Missouri gained its statehood in the same year that Mexico gained its independence from Spain. In order to encourage those who had lived most of their lives under Spanish speaking government to move to Mexican lands, decrees were passed to make Texas a separate state of Mexico and to allow land to settlers. The plan worked so well that by the time the Republic of Texas was established in 1836, Texas had a population of 200,000 people, a great many of whom had been long-time dwellers of southern Missouri.
The best known family to influence the opening of Texas was the Austins from Potosi, Missouri. Mose Austin had, on his Spanish land grant near Potosi, opened mines that produced 9,360,000 pounds of lead for world markets. He strongly objected to suits to gain title and to question land grant titles which were, with the coming of statehood, filed by land lawyers; therefore, he obtained a large land grant in north Texas and began to recruit Missourians to make the move with him. Unfortunately, he was killed before he could lead them to Texas but his son, Stephen, who inherited the grant, was so successful in his efforts at the project and in winning independence from Mexico that the city of Austin, the state capitol city of Texas, was named in his honor.
The change of the Southwest from Spanish to Mexican Administration caused the packers (traders) and stand operators (storekeepers) to move their operations to the Santa Fe Trail. For hundreds of years, the trade over the route west had been allowed by the Spanish to the cities of the southwest that were considered to be subjects of Spain but trade with the French, English and American colonies was restricted. With independence, however, Mexico opened trade with the United States, freight lines were established, and the freight terminals at Independence and Westport accumulated more than $3 million in net profits during the years 1821-1843.
Some packers, most of whom hired out to the freight lines, moved their families close to the Santa Fe Trail but those who left their families on improved lands fared very well. Government banks had issued so much paper money without hard money to back it up that those who had gold or silver could buy many times the face value of the money in Missouri. (Government land offices, for instance, would accept nothing but hard currency.) Since trail workers were paid on the Mexican end of the haul in gold or silver, therefore, they did very well indeed.