An important early map of the Mexican state of Coahuila and Texas, published as it was giving way to the independent Republic of Texas.

A first cousin of Stephen F. Austin, Mary Austin Holley traveled to Texas in 1831, fell in love with the region, and acquired lands there. Her first book, Texas. Observations, Historical, Geographical and Descriptive (1833), contains an earlier version of this map and is described by Streeter as a “charming account” based on her experiences there (It is said that she had wanted to use Austin’s map of Texas, but that publisher Henry Tanner refused permission.)[1]

The present map is from Holley’s second book, titled simply Texas (Lexington, KY: J. Clarke & Co., 1836). This was aimed more particularly at prospective emigrants, providing practical information on the country, its settlements and prospects. It appeared at a turning point in Texas history: Growing resistance to Santa Anna’s centralizing government had developed into open revolt in 1835, and on March 2, 1836 a convention at Washington-on-the-Brazos declared Texas “a free, Sovereign, and independent republic.” Victory at San Jacinto the following month secured its de facto independence.

The map
The map covers Texas along with substantial portions of the adjoining United States and Mexico. Rivers and mountain ranges provide the geographical framework, while the map locates towns and settlements, empresario grants and colonies, Native American territories, roads and trails, and other information of particular use to prospective settlers. San Felipe de Austin—the capital of Austin’s colony and then of the provisional government of Texas until it was burned in March 1836–occupies a central position, connected by roads with Bexar, Goliad, Victoria, Matagorda, Brazoria and other communities.

After the map appeared in Holley’s first book it was subsequently used for the anonymous A Visit to Texas (New York, 1834), then again in 1836 in Holley’s Texas. Each time it was updated to reflect the rapid development of the region.

This 1836 state incorporates the additions made in 1834—including the Cross Timbers, Fort Tenoxtitlan, Indian lands, additional towns and settlements, and the evocative notes “Herds of Buffalo” and “Droves of Wild Cattle & Horses”—while adding still more information. Among the latter are the grants of Juan Antonio Padilla and Thomas Jefferson Chambers in the Panhandle and of John Charles Beale and James Grant farther west; along with new towns and settlements including Bastrop, Gonzales, Columbia and Cole’s Settlement.

Further changes were made by hand after the map was printed. “Now Filisola” is stamped in ink beside Thorn’s Grant, while manuscript additions alter “Wavel’s Grant” to “Milam and Wavel’s Grant,” add Washington and Augustine, and replace the engraved place-name at the mouth of the Nueces with “Corpus Christi.” The same stamped and manuscript changes appear on the examples held by the University of Texas-Arlington and the Texas State Library, suggesting that they were systematic corrections made at or around the time of issue. The changes were relatively current: Washington, laid out only in 1833, had just hosted the convention that declared Texas independence, while San Augustine had been formally established as a municipality in 1834.

It is not known who compiled the map. William Hooker is identified only as its engraver, and I find no evidence that Holley herself compiled it.[2] It seems however plausible that Holley was involved in selecting and/or transmitting information incorporated into its successive revisions.

In all, an informative and appealing early map of Texas, repeatedly revised to keep pace with the explosive growth of Anglo-American settlement and issued within weeks of the Republic’s declaration of independence.

References
James Day, Maps of Texas 1527-1900, #40. Henry G. Taliaferro, Cartographic Sources in the Rosenberg Library, #241. Thomas Streeter, Bibliography of Texas, 1795-1845, vol. I no. 1207 (Holley’s Texas, with mention of the map). UTA Libraries, “Hooker, Map of the State of Coahuila and Texas, 1836” in Cartographic Connections, accessed online Sept. 2026. Background on Holley from Curtis B. Dall, “Mary Austin Holley: Pioneer Author and Educator of Early Texas,” in Texas State Historical Association, Handbook of Texas.

[1] See UTA Libraries, “Hooker, Map of the State of Coahuila and Texas, 1836” in Cartographic Connections, accessed online Sept. 2026

[2] A full-text search of both Holley books yields few mentions of the map and no discussion of how it was compiled.