Jose de Escandon Jose de Escandon is known as the colonizer and first governor of the colony of Nuevo Santander. By 1748, he was made governor and captain general of Nuevo Santander, and began establishing settlements along the Rio Grande. In 1755 he granted permission to Tomas Sanchez de la Barrera y Garza to found Laredo, the largest and most successful permanent Spanish settlement in Southwest Texas.

Antonio Margil de Jesus During the “Chicken War” of 1719, a war fought between Spain and France, the six missions and presidios in East Texas were all abandoned. The entire Spanish population withdrew to San Antonio. The following February, Margil decided to rebuild and founded San Jose y San Miguel de Aguayo, which became the most successful of all Spanish Missions.

Location of Mission San Francisco de los Tejas Damian Massanet Location of Mission San Francisco de los Tejas Damián Massanet was the founder of the first Spanish mission in East Texas, Mission San Francisco de los Tejas, which was founded near the Neches River.  In 1693, after continued disputes with the Caddo Indians, Massanet chose to burn the mission and return to Mexico. Massanet's Tejas mission lasted for only three years, but it marked the first step in Spain's efforts to bring the lands of Texas under the Spanish flag.

Francisco Hidalgo Hidalgo was an advocate of renewed missionary efforts among the Caddo Indians. He assisted in the founding of the mission San Juan Bautista, which opened January 1, 1700. He remained at the mission until East Texas was abandoned by the Spanish during the Chicken War of 1719. Hidalgo took up residence at San Antonio de Valero Mission in San Antonio and remained there until 1725, when he resigned and asked permission to preach among the Apaches.