December 16, 1826. The town of Nacogdoches at the time was an established, but small community, estimated at between 500 and 1000 people. But it stood at a crossroads touching the edges of the immigrant Anglo colonists pushing further into Texas, the indigenous populations, being displaced but still dominant in their lands and feared in the colony, and the public officials and forces of the Mexican government, the sovereign of the land called Texas. It was a trading post and a hub for newly arriving immigrants. So, when Colonel Ben Edwards rode into town with 30 troops and declared the independence of the Republic of Fredonia, to be centered right there in Nacogdoches, well that’s when things got real serious.