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9 No community in Texas has a more fascinating history than Gonzales. As the location of the first shot fired for Texas independence, it became known as "The Lexington of Texas," "The Cradle of Texas Independence," "The Gateway to Texas History," and "The Birthplace of Texas Freedom." Its story began in 1825. 1825 - In April, Empresario Green DeWitt received a grant from the Committee on Colonization in Mexico City to establish a colony in Texas with 400 families. This he did, east of the fork of the Guadalupe and San Marcos Rivers. Major James Kerr drew the original plans of the town, naming it in honor of Don Rafael Gonzales, the governor of Coahuila and Texas from 1824 to 1826. The town was originally located near what is now called Kerr Creek, about one mile east of the current downtown area. It was the only Anglo- American settlement west of the Colorado River. 1826 - While many of the settlers were at the Colorado River celebrating the 1826 Fourth of July, Indians attacked the settlement, killing one man, plundering and partially burning the cabins. When the settlers returned to the area and discovered the destruction, they returned to the Colorado river near Columbus, Texas. 1827 - The colonists returned to the area and settled on the current town site near the banks of the Guadalupe River and built a fort for protection from the Indians. 1831 - Citizens were still living under the threat of Indian attack, prompting DeWitt to ask the Mexican political chief in San Antonio for a cannon to protect the colony. His request was granted and in March a wagon was dispatched to San Antonio to retrieve the six-pounder brass cannon barrel. 1832 - The Mexican government ordered the town resurveyed and appointed Byrd Lockhart as chief surveyor. In accordance with specific government guidelines, the inner town was laid out in forty-nine square blocks with seven public squares. The seven squares were designated for public use only. Also designated for public use were two strips of land, each one block wide. One extended five miles north (North Avenue) and the other three miles east (East Avenue). Gonzales is the only remaining town in Texas that has retained this original plan. INTRODUCTION GONZALES AND THE REPUBLIC OF TEXAS

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