1836
Oct. – The first Congress of the Republic of Texas
convenes at Columbia.
1837
The Republic
of Texas is officially recognized by the United States,
and later by France, England,
the Netherlands and Belgium.
1839
Aug. 1 – The first sale of town lots in the new capital of the
Republic, which is named for Stephen F. Austin, is held.
1840
March 19 – Comanches, led by a dozen chiefs, meet with officials
of Texas government to negotiate a peace treaty. Believing
the Comanches to have reneged on a promise to release all white prisoners, the Texans take the chiefs prisoner. During the
Council House fight that follows, 35 Comanches are killed, as are seven Texans.
1840
Aug. 5 – Near Hallettsville, a large band of Comanches, in retaliation
for the Council House Fight, begin killing and looting their way across Central Texas. Texas
Rangers and a volunteer army defeat the Comanches on Aug. 11 at Plum Creek near Lockhart.
1841
June 20 – The Santa Fé Expedition, launched without Texas Congressional authorization by Pres. Mirabeau B. Lamar, leaves Central Texas on its way west to
establish trade with and solidify Texas' claims to territory
around Santa Fé. Members of group are taken prisoner by Mexican troops, marched to Mexico
City and imprisoned. They are finally released in 1842.
1842
The first seeds of large-scale
German immigration to Texas are sown when a German society, the Adelsverein, purchases land
for settlements in Central Texas.
1845
March 1 – U.S. Congress passes a "Joint Resolution for Annexing
Texas to the United States."
1845
mid-March – The first of many large groups of Germans arrive in Central
Texas, settling at New Braunfels.
1845
July 4 – The Texas Constitutional Convention votes to accept the
United States annexation proposal; it drafts an Annexation Ordinance and
State Constitution to submit to the voters of Texas.
1845
Oct. 13 – Texas
voters overwhelmingly approve annexation, the new state constitution and the annexation ordinance.
1845
Dec. 29 – The U.S. Congress approves, and President James K. Polk
signs, the "Joint Resolution for the Admission of the State of Texas into the Union." Texas becomes the 28th state.
1846
Feb. 19 – Although Texas
officially became a state on Dec. 29, 1845, the formal transfer of government does not take place until this date.
1846
May 8 – The Battle of Palo Alto near Brownsville is the first major battle of the two-year Mexican War.
1848
Feb. 2 – The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo is signed, ending the
War with Mexico and specifying the location
of the international boundary.
1850
Feb. 11 – The first railroad to actually begin operation in Texas is chartered by the state government. The Buffalo Bayou, Brazos
and Colorado begins operation in 1853.
1850
Nov. 25 – Texas' governor signs the Compromise of 1850, in which
Texas gives up its claim to land that includes more than half of what is now New Mexico, about a third of Colorado, a corner
of Kansas, the Oklahoma Panhandle, and a small portion of Wyoming in exchange for the United States' assumption of $10 million
in debt; Texas keeps its public lands.
