Mexican Texas faced raids from both the Apache and Comanche tribes, and with little military support, the few settlers in the region needed help.
[4] The 1824 General Colonization Law enabled all heads of household who were citizens of or immigrants to Mexico to be eligible to claim land.
The law did not differentiate among races or social stature, and people who had been granted occupancy rights would be able to claim the land patent for the dwellings.
[6] Settlers were supposed to own property or have a craft or useful profession, and all people wishing to live in Texas were expected to report to the nearest Mexican authority for permission to settle.
[citation needed] After gaining the support of Stephen F. Austin, an influential Texas empresario, Dewitt's second petition, in 1825, was granted.
[13] In the summer of 1825, Kerr, along with Deaf Smith, Brazil Durbin, Geron Hinds, John Wightman, James Musick, and a Mr. Strickland, searched for a suitable location for the colony.
He obtained a four-year contract with a schooner called Dispatch, captained by William Jarvis Russell, and with this he made his way down the Mississippi River to New Orleans, Louisiana.
[17] In late 1826, DeWitt was arrested, on the authorization of the Mexican government, due to Martín De León claiming tobacco being shipped into the colony was contraband.
In 1827, DeWitt joined Austin and De Leon in signing a peace treaty with the Karankawa so that their colonies would be safe from raids.
As Comanche raids took a toll on the settlement, the political chief in Bexar sent the settlers of Gonzales a small cannon that they could use for their protection.
Most were primarily from the southern states of Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, and Louisiana, with some coming from as far north as New York.
Austin was able to secure a waiver for DeWitt's colony, but the measure made it difficult for him to recruit families.