who was also the longest serving Secretary of the State of Texas

Lulu Belle Madison White

Civil Rights leader during the 1940s and 1950s who also campaigned for suffrage, equal pay for all, and desegregation of public institutions. She joined the NAACP in 1937.

Lawrence Sullivan "Sul" Ross

19th Governor of Texas, a Confederate States Army general during the American Civil War, and a president of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas, now called Texas A&M University.

John Nance Garner "Cactus Jack"

From Uvalde, TX, served as Vice President, he was a strong force in getting New Deal laws passed. He became known as the most powerful Vice President in history.

James A. Baker III

Texan Chief of Staff for Reagan and Bush administrations

United States Secretary of the Treasury (Plaza Accord to reduce strength of US currency)

Served as Secretary of State 1989 - 1992

Henry B. Gonzalez

Democratic politician and 1st Mexican American to be elected to the state Senate in 1957.

Kay Bailey Hutchison

State Treasurer in 1990, first Republican woman elected to statewide office in Texas and served as a US senator

Barbara Jordan

first African-American woman from a southern state to serve in Congress when she was elected to the House of Representatives in 1973.

Raymond L. Telles

He was elected as El Paso's first Mexican-American Mayor and served as Ambassador to Costa Rica under John F. Kennedy

Sam Rayburn

Long-serving U.S. Congressman; Speaker of the House of Representatives; Supporter of Roosevelt's New Deal

Raul A. Gonzalez, Jr.

First Hispanic appointed to Texas statewide office served on the Supreme Court of Texas

Roy Bedichek

writer, naturalist, and gifted story teller, author of Adventures With a Texas Naturalist

Diane Gonzales Bertrand

Author of children's books and poems, inspired by her hispanic heritage, a native of San Antonio

J. Frank Dobie

wrote books about Texas during the Great Depression and Dust Bowl, author of "I'll Tell You a Tale"

Scott Joplin

United States composer who was the first creator of ragtime to write down his compositions (1868-1917)

Elisabet Ney

This German-born sculptor was one of the first professional sculptors in Texas. She crafted sculptures of Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin for the World's Fair in 1893 that are in the Texas Capitol building.

Amado Pena Jr.

Artist whose art focuses on Hispanic and Native amercian figures that capture the southwest

Walter Prescott Webb

Wrote, "The Great Plains" 1931, and, "Great Frontier" 1952. Emphasized the bravery of the white settlers in the West.

Horton Foote

famous playwright, won an academy award for his version of To Kill a Mockingbird, and he won a Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play The Young Man from Atlanta

Walter Cunningham

One of the members of the Apollo 7 flight, he lived in Houston

Michael DeBakey

surgeon who performed the first coronary arterial bypass operation

Denton Cooley

Perfected the heart-lung machine; performed first US heart transplant and first total artificial heart implant

Benjy Brooks

First woman pediatric surgeon in Texas. Conducted research at Texas Children's Hospital and St. Joseph's Hospital in Houston.

Michael Dell

-Founder and CEO of Dell

Howard Hughes Sr.

Very important oil and gas man.

Made a fortune in the oil and gas industry

Father of Howard Hughes

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