A miner, settler, and statesman, Stephen Fuller Austin is one of the greatest figures of westward expansion in American history.  Although known today as the "Father of Texas," Austin and his family also played an instrumental role in establishing settlements in modern-day Missouri.  Like many of Missouri's modern citizens, Stephen Austin exemplified the ingenuity and utter determination that have made our nation the global power that it is today.  

Born in the mountains of Virginia in 1793, Austin moved to southeastern Missouri at the age of four.  After establishing a homestead in what was then a French territory, Austin's father, Moses, lobbied the territorial legislature to create Washington County and to designate Potosi, a town he had established, as the county seat.

At the age of eleven, Austin moved to Connecticut and attended the prestigious Bacon Academy boarding school.  In 1810, he graduated from Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky and returned to his family homestead in Potosi.   Austin took over the family's lead mining business in Potosi and, at the age of 21, was elected to the Missouri Territory Legislature.  As a member of the legislature, he was influential in obtaining a charter for the struggling Bank of St. Louis.  Austin served in the legislature until 1819.

In 1819, as a result of a widespread financial crisis that swept through the nation, the Austin mining business collapsed and forced Stephen into bankruptcy.  With the little remaining money he possessed, Austin applied for a grant to establish an American colony in present-day Texas, then a Spanish territory.  In December of 1821, he and several American families arrived at the bank of the Brazos River and began to build a settlement.

Using the Lower Colorado and Brazos Rivers as boundaries, Austin invited other families to move to his settlement.  By 1825, over 300 families had moved into the area and, despite several attempts by the Mexican government to close the settlement, Austin's colony was flourishing.  He was designated the empresario, established an American-style constitution, created roads, schools, and other infrastructure, and attracted another 900 families into the area.  However, the settlement's unprecedented success angered the Mexican government and caused political tension that, by 1835, could no longer be mollified by Austin's statesmanship and cautious political leadership.   

In October 1835, Mexican President Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna gathered his army and set out to expel all American settlers from Mexican territory.  After several initial victories, Santa Anna's army was defeated by Texan forces and the Republic of Texas was born.  Shortly thereafter, Stephen Austin caught pneumonia and died. 

Although Austin did not live to see Texas become a part of the United States, the businessman, settler, and Missourian today remains one of the most respected symbols of westward expansion in American history.