The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 27, July 1923 - April, 1924 Page: 193
344 p. : maps ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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St. Denis's Second Expedition to the Rio Grande
expedition is full of romantic and historic interest. In 1682 he
descended the Mississippi to its mouth, where he formally took
possession of all the territory drained by its waters for his king,
Louis XIV. He then returned to France and laid before the king
his plan of colonizing the region at the mouth of the Mississippi,
offering at the same time to conquer the mines of Nueva Vizcaya.
His proposal was accepted in preference to Pefialosa's, and in
July, 1684, the expedition sailed from La Rochelle. The details
of the founding and destruction of the unfortunate colony are well
known. By the time the anxious Spaniards succeeded in locating
it, only desolate ruins remained to mark the site of this ambitious
enterprise. Beginning in 1685, eleven expeditions were sent' out
by land and sea from Mexico and Florida to locate the colony. At
last, in April, 1689, it was discovered by a fourth overland expe-
dition led by Alonso de Le6n from Coahuila.
While there was nothing to fear from the ruined fort in the
vicinity of Espiritu Santo Bay, the danger of further French ac-
tivities remained. Accordingly the Spaniards gladly accepted the
invitation of an Indian chief to return and establish missions in
the adjacent region of the friendly Tejas Indians. In 1690, under
the leadership of De Le6n and Father Massanet, two Spanish mis-
sions were founded in the Neches River region, only to be aban-
doned three years later, chiefly because of the hostility of the for-
merly docile Indians. Another contributing cause for the aban-
donment, however, was that the French no longer seemed interested
in the region, and took no steps looking toward re-occupation.
Furthermore, another danger and one more acute for Spain, was
the activity of English traders from the Carolinas, among the In-
dians of Georgia, Mississippi, and Alabama. In order more effec-
tively to counteract their influence, and because various sea expe-
ditions which had explored the coast in search of La Salle's colony
had noted the advantages of it, Spain decided to occupy Pensacola
Bay. Accordingly in March, 1693, Dr. Carlos de Sigiienza was
sent out from Vera Cruz to explore it, as well as Mobile Bay, and
the mouth of the Mississippi. Delays ensued, and it was not until
1698 that the actual occupation was effected by the Spaniards; in
that year an expedition commanded by Andr6s de Arriola took
possession and began the erection of a fort.193
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 27, July 1923 - April, 1924, periodical, 1924; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101086/m1/199/: accessed April 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.