The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 1, July 1897 - April, 1898 Page: 218
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218 Texas Historical Association Quarterly.
from Louisiana had entered the territory of the Tejas Indians, and
quickly was the viceroy brought to a conclusion.2
In the spring of 1690, a party consisting of about one hundred
persons, with Gov. de Leon in command, set out for the region of
the Tejas for the express purpose of erecting a mission. To this
end three Franciscan friars under Father Manzanet accompanied
the expedition. From Mexico they marched to the east till the
Trinity (Trinidad) was crossed into the land of the Tejas. June 1,
1690, Te Deum Laudamus was chanted in the first mission. It was
named San Francisco de los Tejas, in honor of St. Francis d'Assisi,
the founder of the order of Franciscan friars.3 A little later another
mission was established. It was known as Santa Maria. Two years
later San Francisco was abandoned, never to be re-occupied. This
is an exceptional case. Often, indeed, missions were abandoned,
but in most cases sooner or later the friars returned to their labors.
It is through this short occupation, however, that we are to ac-
count for the origin of the name Texas as a territorial designation.
It has worried some of our historians to explain this name, and in
the explanation of it several ingenious stories, more or less roman-
tic, have been invented. It is hardly worth while to mention these.
The true explanation seems to lie in the fact that the Spaniards
having applied the term Tejas to the original settlement made
among the Tejas Indians, which was for many years the central
point in the province, it came eventually to mean the whole region.
Before we proceed further, a few words on the general scheme
of the Spanish occupation may not be out of place. What was its
nature? There seems to be prevalent a sort of half defined assump-
tion which makes the presidio or fort the initial step in the occu-
pation, the missions following naturally thereafter. Nevertheless,
a Bancroft, North Mexican States and Texas, Vol. I., p. 401; Manza-
net's Letter to Don Carlos de Siguenza y Congora, MS., Agricultural
and Mechanical College, College Station, Texas.
8 Manzanet's Letter; Villa Sefior, Theatro Americano, II., 324; Ban-
croft, North Mexican States and Texas, Vol. I., p. 611, quoting Ramon,
a note. Yoakum (History of Texas, Vol. I., p. 45) has missed the truth
in stating that the mission was erected on or near the old French Fort
St. Louis. Thrall (Pictorial History, Ch. III.) says no building was
erected. He also missed the location. See Kennedy's Confusion (Vol.
I., p. 218).
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Texas State Historical Association. The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 1, July 1897 - April, 1898, periodical, 1897/1898; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101009/m1/240/: accessed April 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.