That's my point - very little land was owned by the Republic of Texas government. It was all (or nearly all) owned by individuals/families. And after running

That's my point - very little land was owned by the Republic of Texas government. It was all (or nearly all) owned by individuals/families. And after running up large debts to fund the national military in order to keep Mexico at bay, they didn't have the money to buy any land to be turned into parks anyway. Part of the deal upon joining the USA was that Texas would give up large areas of land out west in return for $10 million, to be used to pay off the debts. You'll see the importance of private land ownership to the residents even today. When the Texas Central Railroad tried to acquire land for a bullet train a few years ago, their attempted use of eminent domain fell more than flat. https://www.texastribune.org/2017/02/23/come-and-take-it-eminent-domain-dispute-heart-train-battles/ https://www.texastribune.org/2017/02/23/come-and-take-it-emi...