Cantona

Cantona belongs to the broad historical landscape of Texas, the country between the Sabine and the Rio Grande that reaches the Gulf of Mexico along a low coast. Here the Colorado River crosses wooded prairie on its way to Matagorda Bay, and the varied regions of Texas connect interior routes with both foreign and maritime frontiers.

Spain became the first European country to claim and control Texas, followed by a brief period of French colonization. Missionary activity later drew Spanish Catholic society into the territory. Imperial control changed quickly in the nineteenth century. Texas became part of Mexico after Mexico gained independence from Spain in 1821. Growing tension between settlers and the Mexican government led to the Texas Revolution, which included the Battle of the Alamo and ended with the establishment of the independent Republic of Texas in 1836. These transitions joined the Rio Grande, Gulf Coast and interior plains into one changing political landscape.