That They May Possess the Land: The Spanish and Mexican Land Commissioners of Texas, 1720–1836 by Galen D. Greaser (review)

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• That They May Possess the Land: The Spanish and Mexican Land Commissioners of Texas, 1720–1836 by Galen D. Greaser
• James A. Bernsen

That They May Possess the Land: The Spanish and Mexican Land Commissioners of Texas, 1720–1836. By Galen D. Greaser. ( Independently published, 2023. Pp. 336.)

Galen D. Greaser's work takes up an enormous task: to document the story of how Texas land was granted to private individuals in the Spanish and Mexican eras of Texas history. This is not as arcane a topic as it might at first appear: land was the greatest motivating force in early Texas history. Both in the Spanish and Mexican periods, security and economic development mandated settlement, and settlement mandated land ownership. Land ownership in turn required commissioners empowered to transfer land to individuals in an approved, legal process. Without the ability to own land with clear title, settlement in Texas would have been difficult, if not impossible. As the long-serving curator and translator of the Spanish collection of the General Land Office, Greaser is uniquely qualified to tell this story, and this work's contribution to the understanding of early Texas history will be profound. The work is also well documented, and the use of extensive footnotes allows the narrative to remain clean and readable—a must for a subject that would otherwise be dry.

This book well outlines the complex role of the early land commissioners in Texas. The position was not limited to a single individual, operating among well-defined rules, but rather a myriad of officials at multiple levels, often at odds with each other and employing different interpretations of laws. The Mexican approach in particular, Greaser notes, was disorganized, discordant, and fractured. Policy was implemented both at the state and national levels, leading to confusion and conflict.

Greaser's work thoroughly outlines the evolution of the approval process for land titles from the simple work of the Baron de Bastrop approving titles for Stephen F. Austin's Old 300 to a more Byzantine structure of multiple commissioners approaching this difficult task, coincident with the evolving scramble for Texas land in the late 1820s. There were general commissioners, focused on the larger plans for Texas, special commissioners attached to individual empresarios or grants, and even local commissioners such as alcaldes empowered to grant lands within their jurisdiction. Furthermore, the Mexican nation in its early [End Page 351] days lacked certitude on who controlled public lands, the state or national governments. This led to competing commissioners, creating another venue for the emerging contest between federalist and centralist camps, culminating in Texas with struggles between local officials promoting state's rights, such as José Francisco Madero, a state commissioner backed by Texas political chief Ramón Músquz, and federal authorities like Juan Davis Bradburn and General Manuel de Mier y Terán, who argued for more central control of immigration.

The various conflicts and controversies surrounding land commissions are presented alongside the not unrelated events that led Texians down the path of rebellion. Greaser does not tie these threads together directly—it is not in his scope—but shines light on subjects that future researchers can explore in detail to great profit.

James A. Bernsen Hondo, Texas Copyright © 2022 The Texas State Historical Association ...