France, the first European power to recognize the United States, also became the first to recognize the Republic of Texas as an independent state. This is the story of the man who built the French Legation in Austin, Alphonse Dubois de Saligny, charge d'affaires to King Louis Philippe of France. Dubois de Saligny's perceptive and detailed observations and impressions give a unique portrait of Texas and Texians in the 1840s. Volume 1, Recognition, Rupture, and Reconciliation, contains government memoranda and correspondence from Dubois.