Who was the first empresario to gain permission to settle Texas with US settlers?

• A. Moses Austin
• B. James Bowie
• C. Marin de Cos
• D. Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna

Answer: (A)

The idea being tested is how Texas began attracting settlers under the empresario system. The first empresario to receive permission to bring US settlers into Texas was Moses Austin. He went to the Spanish authorities and secured a grant to settle the land with American families, creating the initial empresario contract. Although he died before the project could begin, his plan was carried forward by his son, Stephen F. Austin, who successfully established the colony and brought in the settlers known as the Old Three Hundred. The other figures mentioned—James Bowie, Marin de Cós, and Antonio López de Santa Anna—are notable in Texas history, but they did not initiate the first empresario settlement.