Rafael Gonzáles (1789–1857) was a Tejano military leader and Governor of the Mexican state of Coahuila y Tejas from 1824 to 1826.
He joined the military as a cadet to collaborate at the Nuestra Señora de Loreto presidio.
[1] On June 3, 1814, Gonzáles got the degree of Second lieutenant, and joined the presidio's garrison of Monclova (Coahuila, in modern Mexico).
[1] One year later, on July 14, 1815, he was promoted to first lieutenant[1][2] of the Royalist company of Presidio de Rio Grande,[2] and on May 18, 1818 he reached the rank of captain.
[1][3] In that year, Gonzales granted each Shawnee family who settled in Texas a square mile of land in the south bank of Red River.