From the Annals of Francophobia –  In 1841, The Texas House passed the Franco-Texian bill which authorized the formation of a French-based immigration company. The bill was proposed by Jean Pierre Hippolyte Basterrèche and Pierre François de Lassaulx, two Frenchmen who sought a massive immigration of French citizens to Texas.  The bill called for the introduction of 8,000 immigrant families to occupy three million acres of the Republic of Texas. In addition, the managing company was to establish twenty forts in twenty years and develop mines in its territory. The bill was never presented to the Senate because of a threatened veto by acting president David G. Burnet.

Photo of the French Legation in Austin from http://www.frenchlegationmuseum.org