Late Spanish Entradas Into the Big Bend Region - 1683-1821 - US 67/90, Alpine TX, USA - Timelines on Waymarking.com

Two modern interpretive signs with timelines have been placed in a small roadside pullout along the US 67/90 at the eastern city limit of Alpine. These signs explain the history of Spanish entradas into the Big Bend region of Texas.

This waymarked sign is to the right as you face the two signs in this pullout, and it reads as follows:

BIG BEND SNAPSHOT
HISTORY
The late Spanish Entradas

Timeline section:

1680 CE*

1683 – Juan Dominguez de Mendoza leads first expedition to La Junta de los Rios in 95 years

1693 – Juan Fernandez de Retana leads expedition to protect native Jumano Indians from Apache Indian raids at La Junta

1702-1714 – after the War of Spanish Succession, French Bourbon King Philip V assumes the throne of Spain and its holdings in the New World

1756-1763 – Spain and France allied during the Seven Years War to block expansion of the British Empire. Both lose significant North American territory

1759 – French Bourbon King Charles III ascends Spanish throne and begins sweeping reforms that affect military policy in new Spain

1760 – Presidio Del Norte is completed at La Junta de los Rios

1771 – Nicolas de Lafora and Jose Ramon de Urrutia complete the first map that includes the Big Bend region

1773 – Hugo Oconor leads an entrada to establish presidios at San Vicente and San Carlos

1775-1783 – Spain allies with France against England during the American War of Independence

1808-1814 – Napoleon’s armies invade Portugal and Spain during the Peninsular Wars in Europe

1810 – on September 16, the Mexican War for Independence from Spain begins

1821 – Mexico achieves national independence even as its political, military, and financial situation set the stage for rebellion and Texas Independence 15 years later

1830 CE*
CE: Common Era

Pullouts from timeline:

1729 Jose de Berroteran

Captain Jose de Berroteran, first Spaniards across the southern Big Bend region, explored the La Junta de los Rios area to locate a site for a Presidio, military outpost, and to subdue insurgent natives. The mission was a failure, however, as he found no suitable location nor encountered - any combatants.


1747 – 1748 Pedro de Rabago de Teran

Governor of Coahuila, Pedro de Rabago de Teran, the first Spaniard to explore the area now known as Big Bend National Park, arrived at the Rio Grande near today’s Boquillas del Carmen, and also became the first European to describe Santa Elena Canyon. Rabago recommended building a presidio on the site he located at La Junta de los Rios, and in 1760, Presidio Del Norte was completed.

1777 Teodoro de Croix

In 1776, when the northern states of New Spain were separated from the rule of the Viceroy in Mexico City, Spanish Emperor Charles III appointed Teodoro de Croix as governor of provincias internas, interior provinces, on the northern frontier of New Spain. In 1777, de Croix led a mission to inspect his new jurisdiction and decided the Rio Grande was an artificial boundary that provided little protection for settlers farther south. He recommended that the San Vicente and San Carlos garrisons move closer to population centers, and that Presidio Del Norte remain in place.

1779-1789 Juan de Ugalde

Between 1779 and 1783 Juan de Ugalde, Governor of Coahuila Province, led military expeditions against Lipan and Mescalero Apaches. Ugalde’s punitive expeditions in 1782 and 1783 reached into the Big Bend region, and although only a few Apaches were killed and captured, many more sued for peace or fled into the rugged Chisos Mountains. A fifth military expedition that spanned from 1787 to 1788 defeated Mescalero Apache Chief Zapata Turtta. In March 1789 several Apache bands sign treaty agreements to relocate south of the Rio Grande near Ugalde’s Santa Rosa headquarters, now called Melchor Muzquiz in Coahuila.

[drawing: Spanish Presidial Soldier, 1760-1820]

Presidios garrisoned 2 types of soldiers, the Soldatos de Cuera, leather armored foot soldiers and their mounted counterparts, the Tropa Ligera. Although each man was armed with a musket into pistols, the Lance and Saber remained the weapons of choice. Presidial soldiers were recruited from local Mestizos with mixed Spanish and Indian ancestry, while officers were usually of pure Spanish descent. Drawing by Jose Cisneros.

[Map of the entradas]
Entrada Routes:

1729 Jose de Berroteran
1747-1748 Pedro de Rabago de Teran
1777 Teodoro de Croix
1779-1789 Juan de Ugalde

[Drawing of sword]
Espada Ancha (Spanish Colonial Sabre)
This short, wide, single edged sword (circa 1770) was carried by a presidial soldado de cuera (leather armored foot soldier). The espada ancha is uniquely characteristic of the northern frontiers of New Spain. They were used by the mounted militia as well as the famed presidial lancers, and were all-purpose tools use not only is weapons but also for clearing brush and chopping wood.

The early surge of Spanish entradas, formal entries into the distant lands that began in 1581, was for gold, property and native souls. After the 1683 Dominguez de Mendoza expedition, local Spanish incursions were primarily to establish defensible frontiers and mount military operations. When Apache Indians arrived from the Great Plains with horses, they quickly adapted to the harsh desert environment and began rating settlements in the vicinity of La Junta de los Rios, the junction of the Rio Conchos and Rio Grande. In reaction, indigenous Jumano Indians petition the Spanish governor in El Paso Del Norte, present-day El Paso, to protect them from attacks.

By the end of the eighteenth century a fragile peace existed between Apaches and Spaniards, but the Spanish had found no wealth sufficient to hold them in a harsh, arid country that proved an insurmountable obstacle to creating a secure frontier. Spain soon lost its New World empire, and aggressive far ranging Comanche Indians with unsurpassed writing skills and mastery of horse culture, began a fearful reign of domination across the Southern High Plains and deep into Northern Mexico that lasted more than 150 years.

WARNING: DO NOT TRESPASS -- it is absolutely forbidden to disturb or collect the following: artifacts, mineral or rock specimens, plants or animals of any description on public or private property in Texas without appropriate permission or permits. Do not cross fence lines or pass through closed gates. Trespassing is treated as a criminal offense in taxes and laws are vigorously enforced. DO NOT WALK ON HIGHWAYS. Be aware of vehicles entering roads on narrow shoulders. Be safe. View sites from vehicles. Do not become a hazard yourself."

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