<P> When the initial request was refused, Ugartechea sent 100 dragoons to retrieve the cannon . The soldiers neared Gonzales on September 29, but the colonists used a variety of excuses to keep them from the town, while secretly sending messengers to request assistance from nearby communities . Within two days, up to 140 Texians gathered in Gonzales, all determined not to give up the cannon . On October 1, settlers voted to initiate a fight . Mexican soldiers opened fire as Texians approached their camp in the early hours of October 2 . After several hours of desultory firing, the Mexican soldiers withdrew . </P> <P> Although the skirmish had little military significance, it marked a clear break between the colonists and the Mexican government and is considered to have been the start of the Texas Revolution . News of the skirmish spread throughout the United States, where it was often referred to as the "Lexington of Texas". The cannon's fate is disputed . It may have been buried and rediscovered in 1936, or it may have been seized by Mexican troops after the Battle of the Alamo . </P> <P> The Mexican Constitution of 1824 liberalized the country's immigration policies, allowing foreigners to settle in border regions such as Mexican Texas . In 1825, American Green DeWitt received permission to settle 400 families in Texas near the confluence of the San Marcos and Guadalupe Rivers . The DeWitt Colony quickly became a favorite raiding target of local Karankawa, Tonkawa, and Comanche tribes, and in July 1826 they destroyed the capital city, Gonzales . The town was rebuilt the following year, after DeWitt negotiated peace treaties with the Karankawa and Tonkawa . The Comanche continued to stage periodic raids of the settlement over the next few years . Unable to spare military troops to protect the town, in 1831 the region's political chief instead sent the settlers of Gonzales a six - pounder cannon, described by historian Timothy Todish as "a small bored gun, good for little more than starting horse races". </P> <P> During the 1830s, the Mexican government wavered between federalist and centralist policies . As the pendulum swung sharply towards centralism in 1835, several Mexican states revolted . In June, a small group of settlers in Texas used the political unrest as an excuse to rebel against customs duties, in an incident known as the Anahuac Disturbances . The federal government responded by sending more troops to Texas . Public opinion was sharply divided . Some communities supported the rebellion for a variety of reasons . Others, including Gonzales, declared their loyalty to Mexican President Antonio López de Santa Anna's centralist government . Local leaders began calling for a Consultation to determine whether a majority of settlers favored independence, a return to federalism, or the status quo . Although some leaders worried that Mexican officials would see this type of gathering as a step toward revolution, by the end of August most communities had agreed to send delegates to the Consultation, scheduled for October 15 . In the interim, many communities formed militias to protect themselves from a potential attack by military forces . </P>

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