Italian-born Vicente Micheli (c.1755-1848) came to North America around 1770 via New Orleans and moved to the Spanish Territory of Texas by 1793. He settled first in Nacogdoches and later received a grant of land near this site, the first patented by the Spanish Crown in what became Angelina County. In an unusual business deal, he acquired more than 24,000 acres from a member of the Bidais tribe in exchange for several items, including a blue petticoat, a white shirt, eight brass bracelets, a handful of vermillion, and a fathom of red ribbon. Between 1798 and 1812, Micheli worked as a merchant for Barr & Davenport, a trading firm authorized by the Spanish Crown, doing business with Native Americans. Prior to 1806, he moved to Bexár, present-day San Antonio, while continuing his business dealings in Nacogdoches. In 1806 he complied with orders to move to Santísima Trinidad de Salcedo, a newly established Spanish settlement on the Trinity River. Six years later, he fled to Louisiana because of the Magee-Gutiérrez insurrection, a failed rebellion against Spanish rule in Mexico. After receiving a royal pardon, Micheli was one of only two individuals who returned to Texas. In 1815, he purchased additional land in the La Villita District of San Antonio. In his later years, he continued as a businessman, called himself "The Merchant of Venice," and became an astute speculator, Indian trader, and merchant with landholdings in at least nine modern-day Texas counties. He died in San Antonio at age ninety-three and left a profound legacy of pioneer business development before the Texas Revolution of the 1830s.