FIRST -- European to travel the length of the El Camino Real, Douglass TX
N 31° 40.035 W 094° 52.986
15R E 321477 N 3505094
Louis Juchereau de St. Denis was the first European to travel the length of the El Camino Real, from French Louisiana to Mexico City
Waymark Code: WMXHX4
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 01/16/2018
Views: 2
Five historical markers in the Douglass Pavilion at the intersection of the State Highway 21 and the FM 225 in downtown Douglass tell the story of this fascinating area of Texas.
One marker, dedicated the French trader Louis Juchereau de St. Denis (who was arrested by the Spanish and became a perpetual issue for them in Texas) proclaims him the first first European to travel the length of the El Camino Real, from French Louisiana to Mexico City.
The marker reads as follows:
"Louis Juchereau de St. Denis
Canadian Frenchman Louis Juchereau de St. Denis played an important role in the beginnings of Texas. In 1711, Spanish Father Francisco Hidalgo in East Texas wrote a letter to the French Governor Cadillac in Louisiana seeking assistance from the French in the religious conversion of the Caddo Confederacy. In response, Governor Cadillac sent trader St. Denis who found that Father Hidalgo had returned to Mexico. Following him, St. Denis arrived at the Presidio San Juan Bautista del Río Grande in July 1714 and was arrested and sent to Mexico City. There he gained the trust of the authorities with his vast knowledge of the rivers and terrain of Spanish Texas and he helped to produce the noted Olivan map of 1717.
St. Denis returned to East Texas in 1716 as a guide and ambassador for the Ramón-Espinoza-Margil expedition that founded a total of six missions and a presidio. St. Denis became the commandant at Natchitoches and provided goods and supplies to the Spanish missionaries and soldiers during dire times and actively traded with the Caddo tribes. Spanish authorities continued to forbid his trading activities of contraband goods but they had little control. Archeologists have located a St. Denis trading campsite in this vicinity. Through his travels, St. Denis contributed to the expanded geographical knowledge of New Spain, and he was the first European to travel the entire length of El Camino Real from Louisiana to Mexico City. Because of his expertise with the native Indians, the Spanish grew to loathe St. Denis and upon his death, the Governor in Mexico City is said to have declared, “St. Denis is dead, thank God!” (2013)
Marker is property of the State of Texas"
FIRST - Classification Variable: Person or Group
Date of FIRST: 07/01/1714
More Information - Web URL: [Web Link]
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