The town of Laredo was founded in 1755 while the area was part of the Nuevo Santander region in the Spanish colony of New Spain. In 1840, Laredo was the capital of the Independent Republic of the Rio Grande, set up in rebellion to the dictatorship of Antonio López de Santa Anna and brought back into Mexico by military force. In 1846 during the Mexican-American War the town was occupied by the Texas Rangers. After the war the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo ceded the land to the United States. A referendum was taken in the town, which voted overwhelmingly to be part of Mexico rather than the United States. However, the U.S. Military refused the petition, and the bulk of the population moved over the river into Mexican territory to found the new town of Nuevo Laredo. In 1849 the military set up Fort McIntosh (originally Camp Crawford) by the town. Laredo is one of the oldest border crossing points along the U.S.-Mexico border, and the nation's busiest inland port. In 2005, Laredo celebrated the 250th anniversary of its founding.