Editing Cherokee County, Texas (section)

===Early exploration and settlers===
[[Domingo Terán de los Ríos]]<ref>{{Handbook of Texas | name=Terán de los Ríos, Domingo| id= fte13| author=Blake, Robert Bruce | retrieved=May 4, 2010}} Texas State Historical Association</ref> and Father Damián Massanet<ref>{{Handbook of Texas | name=Massanet, Father Damian| id= fma71| author=Chipman, Donald E | retrieved=May 4, 2010}} Texas State Historical Association</ref> explored the area on behalf of [[Spain]] in 1691. [[Louis Juchereau de St. Denis]]<ref>{{Handbook of Texas | name=St. Denis, Louis Juchereau de | id= fst01| author=Chipman, Donald E and Lemee, Patricia R | retrieved=May 4, 2010}} Texas State Historical Association</ref> began trading with the Hasinais in 1705. [[Nuestro Padre San Francisco de los Tejas]]<ref>{{Handbook of Texas | name=Nuestro Padre San Francisco de los Tejas Mission| id= uqn01| author=| retrieved=May 4, 2010}} Texas State Historical Association</ref> was originally established in 1690, but was re-established in 1716 by Captain [[Domingo Ramon (explorer)|Domingo Ramon]]. It was abandoned again because of French incursions and re-established in 1721 by the Marques de San Miguel de Aguyao.

In 1826, empresario [[David G. Burnet]] received a grant from the [[Coahuila y Tejas]] legislature to settle 300 families.<ref>{{cite web| title=Empresario Contracts in the Colonization of Texas 1825-1834| publisher=Texas A & M University| url=http://www.tamu.edu/ccbn/dewitt/empresarios.htm| access-date=May 4, 2010| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100615055417/http://www.tamu.edu/ccbn/dewitt/empresarios.htm| archive-date=June 15, 2010}} Wallace L. McKeehan,</ref> The settlers were mostly from the Southern states, and brought the lifestyle of that region with them. By contracting how many families each grantee could settle, the government sought to have some control over colonization.