The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 16, July 1912 - April, 1913 Page: 13
464 p. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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The Spanish Occupation of Texas, 1519-1690
and after this Le6n (Cerralvo), where a mission was founded in
1630 and a presidio in 1653, remained the northern outpost till
1673.1
Frontier explorations, 1590-1665.-By the middle of the seven-
teenth century explorations beyond the frontier had been made on
a small scale in all directions. That they were not more extensive
was due to Indian troubles and the feebleness of the frontier set-
tlements. From Cerralvo an expedition was sent eastward in
1638 to verify the report that Europeans, thought to be Dutch,
were trading with the Indians near the Gulf. The party was
impeded by the swollen "Camalucanos" River, had a battle with
the Indians, and failed to reach the coast. A direct route to the
Gulf would have taken them across the Rio Bravo, but that stream
was apparently not reached, unless it was the Camalucanos. By
1653 a regular line of trade had been established between Cerralvo
and PAnuco, the Rio de las Palmas (Santand6r) had been re-ex-
plored, and the country twenty leagues beyond that stream
traversed.2
To the north the Spaniards were led short distances by a desire
to establish connection with La Florida, by rumors of the silver
deposit called El Cerro (or La Sierra) de la Plata, and in pur-
suit of Indians. Soon after Sosa's expedition up the Pecos, a
party of eight men from Saltillo is said to. have crossed the Rio
Bravo into what is now Texas, but no details of the event are
known.3 Interest in Florida is shown by the fact that in 1613
two citizens of Nuevo Le6n, Captains Jos6 Trevifio and Bernab6
Casas,, offered the viceroy "their persons and their property to
undertake the conquest of the interior provinces of the Kingdom
of Le6n, helping thereby to expel the English from La Florida."4
Perhaps they had heard of the settlement of Jamestown six years
before. To discover the Cerro de la Plata two attempts were made
in 1644 and 1648 by General Juan de Zavala, but both of them
were frustrated by Indian revolts. Writing of this mineral de-
posit in 1648 De Le6n said: "It is unknown to those now living
1Le6n, Historia de Nuevo Le6n, 84, 87-88, 95-98, 102, 125-127; Arlegui,
Cr6nica, 85, 126-128, 228; GonzAlez, Lecciones Orales, 26.
2Le6n, Historia de Nuevo Leon, 153.
Portillo, Apuntes, 114, note. It is referred to the time of Francisco de
Urdifola the younger, who became governor of Nueva Vizcaya in 1591.
'Gonzalez, Lecciones Orales, 52, citing Cavo, Tres Siglos; Lebn, Historia
de Nuevo Le6n, 29-30, 81, 133-134, 153, 160-163, 204, 214, 219.
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 16, July 1912 - April, 1913, periodical, 1913; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101058/m1/19/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.