Texas Almanac, 1956-1957 Page: 52
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52 TEXAS ALMANAC-1956-1957
edly represent jointly a place of great
antiquity as an established Indian com-
mumnity which gradually changed into
permanent white communities with the
passing of the years.
Other West Texas missions were -estab-
lished as offshoots of missionary effort in
the Upper Rio Grande Valley, the farthest
east being that of San Clemente, 1684, lo-
cated probably near the junction of the
Colorado and Concho Rivers in Runnels
County.
Two Nuclei of Early Texas.
It must be kept in mind that the early
political development, as well as church
and military activity, was divided be-
tween the East and South Texas area and
Far West Texas. The administrations of
the early Governors of Texas did not ex-
tend into the territory of farther West
Texas today which was under the ad-
ministration of the Spanish provincial
government at Santa Fe, N.M. Those
parts of Texas now included in the Trans-
Pecos, Pecos Valley, Great Plains and
even the San Angelo area of West Texas,
were identified with New Mexico in their
early days rather than with Texas.
Saint Denis Rearouses Spanish Fear.
Spanish complacency about their claim
to Texas, after the destruction of Fort
Saint Louis, was jolted again in 1714 by
the sudden appearance of the French
explorer and trader Louis Juchereau de
Saint Denis, at San Juan Bautista on the
Rio Grande near present-day Eagle Pass.
The Frenchman, who had traversed
Texas without attracting the attention
of Spanish authorities, protested inno-
cence of any design other than establish-
ing a friendly line of commerce with the
French in Louisiana. However, he was
placed under arrest and sent to Mexico
City to explain his intentions to the vice-
roy. The result of the conversation was
the decision of the viceroy to send an
expedition into Texas to establish mis-
sions and settlements. The offer of St.
Denis to act as guide for the expedition
was accepted.
An expedition under the command of
Capt. Domingo Ramon was sent out from
San Juan Bautista. It went into East
Texas, establishing the first definite route
of travel in this state. Later it came to
be known as the Camino Real (King's
Highway) and still later was familiar to
i'exans as the Old San Antonio Road. It
extended from San Juan Bautista (near
present Eagle Pass) through San Antonio
to Nacogdoches and eastward. Part of
this route is incorporated in the state
highway system today.
Later East Texas Missions.
The expedition of Captain Ramon was
accompanied by Father Francisco Hidal-
go, who, with Father Massanet, had been
untiring in his effort to have missions
established among the Texas Indians. At
a place a few miles from the old San
Francisco de los Tejas mission, a new
mission called San Francisco de los Neches
was established. This was in 1716.
Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe was es-
tablished at the present site of Nacog-
doches, and the Mission Nuestra Senora
de los Dolores was placed near the site
of present San Augustine. Two othermissions, La Purisima Concepcion and San
Jose de los Nazonis, were located in this
vicinity, and still another mission, San
Miguel de Linares, was located across
the Sabine in Louisiana.
The East Texas missions, unlike those
later constructed near San Antonio, were
built of timbers and hence soon decayed
without leaving a trace. Consequently,
the exact location of some of them is not
known.
Founding of San Antonio
In 1718 the viceroy, wishing a halfway
post betweeri the East Texas missions
and the Spanish presidios in northern
Mexico, established a mission and presidio
at San Pedro Springs, laying the founda-
tion for the present city of San Antonio.
This mission was called San Antonio de
Valero and the accompanying presidio
was called San Antonio de Bexar. The
mission San Antonio de Valero is usually
accepted as the predecessor of the Alamo;
however, the present structure of the
Alamo was not erected until about 1754,
nor was the original De Valero on the
present site of the Alamo. In fact, the
present Alamo was not a mission building
itself, but a chapel attached to San An-
tonio de Valero and possibly to other
missions in the vicinity. The early his-
tory is shrouded in obscurity, including
the name. The word, "alamo," means
poplar, or cottonwood. There is one
egend that the name of the Alamo came
from a grove of cottonwoods nearby.
Another story relates that it took its
name from a company of soldiers bearing
this name, that was quartered there.
In 1720 the Mission San Jose de Aguayo
was established at San Antonio and in
succession came the founding of the mis-
sions La Purisima Concepcion de Acuna,
San Juan Capistrano and San Francisco
de la Espada. Three of these missions at
San Antonio were really re-establish-
ments of the older East Texas missions
which had been abandoned. They were
San Francisco, Concepcion and San Juan
Capistrano, the latter succeeding San Jose
de los Nazonis, the name being changed
because of the prior founding at San An-
tonio of San Jose de Aguayo.
Los Adaes, Early Texas Capital.
This era of mission building, which had
been brought about because of the ac-
tivity of the French on the Riviere
Rouge (Red River) and the journey of
Saint Denis, marks also the beginning of
Texas statehood. It had been officially
declared a Spanish dominion and Do-
mingo Teran de los Rios had been named
Governor in 1691. However, after an ex-
pedition across Texas by De Los Rios, po-
litical authority was relaxed and little at-
tention was given Texas until the ad-
ministration of Martin de Alarcon, Gov-
ernor of Coahuila-Texas, who founded
the mission of San Antonio de Valero and
the presidio of San Antonio de Bexar in
1718.
*The Red River carried the French name on
some maps as late as the middle of last century.
Nearly all of the rivers of Central, Southern and
Southwestern Texas have retained their Spanish
names as monuments of early Spanish explora-
tion. Anglicizing of the name of the Red River
has erased a corresponding reminuer of the early
French activities in that region.
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Texas Almanac, 1956-1957, book, 1955; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth117138/m1/54/: accessed April 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.