Spanish Texans

• Main Author: University of Texas Institute of Texan Cultures at San Antonio
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: University of Texas Institute of Texan Cultures at San Antonio 1972
• Subjects: Spaniards > Texas > History. Spaniards > Texas > Biography. Texas > History > To 1846. Texas > Biography.; Texas History; Aguayo; Alvarez; Amarillo; Austin; Babylon; Barrios; Benavides; Bolton; Cabeza; Diaz; Dolores; Dominguez; Garay; Grande Valley; Homestead; Indian; Las Palmas; Lone; Lookout; Lopez; Luisa; Marvel; Medina; Montague; Moses; Northwest Passage; Olivares; Ortiz; Pacific; Pratt; Refugio; Rene; Rivera; Rodriguez; Romero; Rosales; Rosario; Royalist; Saba; San Fernando; San Jose; San Juan; San Miguel; St. Louis; Tay; The Altar; The Lookout; Theodore; Northwest passage
• Online Access: http://digital.utsa.edu/cdm/ref/collection/p16018coll6/id/283

Part of the Institute of Texan Cultures' The Texians and the Texans series. THE TEXIANS AND THE TEXANS THE SPANISH TEXANS THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT SAN ANTONIO INSTITUTE OF TEXAN CULTURES THE TEXIANS AND TEXANS A pamphlet series dealing with the many kinds of people who have contributed to the history and heritage of Texas. Now in print: The Indian Texans, The German Texans, The Norwegian Texans, The Mexican Texans (in English), Los Mexicano Texa­nos (in Spanish), The Spanish Texans, The Polish Texans, The Czech Texans, The French Texans, The Italian Texans, and The Greek Texans. © 1972: The Institute of Texan Cultures Cover illustrations: "Quivira," by Tom Lea Courtesy of Dr. H. F. Connally Ruins at Tascosa, by Ben Carlton Mead Courtesy of the artist The Rosales Brothers of Corpus Christi Courtesy of Mrs. Rosa Piz Hinojosa THE SPANISH TEXANS If strange intelligent beings from another planet had invaded the land we now call Texas, it could have had no more shock­ing or lasting impact than the coming of the Spaniards, early in the sixteenth cen­tury. So far as the people who had been living here for thousands of years were concerned, these were truly men from another world. More significantly, they were men from another time, bringing weapons, tools, and a way of life as strange to the Indians as if they had come from outer space. The Spaniards were late Medieval men, aggressive, self-confident, greedy, and firmly convinced of their duty to spread the blessings of their civilization and re­ligion, by force, throughout all heathen lands. They brought with them marvels unimagined in the Stone Age wilderness of Texas. They had guns and gunpowder, swords and armor of metal, and strange terrifying tactics of warfare. They came in ships that flew before the wind and were so huge they could carry an entire tribe, with all of its food, weapons, shel­ters and equipment. Most terrifying of all the strange things the Spaniards brought, was the horse-an overwhelming weapon in bat­tle, and a marvel of transportation. And into a land where only the dog (and pos­sibly, the turkey) had been tamed to serve man's purposes, they brought creatures such as the Indians had never seen; cat­tle, sheep, goats, donkeys, swine, and chickens. The Spaniards introduced into Stone VASQUEZ DE CORONADO EXPEDITION Age Texas the revolutionary ideas of building permanent structures of stone and lumber, of the use of the wheel, of money, of writing, printing, and record­ing history. They brought advanced con­cepts of laws and government, a new lan­guage, and a new religion. Eventually, they mapped the land, set its bounds, and gave it the name by which we know it today. For three centuries the Spaniards ruled Texas, before they lost it to their own Courtesy of Tom Lea rebellious descendants and the progeny they had produced with the peoples they had conquered. Two thirds of the recorded history of Texas is Spanish history. About two million Texans today bear Spanish names and carry some Spanish blood. Many more speak, read, and write the Spanish language. Though it has been a century and a half since the rule of Spain was overthrown, the influence of the Spanish Texans is strongly felt through­out Texas life today. 2 't'enocbtttlan. ~ ~ MEETING OF CORTES AND MOCTEZUMA ERA OF EXPLORATION The sixteenth century gave rise to a new era of exploration. From the ports of southern Spain came an ever-increasing number of ships bound for "Nueva Es­pana," the great just-discovered area that held promise of wealth, glory, and ad­venture. Cortes and the Conquistadores had brought the empire of Moctezuma to an end and coffers of gold were pouring into the Spanish treasury. Texas was un­explored and appeared simply as a blank area on Spanish maps. Yet, it was hoped Antiguedades Mexicanas that it would contain more wealth and possibly the fabled "Strait of Anian"­the Northwest Passage to the Pacific that would open trade routes to the treasures of the Orient. To the missionaries, the un­explored land represented a new field of harvest, with numerous lost souls to be brought the light of Christianity and taught the fine points of Spanish culture. Texas had been known only to the In­dians when a landing party of Spanish sailors first set foot on its soil in 1519. A new era had begun. ALONZO ALVAREZ DE PINEDA 1519 As naval adjutant to Francisco Garay, the Spanish governor of Jamaica, Alonzo Al­varez de Pineda was sent with fbur ships to explore and map the coastline of the Gulf of Mexico. Pineda was ordered to search for a Northwest Passage to the Pacific. In addition, he was to intercept the expedition of Hernando Cortes at Veracruz, and take that portion of the conquest of Mexico away from Cortes for Garay. Pineda found no Northwest Pas­sage. He did, however, become the first European to scout and map the Texas coast, which his landing parties reported was inhabited by giants, men of ordinary size, and pygmies. When Pineda anchored off Veracruz and sent his men ashore, Cortes apprehended them as soon as they landed. Outmaneuvered, Pineda sailed back up the coast to the Rio de las Palmas, (probably the Rio Grande), explored its lower reaches, and returned to Jamaica. The following year, Garay sent an ex­pedition under Diego de Camargo to es­tablish a settlement at the mouth of the Rio de las Palmas. Camargo had difficulty with the Indians, who revolted and ex­pelled the Spaniards. On the strength of these explorations however, Garay ob­tained a grant from King Charles I to colonize the region, to be known as "Amichel." In 1523, Garay led a coloniz­ing expedition to the Panuco River. He was unaware the area was already under the control of Cortes. Garay was impris­oned in Mexico City, where he died. TRANSPORTING HORSES FROM SPAIN TO MEXICO Lea, The Hands of CantU. THE THE 1519 HO RS E S 0 F CONQUEST The Spaniards relied, in their conquests, on four things that gave them an im­mense advantage over the Indians. These were the sailing ship, metal armament, gunpowder, and the horse. The most ef­fective of these, by far, was the horse. The Indians, being unfamiliar with the horse, were terrified at the sight of the Spanish horsemen and thought that horse and rider were one huge, ferocious beast. The horses of the early conquests had to be precariously hauled overseas from Spain. But as soon as Spanish colonists became firmly established in the New World, they raised their own horses. By 1539, Vasquez de Coronado could furnish his expedition with 1500 horses and mules raised in Mexico. In the same year, Hernando de Soto bought in Cuba the 350 horses that he took to Florida. By that time the breed­ing and sale of the animals had become one of the principal sources of wealth in the Spanish colonies. QUOTES: "The horses were our fortress and our only hope of salvation"-Bernal Diaz del Castillo, on the Conquest of Mexico in 1519. "After God, we owed our victories to our horses"-Castaneda, on Vasquez de Coronado's expedition of 1540. Only in the two earliest explorations of Texas was the horse not present and essential: in the coastal expedition of Alvarez de Pineda, and the footsore wanderings of Cabeza de Vaca and his three companions. 3 4 PANFILO DE NARVAEZ 1527 A year after Alvarez de Pineda's unsuc­cessful attempt to depose Cortes, Governor Diego de Velasquez of Cuba sent Panfilo de Narvaez on a similar mission. Narvaez was badly mauled in a pitched fight and carried off to Mexico City. Released after three years in jail, he went to Spain and laid his grievances against Cortes before the king. In compensation, Narvaez was given the governorship of Florida and set out to explore and colonize it. The enter­prise was a disaster from the start; of five ships, two were wrecked in a storm off Cuba. In the Florida swamps, Narvaez wore out his expedition in a frantic search for gold. When supplies ran low, the re­maining 40 horses, which were only half their original number, were eaten and rafts made of their hides. The women were sent back to Cuba in the remaining ships, and the men paddled along the Gulf shore in the rafts, as far as Texas. Narvaez was drowned in a storm, others were cast ashore. All but four perished from one cause or another. Among the survivors was Cabeza de Vaca, who would later write of his adventures in a famous book. ". ~. :~:~·:j~:~'fY~·~i . ~ -~ c>_~. "~:f:1. ::~-~;~. _ . ;. McCracken, The Frederic Remington Book ALVAR NUNEZ CABEZA DE VACA 1528 The treasurer of the Narvaez expedition, Cabeza de Vaca, was shipwrecked with others on or near Galveston Island in November of 1528. The Spaniards who did not starve, or fall victim to the canni­balism of their fellows, wound up as prisoners of the Indians. Cabeza de Vaca was made a slave, then a medicine man. For four years he was a peddler, moving freely between the tribes. Finally, he picked a route that he hoped would take him toward the Spanish settlements. Fol­lowing the coastline as far as the Guada­lupe River, he found three other survivors of the Narvaez expedition-the only ones left, besides himself. With them he wan­dered through the brush country, crossed the Rio Grande and reached the foot of the mountains in Mexico. The four were followed by throngs of Indians, on whom they performed cures. In March of 1536, they approached Culiacan, the northern outpost of New Spain, where they were met by Spaniards who cared for them and took them to civilization. A few months later, in Mexico City, they were the talk of the town. Judging from his book, pub­lished in 1542, Cabeza de Vaca told no fanciful tales. He simply reported what Indians had told him about great cities to the north of his route. But this was suf­ficient to kindle the Spanish imagination. The viceroy himself, Antonio de Mendo­za, became obsessed with the Seven Cities of Cibola and wanted to lead an expedi­tion there. -:-~ ~--=-=:---~. .- . - '-:::.o::---.--::--~.:.=.,; .~""~ ~ , ~"p '~ Itr :f;;;;j/;;,/!~ -'- / ( /~. . . '/ . - ./ /// .- ,". /- . ///j/> .' ,/// --- ._-_ . " - . --- -- -. --_. ---. --- --- .- --- --- --- -__ . . - - --- - . .- -- --- _._-- - _._- --- . --- ---_.__-.- --. .-. -_-_-. _ --- --- - --- --- --- --- _-•._.- __- -._--_-. -. ._ --_._--- - --- --- -_.-.--- - - - --- - _._ - _. -.-- --- - .-_ --- ­, / ) \ . / CROSS FOLLOWS THE SWORD 1581 After Vasquez de Coronado's failure to hold New Mexico for Spain, a number of later expeditions to that region likewise failed to make any lasting mark. That of Fray Agustin Rodriguez and Francisco Sanchez Chamuscado in 1581 was the first expedition in this part of New Spain to have a religious aim. Fray Rodriguez, like Fray Juan de Padilla, was killed by the Indians he tried to convert. His expedi­tion, and that of Antonio de Espejo, which went to search for him in the following year, reached the Rio Grande by way of the Rio Conchos of Mexico and crossed the Trans-Pecos tip of Texas. The expedition of Gaspar Castano de Sosa took a some­what similar route in 1590. SECURING A NORTHERN FOOTHOLD 1598 For almost a century after the expedition of Mexican-born Juan de Onate made New Mexico a Spanish province in 1598, nearly all the explorations of present Tex­as had their origin in New Mexico. These expeditions were led or directed by friars who went in quest of souls, rather than gold. The king (Philip III) soon lost in­terest in New Mexico, which brought him no revenue. But the missionaries of the Franciscan order viewed it as a bountiful field, ripe for the harvest. In the early 1600's the province was already dotted with missions. There was one in every Indian pueblo. New Mexico became a 9 ~ ~ >-.1 .::l :;:, ;:! ~ ~ ~ k1 rJ) o ~ ~ ~ u ~ o.r.J,) ~ rJ) p:; ~ .:.I . ~ rJ) ~ .:I p:; ~ ~ ~ (.!) .~. ~ ~ .:I . rJ) el p:; Po. ~ <: u .r.J.). u ~ <: p:; >t. spiritual province, where the clergy were quite influential vis-a-vis to civil gover­nors. News of their missionary accom­plishments, spreading rapidly through correspondence to Europe, was received with enthusiasm by Franciscans every­where. Benavides, Memorial MARIA DE AGREDA 1628 A Franciscan nun who became abbess of a convent at 25, Maria de Agreda was a famous figure in Spain and a confidential advisor to King Phillip IV. She was gen­erally believed to have possessed a gift of bilocation. Maria told her confessor that she had often been transported to New Mexico while in a trance, and that she had preached to the Indians of a kingdom with a name something like "Titlas" or "Ticlas," not far from the land of the Jumanos. This was reported to the new­ly appointed archbishop sailing for Mexi­co in the spring of 1628. He, in turn, wrote a letter to the Franciscans of New Mexico, telling them to be on the lookout for such a kingdom. Nearly all the ex­plorations eastward from New Mexico, the first missions founded in Texas, and even the name "Texas" itself were in­spired by the Franciscans' faith in the revelations of this "Lady in Blue." FRAY ALONSO DE BENAVIDES 1629 As father president of the Franciscans of New Mexico in 1628, Fray Alonso de Benavides received the archbishop's letter asking that a search be made for the "Kingdom of Ticlas," which should be found "close by the land of the Jumanos." Since the Jumano Indians visited the easternmost mission of New Mexico, their homeland on the Colorado River, near present San Angelo, was easily found. In 1629, Benavides sent two missionaries among the tribe, who reported them friendly and responsive towards Chris­tianity. Three years later one of these friars returned to the Jumanos with another companion, staying for several months and preaching to the tribe. In 1630 Benavides went to Spain, seeking support for the missions of New Mexico RELIGIOUS SERVICES AMONG THE JUMANOS BY JOSE CISNEROS El Paso Public Library and published his Memorial, in which he exalted the achievements of the Francis­cans in those missions. The following year, a series of interviews between the friar and Maria de Agreda was arranged. The result was an open letter from Bena-vides to the missionaries of New Mexico, to which he appended a letter from Maria herself. The Benavides letter declared his faith in, and attempted to prove the truth of, Maria's revelations of supernatural visits to the New World. II ! I I I 12 HERNAN MARTIN­DIEGO DEL CASTILLO 1650 Although the expedition of Hernan Mar­tin and Diego del Castillo is known by the names of these two officers from the presi­dio at Santa Fe, it was accompanied and perhaps guided by friars. It proceeded by a new route to the home of the Jumanos, on the Colorado, evidently searching for the "kingdom with a name something like Ticlas." Continuing down the Colo­rado some 135 miles past the Jumanos, the expedition was met by Indians who greeted it with cries of "techias," mean­ing "friends." This sounded close enough, and the Spaniards reported having reached "the outer limits of the nation called Tejas," which they understood was extensive, populous, and agricultural. This is the first appearance in any known document of the word "Tejas" or Texas (both pronounced "TAY-HASS" in Span­ish) . INDIAN PICTOGRAPH OF MAN ON HORSEBACK Jackson, Picture Writing of Texas Indians "NUESTRA SENORA DE GUADALUPE" BY H . C. PRATT MISSION NUESTRA SENORA DE GUADALUPE 1659 The "new route" between Santa Fe and the Jumanos taken by captains Martin and Castillo in 1650 may have gone by way of El Paso. In 1659, the Mission Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe was estab- Amon Carter Museum of Western Art lished on the south side of the Rio Grande, in present Ciudad Juarez. The mission served as a waystation between New Mexico and Mexico City, and was the nucleus of the settlement from which the modern city of El Paso, on the opposite side of the Rio Grande, has grown. SOCORRO AND YSLETA 1682 A bloody rebellion of the Pueblo Indians in 1680 drove the Spaniards out of New Mexico. They took refuge at Real de San Lorenzo, near the EI Paso mission. In 1682 an attempt to reconquer the lost province failed, but Tigua Indians were brought from the pueblo of Isleta in New Mexico, and given a mission on the south bank of the Rio Grande at a place called Y sleta del Sur. Indians from Socorro, who had retreated with the Spaniards in 1680, MISSION AT YSLETA 1860 were also given a mISSIon. The river changed its course in the nineteenth cen­tury, leaving both missions on the Texas side. Although Diego de Vargas recon­quered New Mexico in 1692, the Tiguas at Y sleta and Socorro made no effort to return to their former lands. They are still there, the oldest continuous residents of Texas. It should be noted that the Span­ish never considered the EI Paso area missions as being located in Texas. This region was classed with New Mexico as part of Nueva Viscaya. I "."!-' . EI Paso Public Library JUAN DOMINGUEZ DE MENDOZA-FRAY FRANCISCO LOPEZ 1683 The father-president of the Franciscans of New Mexico, Francisco Lopez, was forced by the Pueblo Rebellion of 1680 to take refuge in the mission at Juarez. He was visited there by the Jumano chief, Juan Sabatea, who begged for a mission, saying a huge cross had been seen in the eastern sky. (Actually, Sabatea wanted Spanish help against the Apache). Fray Lopez, enlisting the aid of Juan Dominguez de Mendoza, made an expedition down the Rio Grande in 1683, to its juncture with the Rio Conchos (at present Presidio, Texas), where he founded four missions. Then they proceeded to the Jumano coun­try on the Colorado, and onward to the San Saba River. There they dug in, under unceasing attack from the Apache, and waited several weeks for the "Indians from the river of the Tejas," who never came. The expedition returned by a more southerly route, making a tour of what is now the geographical heart of Texas. Lopez and Mendoza both conveyed to the viceroy their feeling that a country so fertile and full of game should be planted with colonies and missions. It could sup­port, said Mendoza, 20,000, "or even 200,000" people. The viceroy coldly re­jected their proposal, because the French threat on the Texas coast impelled the government of New Spain to rearrange priorities. 13 I I ! r.:1 j ! . ~-~ ,. , . 1, # 11 ,~Z ~!>; -.' . MISSIONARY COLLEGE OF SANTA CRUZ AT QUERETARO THE COLLEGE OF SANTA CRUZ. QUERETARO 1683 In 1683 a group of Franciscan friars from Spain landed at Veracruz, and proceeded to Queretaro where, under the leadership of Fray Antonio Linaz de Jesus Maria, they founded the Missionary College of Santa Cruz. This was an important event 14 ~, : "': . ~'~-~ ~ '.,. ',; :JII!IIi' . :>ttf ,~' •. "'>'¥~ . ~-" " . . «<;""~'. -.J.~ 'i_ Castaneda, Our Catholic Heritage, Vol. 3 in the history of Texas. Among this new group, in the order of their appearance in that history, were Fray Damian Massa­net, Fray Francisco Cas an as, Fray Fran­cisco Hidalgo, and Fray Antonio Margil. All of the missionaries who came to Texas before 1716, and many who came later, were members of the College at Quere­taro. THE SEARCH FOR LA SALLE 1685 Suddenly, the attitude of the King of Spain (Charles II) and the viceroy (the Marques de Laguna) toward the vast space between the Mississippi and the Rio Grande changed from indifference to feverish interest. In the spring of 1685, captured French pirates gave the officials of New Spain their first knowledge of La­Salle's expedition to the Gulf of Mexico. News of a French fort menacing the rich mines of Mexico came as a terrific jolt. The viceroy ordered an intensive search by land and by sea. Finally, after two ex­peditions, Alonso de Leon found La Salle's abandoned Fort St. Louis. RENE ROBERT CAVELlER SIEUR DE LA SALLE Chesnel, History of Cavelier de la Salle ,,--- :- j I ! -- . ::.:: --- " THE FIRST OF THE RACE" BY FREDERIC REMINGTON # --_ .--- - _. __ ~. ' '~rlrv. . .plllIl/l;,. -f' . \~r:v"Y ./~ rrr-r Century Magazine, Vol. 37 FRAY DAMIAN MASSANET 1689 Obsessed with Maria de Agreda's story of her miraculous visits to the Indians of "Ticlas," and the Indians' tales of a mys­terious "Lady in Blue," Fray Damian Massanet received a mission assignment in Coahuila, as close to the Rio Grande as possible. Joining De Le6n's expedition in 1689 to Fort St. Louis, he met friendly Indians whom he called "Tejas" and per­suaded them to let him establish a mission in their country. He then journeyed to Mexico City and, by stressing the menace of French invasion, persuaded the viceroy to let him implement the idea. WILD COWS AND MUSTANGS 1690 On de Le6n's fifth and last expedition, in 1690, to the land of the "Tejas," he was actually under the orders of Massanet. The expedition deliberately left horses and cows at every river crossing, thus starting the h erds of wild cattle in Texas that would give rise to a great industry, and the herds of mustangs (mestenas) that would become a Western legend. FIRST EAST TEXAS MISSION 1690 Going by way of Fort St. Louis, Massanet personally set fire to the r emains. On June 14, he founded San Francisco de los Tejas, the first mission in what is now East Tex­as. He returned to Coahuila with De Le6n, convinced that he had indeed discovered 15 MISSION SAN FRANCISCO DE LOS TEJ AS 16 the land which Maria de Agreda said she had visited in a trance. Three soldiers and three friars remained at the mission. Mas­sanet returned to Texas in August of 1691, with additional friars and Domingo Teran de los Rios, first governor of Coa­huila and Texas. But now everything went wrong. The Indians were unruly. I.T.C. Collection Massanet quarreled with Teran, as he had with De Le6n, asked for troops to subdue the Indians, and was rebuked by the viceroy. When East Texas was official­ly abandoned, in the fall of 1693, Massa­net left Texas forever, out of favor with the Indians, with the government, and with his fellow friars. FRAY FRANCISCO DE JESUS MARIA CASANAS 1691 One of three friars left in East Texas by Massanet in 1690, Fray Francisco Casa­iias founded a second mission, Santisimo Nombre de Maria, but it was washed away by a flood. A fearful epidemic in the winter of 1690-91 killed one friar and some 3,000 Indians. When Massanet re­turned in August, he was accompanied by Fray Francisco Hidalgo, who asked Casa­iias to write a report to the viceroy. The result was the first report ever written about Texas on Texas soil; it was a plain statement of fact. But it annihilated any notion that this could have been the "kingdom" visited by Maria de Agreda. There was no trace of a Christian tradi­tion among these heathen, Casaiias said. They stretched their prisoners of war on a frame and cut off pieces of the living body, which they roasted and ate. They liked blue because it was the color of the sky-not, as Massanet had claimed, be­cause a "Lady in Blue" had preached to them long ago. The word "Texias" (as Casaiias spelled it) applied to all the allies of the Hasinai, many of whom spoke different tongues-not to anyone land or people. FRAY FRANCISCO HIDALGO 1693 No other man did so much as Fray Hidal­go to bring about the permanent occu­pation of Texas by Spain. When the order came in 1693 to abandon the mission and military post in East Texas, the Indians -though furious with the soldiers­exacted a promise from Hidalgo to return. He buried the bells and "things of iron, so that they might be found when the people should come again." For 16 years the Indians of Texas scarcely saw a Span­iard. In 1700 Hidalgo established, with Fray Antonio Olivares, Mission San Juan Bautista, only six miles south of the Rio Grande. Next year the two Queretaran friars helped found the Presidio del Rio Grande, the gateway to Texas for a cen­tury and a half. MISSION BELL OF SAN FRANCISCO DE LOS TEJAS Texas Collection, Baylor University --~ . .::.- . . --C:~'- ( -. ~. ., . -,---.::' ~ ~ . - - ---. ___ . -it --. - . 0#0"-'- ~-. . t'-. ~ . -.' ~ '-'';:'" - . \';. ~ 't. . _._-- ~ _ . .r-~ . t.t., . ~--. . . __ J •• - . ,~ . , . _ . ".".' ­." . . . ~ . t.,~:~, y . ~ ~ "''.­. . . " . of . ;'-,:. . .- ~ .~. . .::;~:. ••• 'do l'"r '. Q,c{ . .~,-: . -- . . ~ . . : ;. ' ." ~ . . , . .; ;;::'"''_ ' '' l!-t. - - '::-. - ","",. . ' . ~ . ,. ".*. _. '\. ---.-. . : . ~!\.~ . -. ,. - _ . . . I. ___ . . t t . :: . ~.Y ~ . . . .' .". , . ~. --. .~ . .). . ' . -. - ::.--.;:: ,:>' . t. b,t.> . . . : I ';' ' . ':~ .":" .: -t. "~' • • ;:: ~ . J '. . ~ --:;~ '. '. . -' .' t·"'·· '-.~ --~ . . ~ '- . . . :-. --, . : . 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", .-"::q,"~ ,'~ :' : > • . . · 7:''-rti~ l' l'II.,?,.1 d . l1u)r.~ illl ~ , _ • •• '" : r ' ' . . II I~I," ;' . ' . F. l'bu ("",!:J.b 1,.~rI,,' (''iuiJ: .tt·~·. ." bJI I" (~I!u .h·(,VV'·"1f1N .l:QLJ. l~ •• i:u .11:11.1 "I.r,u " ' II at :idOl',,·, Ef . "l,a .:it! doCatn':l,T., . n." !!lf t .~. 'Z ". I'" I' -ftri . ,.". . ! '-, MAP OF THE PRESIDIO DEL RIO GRANDE FRAY FRANCISCO HIDALGO'S RETURN 1716 Year after year, Hidalgo's desperate ef­forts to revive the East Texas mission came to nothing. In 1711, he began play­ing a dangerous game. Writing to the French clergy in Louisiana, even to the governor, he asked their help in estab­lishing missions in Texas. The unex­pected result was the famous journey, in 1714, of Louis de St. Denis from Natchi- ' -." . . . . . \!. . . '. . . ";" r ~ ', ",.' Weddle, San Juan Bautista toches to the Presidio del Rio Grande. From there he was sent under polite ar­rest to the viceroy in Mexico City, who authorized him to guide an expedition to establish missions in East Texas. In 1716, this expedition was organized under the military leadership of Captain Domingo Ram6n of the Presidio del Rio Grande. Going along was Fray Francisco Hidalgo -keeping his promise to the Indians after 23 years. 17 I 1 I i I . i I ~ if, • , 1M : i I ~ I I i FRAY ANTONIO MARGIL Texana Collection, The University of Texas at Austin 18 FRAY ANTONIO MARGIL DE JESUS 1716 The Frenchman, Louis de St. Denis, served as guide for the Ramon expedition of 1716, but the real leader was Fray Antonio Margil, the most revered of all the Franciscans in New Spain. Although he was nominally in charge of the friars sent to Texas from the College of Guada­lupe at Zacatecas, which he had founded in 1707, he was consulted by the viceroy at every point while the expedition was being prepared. MISSIONARY COLLEGE OF GUADALUPE AT ZACATECAS Castaneda, Our Catholic Heritage, Vol. 3 '" SPANISH SOLDIERS, 1718 HARD TIMES IN EAST TEXAS 1716 . i.~,/·~ ( t \ In July, 1716, four missions and a pre­sidio were founded in East Texas; three by friars of the College of Santa Cruz at Queretaro, and a fourth, on the site of future Nacogdoches, by the friars of Za­catecas. Fray Margil became ill on the road and was not present at the founding of the Zacatecas mission. But he proceeded to establish two more missions, one at Los Adaes (now in Louisiana) and another at Artes de Mexico, No. 102 Los Ais (present San Augustine). During the next two years the aging Margil suf­fered' along with the other friars, every privation. The Indians' crops failed, and only scant supplies were received until the arrival of the Alarcon expedition in 1718. The following year a comic-opera war with France inspired the French of­ficer at Natchitoches to attack the lone soldier and lone friar at Los Adaes. The friar escaped and spread the alarm to the presidio in East Texas. Fearing invasion, the Spanish troops withdrew to the area near the mission, San Antonio de Valero. The Franciscans of the East Texas mis­sions had no choice but to go along . ALARCON AND THE FOUNDING OF SAN ANTONIO 1718 As early as 1691, the area near the head­waters of the San Antonio River hqd been recognized as a good location for a mis­sion, when the site was visited by Gover­nor Teran and Fray Massanet. Again in 1709, the area was visited by Fray Oliva­res and Fray Espinosa, who saw the pos­sibilities for a settlement. When Espinosa revisited the site in 1716, he recom­mended it as the location for a mission and Fray Olivares obtained authorization from the viceroy, the Marques de Valero. In that same year, Martin de Alarcon was appointed governor of Texas. Two years later plans were made for an ex­pedition under Alarcon to establish a mis­sion and presidio near the source of the San Antonio River. Fray Olivares was delayed and did not arrive at the location below San Pedro Springs until May 1st. On that date, the Mission San Antonio de Valero was established. On May 5th, the presidio and Villa de San Fernando de Bexar were founded and named in honor of the viceroy's brother, the Duke of Bexar. This villa would become the town of San Antonio, the first Spanish settle­ment in Texas. At a later date, the mis­sion was moved to the east side of town, where it was eventually to become known as "the Alamo." 19 - I \ j II t O" " ~ :' l I I I I (. I( ,,''; ';;;;';';'" i I L.~-.~<~\. .~ _;.-s-->:,,,,,," j OJ :,. ~:\:,.:\ :. . :~.~ . ._ ", - . -- ~. / ~ ". :.-- , . . MISSION SAN JOSE FOUNDING OF SAN JOSE 1720 In 1720, Margil founded the most success­ful of the Texas missions, San Jose y San Miguel de Aguayo, at San Antonio. The next year he sent a trusted friend to estab- 20 . . , .:: -' -~'::. . ·f;.:- ':.: :" . '~ - -. .::::= -.:.- ~ ::: :: :.:.::"'7 :- i.~:: The Emory Report lish Mission Espiritu Santo, near La Salle's vanished fort. Margil returned to East Texas with the Aguayo expedition in 1721, but was soon recalled to serve as prefect (ecclesiastical or spiritual leader) over all the missionaries of New Spain. He died in Mexico City in 1126. Fray Margil was regarded in his lifetime as a saint. The movement to have him canon­ized, initiated soon after his death, re­cently has been renewed with vigor . MARQUES DE SAN MIGUEL DE AGUAYO 1721 Since the French occupation of East Tex­as in 1719, the area had been of great concern to the Spanish. After offering to drive the French out of the region, the Marques de Aguayo was appointed gov­ernor of Coahuila and Texas. In 1721, the Aguayo expedition crossed the Rio Grande with 500 horsemen, bound for East Texas. On hearing of this formidable force, the French withdrew to Louisiana and the Spanish claim to Texas was never again questioned by them. Taking with him the friars who had fled to San Antonio, Aguayo re-esta blished six missions and a presidio in East Texas. He also built a presidio at Los Adaes. On a side trip to Matagordo Bay, he established Mission Espiritu Santo and Presidio de Loreto. At San Antonio, he established the new mission of San Francisco Xavier de Naja­ra and moved the presidio of San Antonio de Bexar to its permanent location on Military Plaza. It was also the Marques de Aguayo who recommended that Spain colonize Texas with settlers, rather than soldiers. He proposed that 400 families be settled in Texas, one half from the Canary Islands and the other half loyal Tlascalan Indians. THE CANARY ISLANDERS 1731 On March 9, 1731, the first group of 56 colonists from the Canary Islands arrived in San Antonio. They were also the last. Of the 400 families the Marques de Aguayo proposed be settled in Texas, only a handful from the Canary Islands and some Tlascalan Indians from Mexico ac- SAN FERNANDO CATHEDRAL tually reached San Antonio. These immi­grants formed the nucleus of the Villa de San Fernando (later called San Antonio de Bexar), the first organized civil gov­ernment in Texas. The colonization plan was stopped however, by Pedro de Rivera, the king's inspector, who felt the project was too extravagant. He also objected to the "useless" missions in East Texas and Texana Collection, University of Texas at Austin recommended that they be moved to San Antonio. REMOVAL OF MISSIONS FROM EAST TEXAS 1731 In accordance with the recommendations of the king's inspector, the three East Texas missions belonging to the College of Queretaro were removed, first to the area of present day Austin, then to the vicinity of San Antonio, where they ac­commodated tribes-mostly Coahuiltecan -from the brush country of Texas and the coast. The missions were given their present names: San Francisco de la Espa­da, San Juan Capistrano, and Nuestra Senora de la Purisima Concepcion. JOSE DE ESCANDON 1749 Jose de Escandon was responsible for the colonization of the first successful settle­ments along the Rio Grande between present Laredo and Brownsville. He was commissioned to inspect the area between Tampico and the San Antonio River, and locate sites for prospective towns. His ac­tivities were delayed until he was made governor of Nuevo Santander, but in 1749 he was able to establish the first of his settlements along the Rio Grande. Of the six towns that Escandon founded on the river, Laredo and Dolores are on the north side. On the south side are Revilla, Camargo, Mier, and Reynosa, each of which had extensive lands (porciones) on the north bank. 21 J 'I I j ESTABLISHMENT OF LA BAHIA (LATER GOLIAD) 1749 ish Texas. Although nothing remains of the original houses, the Spanish presidio and mission have been carefully restored. A few miles away, up the river, are the ruins of Mission Rosario, founded in 1754 for the Karankawa. Plans for its restora­tion have been announced. Mission Es­piritu Santo, by rounding up the wild cattle that flourished on the coastal plain, also became a ranch-the largest in Span­ish Texas. The removal of the presidio of La Bahia and Mission Espiritu Santo to their per­manent location at Goliad was part of Escandon's scheme. The mission and La Bahia presidio, which had been moved inland to a site on the Guadalupe River, were finally relocated on the San Antonio River in 1749. There grew up around the presidio the second oldest town in Span-l i.~.r -~CHA~PEL OF T~HE PRESID~IO LA BA~HIA __~ _I .T.C, ICollection I I I THE FOUNDING OF LAREDO 1755 One of the new settlements established by Escandon along the Rio Grande was at the crossing of the road from Monclova to San Antonio. At this site in 1755, per­mission was granted for Tomas Sanchez to found the town of Laredo, probably named for the Villa de Laredo, in San­tander, Spain. Thus was founded the third permanent town in Spanish Texas. Despite simple beginnings, Laredo grew to become the most important settlement on the north bank of the Rio Grande. MISSION SAN SABA DE LA SANTA CRUZ 1757 Peace was made with the Eastern Apache in 1749. A mission and presidio were built on the San Saba River in 1757 in a futile attempt to christianize the roving Lipan Apache. These Indians visited it, but declined to live on the grounds. It was also visited by the Comanche and Wichi­ta, who were at war with the Apache. They assaulted the mission in March, 1758, destroyed it, and murdered the priests. The nearby presidio outlasted the mission for more than a decade, but even­tually it was withdrawn to the Nueces Canyon in 1769, then to the Rio Grande. CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE COMANCHE AND WICHITA 1759 A punitive expedition against the Co­manche and Wichita was undertaken in October of 1759 by Diego Ortiz Parrilla, the commander of the presidio at San Saba. Near the Montague County site now called Spanish Fort on the Red River, the Spaniards found the Wichita strongly entrenched, armed with French weapons, and displaying a French flag. The Span­iards were soundly defeated in the battle that followed, and were forced into a dis­orderly retreat. This was the start of a devastating war waged by the Comanche and Wichita against the Spaniards for nearly 30 years. The warfare put an end to northern expansion in Spanish Texas (and disrupted cattle raising, the most significant industry) . Moreover, the Span­iard had lost his superior advantage; the Plains Indians now had the horse. The affront to Spanish arms indicated that the mission-presidio system was ineffective north of San Antonio. INDIAN PICTOGRAPH OF SAN SABA MISSION Jackson, Picture Writing of Texas Indians ()~(*)t§)~O iO~dIdI~ltIlfIdlIiIltlltlcIlltlltlltlcllcW1!1l!llcW1cW1(j)tIIcW1(j)l$ II ~t\ ~IL~RL I~ ~! LOS SANTOS SACRAMENTOS 1m; ~! DE PENITENCIA, &~ ~i EUCHARISTIA. EXTREMA-UNCION. !~ Gt Y MATRIMONIO: !® {g,ffi-B DAR GUCIAS DESPUES DE COMULGAR, &rffi •~. t·a Y A YUDAR A Bl EN M ORIR 6~- ~ !m:t A los Lndios de las Nacione~: Pajalates, Orejone~, :j~ \.~.a Pacaos, Pacoas, Tilijayas, Alafapas, Paui"an ,·s, y otras . ® ,.~ muchas diferentes, que fe hallaD en las MiJliones del it ____ ~ Rio de San Antonio, y Rio Grande, penenecientes :t~ ~lli-s a el Colegio de la Santitlima Cru? de la Ciudad de 8- ~J Queretaro, como fan : Los Pacuaches, Me(cales, : ~ Pamp6pas, Tacames, Chavoplnes, Venados, Pama- & ~ ques, y toda la JuvenlUd de Pihuiques, Borrados, :t~ t Sanipaos. y Manos ~e Perr~. i~ ~f.-'fls! COMPUESTO 8-~ POR EL P. Fr. BAR7HOLOME GARCI40 1$ ~-s Pr.edicadol· Atojlot"~,y aClifalMiJjionero de ta & ""'~ MiJliOfl de N. S. P. S. Francifto de JJcha Cotegio, :t ~ .y Rio de San AfJtol1io, en la Provillcia 9® ~-s de Texas. ~® ~i ~(;,~GJ§~C'*)6~ ~ 8~t-;Ss Irrp,dfo coo las Licenci:u necetI'.uiu en 1a lmprenla d~ los Heledno, de ~ DOlla "1uia de &ivct.l,c.1l b Calle de 5an li e/nudo,y efquilla de hi r1uucla 8-!9"\. ~+l de cJ voladot. Ano de 176 0, 3:~C\.!' ~O(!>qoq;'!>,"jlql"'<!""<1'", . ",,,,q;,,,cp,,, q;C!lq;· . q:q;", . ;;q;,,,,,q;'Il"''llIjl''''''O~ OlWJ~(3~W®1(·)~W~&ro~PJ O TITLE PAGE OF GARCIA'S MANUAL Barker History Center FRAY BARTOLOME GARCIA 1760 In 1760 Fray Bartolome Garcia, of Mis­sion San Francisco de la Espada, pub­lished a Manual to aid priests in explain­ing the faith to Indians who spoke the Coahuiltecan tongue. Of great interest to linguists and anthropologists, the paral­lel text appears in Spanish and Coa­huilte «an. Father Garcia said there were so many Indian dialects spoken around San Antonio that it resembled another Babylon. SPANISH RANCHING IN TEXAS 1762 Perhaps no other Spanish industry left such an important legacy to Texas as ranching. There had been an effort to in­troduce livestock to Texas as early as 1690, but only after the colonization of the Canary Islanders did cattle raising become a major endeavor. Ranches were established along the grasslands of the San Antonio River between Bexar and La Bahia. Others were located in the Escan­don Grant, and on the Texas side of the Rio Grande from Laredo to the Gulf. In addition to numerous individuals who maintained pastures south of Bexar, the missions also had ranches where they kept herds of cattle, sheep, goats, oxen, horses, and mules. The herds constituted the main wealth of the missions and served as one of the bases for their economy. On occasions, the Indian menace grew so great that many of the ranches had to be all but abandoned. Besides establishing large ranches and stocking them, the Spanish also intro­duced many practices which became western traditions. It was the Spanish "vaquero" who came with the riding equipment that later was modified for use by the American cowboy. It was the va­quero who was proficient with a "reata" and kept a "remuda" of horses as spare mounts. It was the vaquero who initiated the practice of the roundup and branding to identify one's livestock. Don Juan Joseph Flores, a prominent rancher of the area south of San Antonio, was respon- 23 I 1- 'l \, !I \i: j ) I I I • I " NORTHERN MEXICO CATTLEMAN, 1740" BY JOSE CISNEROS Courtesy of Jose Cisneros 24 sible for registering the first Texas-owned brand, at Bexar in 1762. In addition to branding, the Spanish also introduced the first "Stockmen's Association" to Texas­the "mesta." Since there was a market for the cattle in other locations, and a surplus in the San Antonio area, it was natural that the trail drive should de­velop. There is evidence of a drive from Bexar to Coahuila as early as 1770, but the first officially sanctioned <;lrive seems to have occurred in 1779, when Francisco Garcia was commissioned to drive 2,000 head of cattle eastward to Louisiana. It was through the efforts of men like these that the great cattle ranches became a part of the Texas image. BRAND AND EAR MARKS OF DON JUAN FLORES Bexar County Archives A=\.0Q - --- ­MARQUES DE RUBI 1767 In 1767, the king's inspector, the Mar­ques de Rubi, visited Texas on a 7,000 mile tour of New Spain's northern fron­tier. His recommendations were included in the royal order of 1772 entitled "New Regulations of the Presidios." They called for abandonment of all the Texas pre­sidios and missions, save those at San An­tonio and La Bahia. This retrenchment was a military necessity brought on by Spanish failure to fend off the depreda­tions of the Western Apache in present Arizona and New Mexico, and those of the Comanche in Texas. MISSION SAN JOSE BY THEODORE GENTILZ THE CHURCH AT SAN JOSE 1768 Although the San Jose mission had been founded by Fray Margil in 1720, the cornerstone of this magnificent church Saint Mary's University, San Antonio was laid in 1768. This was the heyday of the mission system's prosperity. The de­cline began about 1783, with a terrible epidemic of measles and smallpox. The same calamity virtually finished off the other San Antonio missions. PEDRO HUIZAR The artistic "Rose Window" in the sacris­ty at San Jose is attributed to Pedro Hui­zar, a man of mystery and romance. According to legend, Huizar fell in love with a beauty named Rosa, who waited for him across the seas. She died, and inconsolable, he dedicated himself to de­signing the mission window in her mem­ory. In addition to his talents as a sculptor, Huizar also left his mark upon the missions of Texas as a surveyor. He surveyed an irrigation system for La Ba­hia presidio, and also surveyed the lands of missions Nuestra Senora del Rosario, San Antonio de Valero, San Francisco de la Espada, Nuestra Senora de la Purisima Concepci6n, and San Jose y San Miguel de Aguayo. THE ROSE WINDOW AT MISSION SAN JOSE I.T.C. Collection 25 - 26 SPANISH LANCER ATTACKING INDIAN WARRIORS LIFE AT MIS'SION SAN JOSE In 1758 Governor Jacinto Barrios com­mented about life at Mission San Jose. "The best proof of these Indians' content­ment," he wrote, "is that there have been no fugitives, nor are there any chains or stocks in this mission." Ten years later Fray Gaspar Solis gave another glowing report: "Both men and women can sing and dance just like the Spaniards, and they do so, perhaps, with even more beau­ty and grace. This mission is so pretty, and in such flourishing condition both materially and spiritually, I cannot find words to express its beauty. These Indians are so polite, so well-mannered and so re-fined, one might imagine that they had been civilized and living in the mission a long time." BARON JUAN MARIA VICENCIO DE RIPPERDA 1770 A native of Madrid, Baron de Ripperda was appointed governor of Texas soon after his arrival in Mexico. He came to San Antonio in 1770, and made it his headquarters, though the official capital of Texas was still at Los Adaes. Ripperda was also influential in selecting San An­tonio as the site of the capital when it was officially moved in 1772. During the ad­ministration of Ripperda, Indian hostility Museo Naval at Madrid was one of the major problems. He was responsible for the- reinforcement of the presidio at San Antonio with additional troops and for the founding of a new pre­sidio. Santa Cruz, on the banks of Cibolo Creek, to protect the large ranches in the area between La Bahia and San Antonio. ANTONIO BONILLA 1772 The first historical work to deal exclusive­ly with Texas was Antonio Bonilla's "Brief Compendium of Texas History," written in 1772. Bonilla, a lieutenant in the Spanish army, also established the Archivo General de Mexico about 1775. PRESIDIO OF SAN ELEAZARIO (NOW SAN E LIZARI 0) 1773 As a result of the Marques de Rubi's recommendations, a presidio, called San Eleazario, was established in 1773 on the south side of the Rio Grande below El Paso. The presidio was abandoned about 1810, but the village that grew up around it is there today. A subsequent shift in the course of the Rio Grande left it on the north (Texas) side. BERNARDO DE GALVEZ Caughy, Bernardo de Galvez in Louisiana BERNARDO DE GALVEZ 1777 Louisiana was ceded to Spain by the French in 1762 to keep it out of British hands. As Spanish governor of Louisiana, Bernardo de Galvez made a survey of the Texas coast in 1777, in the course of which Galveston Bay and Island were named for him. FOUNDING OF NACOGDOCHES 1779 Indian troubles on the East Texas frontier were so extensive that the Spanish de­cided to pull their defenses nearer the core of Spanish settlement. In 1773 the settlers of Los Adaes and East Texas were forced to abandon their homes and trek GIL YBARBO'S RANCH HOUSE NEAR NACOGDOCHES they remained. Thus Nacogdoches be­came the fourth permanent town in Span­ish Texas. POPULATION OF SPANISH TEXAS 1783 At the close of 1783, a census report was made of all the inhabitants living within the province of Texas. After almost a cen­tury of Spanish occupation, the popula­tion numbered only 2,819. This included the inhabitants of the villas, missions, and presidios at San Antonio, La Bahia, and Nacogdoches, since Laredo fell with­in the boundary of Coahuila, and Y sleta was considered a part of Nueva Viscaya. 27 ! I - " r Il~ I" r d j, , :. I~! j; I,'" 28 71 I ~;~_ 211 MQlb.401 {<~-' 1!lIl1p of J \,p>\~ "',' .;,. MAP OF SPANISH TEXAS AND LOUISIANA FRAY JUAN DOMINGO ARRICIVITA 1792 ,n., , The task of Fray Espinosa, who set down the early history of the Texas missions, was taken up by Fray Arricivita, also from the same College at Queretaro. Arri­civita served as missionary for many years at San Antonio and elsewhere in Texas about the middle of the century. His Cronica Sertifica, published in 1792, is called "one of the great contributions to the history of the Southwest in the eighteenth century." Ihlaico 161 , University of Texas Archives at Austin TWILIGHT' OF THE MISSIONS 1793 By a decree of 1793, the more important Texas missions were to be secularized. That is, the mission system with its fixed property was to be transferred from the Franciscan order to the secular (or dio­cesan) clergy and organized into parishes. The lands were to be distributed to the Indians. Exceptions were made of Mis­sions Espiritu ~Santo and Rosario at La Bahia, where the Indians still were not acculturated. A new mission at Refugio was founded for the Karankawa in 1793. Rosario was abandoned, but Espiritu San­to and Refugio were not secularized till 1830. Elsewhere, the missionaries gradu­ally withdrew, and the buildings fell into decay. BEGINNING OF THE END 1800 The opening of the nineteenth century heralded the beginning of the end for the Spanish Empire in North America. It was a time when the air of revolution swept across the country, and there was discon­tent with Spanish rule. Despite generally effective governors and officials, they could not compensate for the actions of the Spanish crown. Under the reign of Charles IV, Spain lost Louisiana to N apo­leon in 1800, who in turn sold it to the United States. During the next two dec­ades Spain also lost her Mexican ter­ritory, including Texas. ERA OF UNREST 1801 In this era adventurers from both the United States and Mexico led illegal, un­authorized expeditions into Texas. The first of these, in 1801, was pioneered by Philip Nolan, an Irish soldier-of-fortune who scouted Texas under cover of horse trading. His activities were discovered and he was killed during an attack by Spanish dragoons north of present Waco, In 1807, Lieutenant Zebulon M. Pike of the U.S. Army was captured in Spanish New Mexico and was escorted by way of San Antonio to the Louisiana border. In 1810, the most significant event of the Mexican independence movement oc­curred in the little town of Dolores in central Mexico, when Father Miguel Hidalgo gave his famous "grito" (cry) and raised the standard of rebellion ngainst Spain. Although his insurgent army was soon defeated, he started a fire in the hearts of his people that would never be forgotten. The effects soon were felt in San Antonio, where Juan Bautista de las Casas led a revolution against the Spanish governor in the name of Hidalgo. The revolutionary coup proved unsucess­ful however, and Las Casas was captured and soon executed. In 1812, an expedition of American filibusters and Mexican revolutionists calling themselves "The Republican Army of the North," crossed the border from Louisiana into Texas. Under the dual leadership of Augustus Magee and Bernardo Gutierrez de Lara they were able to capture the towns of Nacogdoches, La Bahia, and finally San Antonio, culminating in the assassination of the Spanish governor. Gutierrez de­clared Texas an independent state in the then non-existant Republic of Mexico. This independence was short-lived how­ever, as a superior Spanish force crushed the rebel. army at the battle of Medina River, and Texas was once again under Spanish control. AN TON IO MARTINEZ 1817 The last Spanish governor of Texas, An­tonio Martinez, was one of the best ad­ministrators. Honest and conscientious, he did everything he could to hold Texas for Spain. His most significant mistake concerning Texas was his endorsement of Moses Austin's plan to bring Anglo set­tlers into the province. Martinez also had to cope with some of Napoleon's former officers who set up a community called "Champ d' Asile" on the lower Trinity River. In addition, there was the pirate, Jean Lafitte, who took over Galveston Island; and the filibuster, Dr. James Long, who captured Nacogdoches in 1819. When Martinez could no longer support both Spain and the budding Mexican na­tion, he accepted the Plan of Iguala and resigned. I AGUSTIN ITURBIDE AS EMPEROR THE PLAN OF IGUALA AND INDEPENDENCE 1821 Under the leadership of Colonel Agustin de Iturbide, the royalist army in Mexico joined the rebels on February 24, 1821, and his Plan of Iguala was signed. The Spanish viceroy, Juan O'Donoju, accepted the document. Later its terms were incor­porated into the Treaty of Cordoba, which established Mexico's independence from Spain. Iturbide entered Mexico City and proclaimed himself Agustin I, Emperor of Mexico. This unsteady alliance, of con­servatives trying to preserve their privil­eges and liberals sworn to destroy them, Museum of History at Chapultepee Castle $ . 3 fEijli i I! I I, l~ r was doomed to failure. Iturbide's regime rapidly proved unpopular. He was de­posed in 1823 by a coup under the leader­ship of General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna. The following year, Mexico be­came a federal republic with Guadalupe Victoria as president. Thus Coahuila and Texas became a dual state in a Mexican union patterned to some extent after the United States. THE RULE OF THE FEW 1821 When independence from Spain was achieved in 1821, the Mexican-born Span­iards called Creoles became the ruling class. The key positions in the govern­ment, the army, and the Church had all been held by Spanish-born "peninsul­ares," many of whom had been forced to flee Mexico. With them went all of those citizens who knew how to run a govern­ment. The Creoles were left to discover for themselves that with power also comes responsibility. The Mexican government, under which Texas would survive for only fifteen years, was largely patterned after the Spanish colonial government, with a president at the helm, instead of a viceroy. It is true that a legislature was elected for each state, but it was com­prised only of Creoles and was under the control of the president. For the 90% of Mexico's uneducated population, there were no material benefits from the revo­lution, or from independence. The army, which was often the key to governmental control, was comprised of Creole officers, while the soldiers of the ranks were con- 30 scripted from among the Mestizos. The Church, still devoutly followed by the common people, was considered a symbol of foreign control for its excommunica­tions of Father Hidalgo and Father Morel­os during the revolution. JUDGE EMILIO C. PORTO Johnson and Barker, Texas and Texians THE NEW SPANISH TEXANS 1850 Contrary to popular belief, the story of the Spanish Texans does not end with the founding of the Republic of Mexico. Some Spaniards remained in Texas. In later years more of them immigrated here, usually settling in areas where Spanish surnames were predominant. The 1850 census lists 60 Texans born in Spain, the majority having located in San An­tonio, Galveston, and the lower Rio Grande Valley. These persons were en­gaged in a variety of occupations. In 1860, six of the Rosales brothers came to Corpus Christi from Asturias, Spain. Some became merchants and others became ranchers. All wrote letters home describ­ing the unlimited opportunities in Tex­as, and in 1870, six of their nephews joined them. From this nucleus grew one of the largest Spanish colonies in Texas. Brownsville was the site of another Span­ish settlement which boasted such mem­bers as Vice Consul Simon Celaya, who introduced a number of Spanish immi­grants to that area. He was responsible also for the building of the railroad from Brownsville to Point Isabel. Spanish-born Emilio C. Forto, was Cameron County judge for many years before his election as sheriff in 1892. SPANISH SETTLEMENT IN THE PANHANDLE 1876 When the last of the Comanche Indian tribes under Quanah Parker was defeated at Palo Duro Canyon in 1874, the Texas Panhandle was opened for permanent settlement. Within a year's time this set­tlement began with an influx of Spanish and Mexican sheep ranchers from the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of New Mexi­co. They established homes along the Canadian River, and turned their herds on the rich grazing that stretched for miles in all directions. A significant part of this migration was led by Casimiro Romero, a wealthy and cultured Spaniard. He traveled in the grand manner, leading a 14-wagon caravan, and 3,000 head of sheep. In November, 1876, he located a homestead at the junction of Atascosa Creek with the Canadian River-a site which later became the notorious town of Tascosa. Soon after Romero's arrival, he and Charles Goodnight-the pioneer Tex­as cowman-agreed to divide the range­land, the sheepmen staying in the Cana­dian River Valley and west; the cattle­men would occupy the Palo Duro Canyon and the country to the east. News of the country's wild beauty soon filtered back to New Mexico, and other families joined the Romeros. Most were Castillians, like the Romeros, and were people of substance. By 1882 it was esti­mated that there were more than 100 Spaniards and Mexicans living in the vicinity of Tascosa. The day of the sheepmen did not last long. They depended on a free range for grazing. By the late 1880's the cattle­men had bought and fenced most of the grazing land. Most of the sheepmen sim­ply returned to New Mexico. The few who remained either found employment with cowmen, or entered other occupa­tions. Casimiro Romero was among those who returned to New Mexico to continue his life as a sheepman. He died there in 1896, but his son, Jose, became a promi­nent resident of Amarillo. The town of Romero is named for Casimiro. As one historian has observed: "Their occupancy of the land was brief, but they left their mark on the country by leaving Spanish place names all over the map. Local names such as Alamosa, Alamo­cito, Trujillo, Rico, Rita Blanca, Cerrito de la Cruz, Bonito, Rio la Plata, Romero, Tascosa, Puente de Agua, Pescado, Cor­sino, Indio, India, and Amarillo leave. no doubt of the fact that Spanish-speaking people pioneered the land." RAFAELO DIAZ 1906 Rafaelo Diaz, the San Antonio-born son of a Spanish father and a German mother, became one of Texas' greatest opera stars. In 1906 he began his Europ~an study at the Stern Conservatory of Music in Ber­lin, and mastered five languages: The young tenor went on to Rome for train­ing with the teacher who developed John McCormick's voice. The Boston Opera Company engaged Diaz in 1911, and two years later, he signed with Oscar Ham­merstein for an extended concert tour with the celebrated soprano, Luisa Tet­razzini. In 1918 Rafaelo 'was called by the Metropolitan Opera Company, and with­out so much as a dress rehearsal, was ordered on stage with the great soprano, Geraldine Farrar. His Met debut was as Nicias in "Thais" by Massenet his Met association continued for 18 years. Wide­ly acclaimed for his diction, Diaz was a devout student of the singing style of Enrico Caruso. The two men were also friends. Diaz and Rosa Ponsell were called upon to sing the requiem mass at Caru­so's funeral. Rafael died in 1943 at the age of 61, and is buried in his native city. CASIMERO ROMERO AND SON, JOSE Amarillo News-Globe, Golden Anniversary Edition, 19!} 31 JOSE YIYES·ATSARA 1971 Jose Vives-Atsara is a Spanish-born ar­tist widely known for his Texas land­scapes and missions. He finds much of his subject matter located in the general region of his home at San Antonio. Some of his most important work hangs in the Convention Center there, and in the State Capitol at Austin. Vives-Atsara was born April 30, 1919, in Villafranca del Panades, Spain. His father was a prominent businessman en­gaged in the manufacture of chemicals. Jose began ·his first painting at eleven, while a student at St. Ramond's College in Villafranca. He was encouraged by a priest, who begged the elder Vives to let his son continue studying art. The son made a copy of Da Vinci's "Last Supper" to present his father on the Feast of St. Joseph. This feat so impressed the father that he encouraged young Vives to pur­sue a career in his chosen field. The youthful artist had his first public exhibi­tion when he was only 13. 32 When the Spanish Civil War erupted in 1936, Villafranca was occupied by Re­publican forces, and at 18, Jose was forced to join the Republican Army. Later, he defected to General Franco's Nationalist forces, and spent the rest of the war driv­ing a truck. After the war, Jose attended the School of Fine Arts in Barcelona. In 1946 he was married, and the following year he and his wife left Spain for Vene­zuela. After years of residence, they moved to Mexico City. In 1954 a three­month visit to Texas so impressed him JOSE VIVES-ATSARA that he moved to San Antonio in 1956. Since that time his work with oil and palette knife has earned him an interna­tional reputation. Immigration did not end with the close of the nineteenth century, but continued past the years of the Spanish Civil VVar to the present. Although the immigration figures are not large, time has greatly I\. -oi \ I! I.T.C. Collection magnified the Spanish influence sum­marized by historian Herbert E. Bolton. "Fifty million people in America," he said in 1911, "are tinged with Spanish blood, still speak the Spanish language, still worship at the altar set up by the Catholic kings, still live under laws es­sentially Spanish, and still possess a cul­ture largely inherited from Spain." What more fitting tribute can be paid a people? One of a series prepared by the staff of THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT SAN ANTONIO INSTITUTE OF TEXAN CULTURES 1972.