Mexican Units of Measure Were Used in Early Texas
Texas GLO map 3703 with boundary lengths measured in varas
A varas is a measure of length or distance used by Spain and Mexico and therefore adopted by Stephen F. Austin when he was settling his Texas colonies. His version of a varas (there were two!) is equal to 33⅓ inches. To convert varas to yards, divide by 1.08.
For area measurements, a labor (pronounced “la bore”) is 1,000,000 square varas (about 177 acres) and a league is 25 labors, or 25,000,000 square varas (about 4,428 acres). In most of the deeds considered here, lengths were measured in varas but fortunately, areas were measured in acres, rather than labors or leagues. Follow this link to Wikipedia's discussion of the various Mexican units of measure that were also used in Texas.
For area measurements, a labor (pronounced “la bore”) is 1,000,000 square varas (about 177 acres) and a league is 25 labors, or 25,000,000 square varas (about 4,428 acres). In most of the deeds considered here, lengths were measured in varas but fortunately, areas were measured in acres, rather than labors or leagues. Follow this link to Wikipedia's discussion of the various Mexican units of measure that were also used in Texas.