Matagorda, the third oldest town and second port established in Texas, has settled into a quiet fishing town.
Elias R. Wightman, an early surveyor for Stephen F. Austin, mapped it out in 1827.
Sixty emigrants from New York and New Orleans became the first settlers.Initially friendly to the settlers,
Karankawa Indians eventually came to resent the new comers and fought against the intrusion on their land.
Long bows were no match for long rifles and the outcome was inevitable.
The last of the Karankawas slipped into extinction by 1852 due to disease,
genetic dilution, habitat destruction and annihilation. The town grew to a
population of 1,400 by 1834 and was incorporated as a city.
It joined Houston and Galveston as one of three towns having a
Chamber of Commerce.
