Governments almost always have experienced a need for money to pay
debts. Texas the Republic and Texas the State have been no exceptions.
An Act of the Congress of the Republic of Texas on December 10, 1836,
empowered the President to issue scrip which could be traded for land in
Texas. This scrip was to be sold by agents in the United States for not
less than 50 cents an acre. Thomas Toby of New Orleans, Louisiana, was
the most famous agent, and the land located with scrip he sold is
classified in the General Land Office files today as “Toby Scrip”.
On July 14, 1879, large parts of the public domain were again offered
for sale through land scrip at 50 cents per acre. Most of this land was
located in 52 counties in West Texas.
Today, this land, which sold for 50 cents per acre, is worth many times
more. All in all, about 3,000,000 acres of land were sold to help pay
the public debt of Texas.