The following are people that performed key roles in the development of Texas before 1900. Click the name for additional biography and details of each individual.
| Birth | Death | Texas Revol. | Indian Fights | MX/AM War | Civil War | |||
| Branch T. Archer | 1790 | VA | 1856 | TX | ✅ | |||
| Stephen F. Austin | 1793 | VA | 1836 | TX | ✅ | |||
| Peter H. Bell | 1812 | VA | 1898 | NC | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Gail Borden, Jr. | 1801 | NY | 1874 | TX | ✅ | ✅ | ||
| James Bowie | 1796 | KY | 1836 | TX | ✅ | ✅ | ||
| John H. Brown | 1820 | MO | 1895 | TX | ✅ | |||
| Guy M. Bryan | 1821 | MO | 1901 | TX | ✅ | ✅ | ||
| Ed Burleson | 1798 | NC | 1851 | TX | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | |
| David Burnet | 1788 | NJ | 1870 | TX | ✅ | |||
| Richard Coke | 1829 | VA | 1897 | TX | ✅ | ✅ | ||
| F. de Coronado | 1510 | SP | 1554 | MX | ||||
| Davy Crockett | 1786 | TN | 1836 | TX | ✅ | |||
| Susana Dickinson | 1814 | TN | 1836 | TX | ✅ | |||
| James Fannin | 1804 | GA | 1836 | TX | ✅ | |||
| John ‘Rip’ Ford | 1815 | SC | 1897 | TX | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | |
| Tom Green | 1814 | VA | 1864 | LA | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| W. P. Hardeman | 1816 | TN | 1898 | TX | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| John C. Hays | 1817 | TN | 1883 | CA | ✅ | ✅ | ||
| J. P. Henderson | 1809 | NC | 1858 | DC | ✅ | |||
| James S. Hogg | 1851 | TX | 1906 | TX | ||||
| Sam Houston | 1793 | VA | 1863 | TX | ✅ | |||
| Albert S. Johnston | 1802 | KY | 1862 | TN | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Anson Jones | 1798 | MA | 1858 | TX | ✅ | |||
| Scott Joplin | 1868 | TX | 1917 | NY | ||||
| Mirabeau Lamar | 1798 | GA | 1859 | TX | ✅ | ✅ | ||
| Sieur de La Salle | 1643 | FR | 1687 | TX | ||||
| Jane Long | 1798 | MD | 1880 | TX | ||||
| F. R. Lubbock | 1815 | SC | 1905 | TX | ✅ | |||
| Ben McCulloch | 1811 | TN | 1862 | AR | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Ben Milam | 1788 | KY | 1835 | TX | ✅ | |||
| Antonio Navarro | 1795 | TX | 1871 | TX | ✅ | ✅ | ||
| Elisabet Ney | 1833 | GE | 1907 | TX | ||||
| James K. Polk | 1795 | NC | 1849 | TN | ✅ | |||
| ‘O. Henry’ Porter | 1862 | NC | 1910 | NY | ||||
| O. M. Roberts | 1815 | SC | 1898 | TX | ✅ | |||
| Sterling Robertson | 1785 | TN | 1842 | TX | ✅ | |||
| L. S. ‘Sul’ Ross | 1838 | IA | 1898 | TX | ✅ | ✅ | ||
| Thomas J. Rusk | 1803 | SC | 1857 | TX | ✅ | ✅ | ||
| A. de Santa Anna | 1794 | MX | 1876 | MX | ✅ | ✅ | ||
| Ashbel Smith | 1805 | CT | 1886 | TX | ✅ | ✅ | ||
| E. ‘Deaf’ Smith | 1787 | NY | 1837 | TX | ✅ | ✅ | ||
| Henry Smith | 1784 | KY | 1851 | CA | ✅ | ✅ | ||
| Alex. W. Terrell | 1827 | VA | 1912 | TX | ✅ | |||
| William B. Travis | 1809 | SC | 1836 | TX | ✅ | |||
| ‘Bigfoot’ Wallace | 1817 | VA | 1899 | TX | ✅ | ✅ | ||
| R. M. Williamson | 1804 | GA | 1859 | TX | ✅ | ✅ | ||
| Lorenzo de Zavala | 1789 | MX | 1836 | TX | ✅ |