I have a question for you. Who lived in this area first..Fort Bend Countyt? Europeans? Mexicans? Native Americans? This land belonged to the Karankawa Indians, who were exterminated by Stephen F. Austin!! The Karankawa dominated the Texas Gulf Coast. They lived and fiercely protected their homeland. It was theirs. But in came Austin….and nearly 300 European families that he brought in to take over their land. And if those Europeans had enslaved people, they got more land!! Remember-After the Civil War African Americans were supposed to get 40 acres and a mules? Well not only didn’t we get our land, Austin’s “old 300” got 80 acres for every enslaved African American! (shaking your head)…and the native people to this land? The Karankawa people…well…Austin decided that extermination of the Karankawa would be necessary, despite the fact that his first encounter with the tribe was friendly. There were many massacres. So sad that they were all Killed OFF..the Karankawa men, women and children. Read about the Skull Creek massacre which took place right here in 1823. We as Americans must keep telling the truth about American history in order to Heal.

Karankawa Indians: Legacy of Fort Bend

1820s Fort Bend County: Austin’s “Old 300” – In, Indigenous People – Out

In the 1820s, European-American colonists arrived under the direction of Stephen Fuller Austin of Virginia and Missouri. Austin came to Texas after his father, Moses Austin - who was given rights to colonize the Mexican region of Texas from Spain - died before migrating to the state.

The Skull Creek Massacre: February 1823 – Karankawa People – Mexican-Texas, USA

In 1823, at the behest of the newly independent Mexican government, Austin was named an empresario who could claim rich tracts of land to promote immigration

Austin told the colonists the Karankawa would be impossible to live among and continued to encourage violence both against and between native American tribes. This sentiment culminated in 1825 with his order for all Kawankawa to be pursued and killed on sight.

In 1823, at the behest of the newly independent Mexican government, Austin was named an empresario who could claim rich tracts of land to promote immigration.
He selected bays and river mouths along the Texas Gulf Coast populated by indigenous people: The Karankawa. The Karankawa, whose men were described as tall and muscular, relied on these bays for the fish and shellfish that provided their winter protein sources. They were fiercely protective of this land.
Upon scouting the land, Austin wrote that extermination of the Karankawa would be necessary. The deaths of two of Austin’s men and the critical wounding of another by the Karankawa helped spur this decision. He commissioned a captain to expel the Karankawa from the Austin land grant, leading to multiple attacks by the Europeans, including the Skull Creek massacre of 19 Karankawa in 1823.

For the Karankawas, the period from 1821 to 1859 was particularly devastating. Once thriving communities, the Karankawas were forced to flee or face further extinction. A small group of descendants survive today in Corpus Christi and Galveston

Educate. Honor. Heal. The Society of Justice & Equality for the People of Sugar Land (S.O.J.E.S.) is an independent, non-profit community organization dedicated to historic preservation and educating the community about the contributions of African Americans in the creation and progression of Sugar Land and Fort Bend County, Texas. This includes commemorating and memorializing the Sugar Land 95. sojesjustice.org