Nearly two centuries ago, people in East Texas were invested in
the Texas Revolution. “Definitely from that area there was just
a huge support, which really made a difference because that was
such a nucleus of early settlements,” Ms. Thompson said. Today
marks the 177th anniversary of the signing of the Texas
Declaration of Independence. Dr. Patricia Richey, chairwoman of
the Social Science Department at Jacksonville College, said many
people were pioneers around this time and came — just as
immigrants do today — looking for a better life for their
family. In fact, “Gone to Texas” became a common phrase because
a lot of people went to Texas in search of cheap land, she said.
Dr. Richey said she believes there were likely many settlers in
the East Texas area who tried to have peaceful relations with
American Indians and wanted to find land here and raise families
in peace. But according to the book “A History of Tyler and
Smith County, Texas,” white settlers before 1837 moved into
areas occupied by Cherokees a