6.4 War and Expansion

The Aguayo Expedition Los Adaes Tensions between France and Spain had been high, and the two countries went to war in 1719. The war soon affected Texas. In June 1719 a French lieutenant and seven soldiers from Natchitoches attacked the nearest Spanish mission, San Miguel de Linares de los Adaes.

The Aguayo Expedition The two Spaniards there quickly surrendered. The French soldiers gathered up supplies and raided the henhouse. Pleased with the capture of the chickens, the lieutenant tied several to his saddle. The chickens squawked wildly and the horse reared and the lieutenant was tossed to the ground.

The Aguayo Expedition One Spaniard, seeing his chance to escape, ran into the woods. He made his way to a nearby mission and claimed that they French soldiers were marching on East Texas. The news of the Chicken War spread quickly. The frightened Spaniards left the missions and presidios and fled to San Antonio. The French did not attack any more missions, but the Spanish had already abandoned East Texas

The Aguayo Expedition A Spanish soldier ca. 1700 The Spanish did not abandon East Texas for long. The viceroy ordered Marques de San Miguel de Aguayo, the governor of Coahuila to reoccupy the missions. The Aguayo expedition set out in 1720 with a large force of some 500 soldiers and 4,000 horses. It also included cattle, goats and sheep. The expedition arrived in East Texas in 1721

The Aguayo Expedition The war between France and Spain ended and the Spanish quickly reoccupied their missions. Aguayo met with Louis Juchereau de St. Denis, the French commander in the area. They agreed to separate control in French Louisiana and Spanish Texas.

The Aguayo Expedition Los Adaes To keep the French out of East Texas, Aguayo built the presidio Nuestra Senora del Pilar de los Adaes and staffed it with 100 soldiers. The Spanish settlement and the mission became known as Los Adaes and was the official capital of Spanish Texas.

The Aguayo Expedition From Los Adaes, Aguayo moved southwest. He established the mission Nuestra Senora del Espiritu Santo de Zuniga and the presidio near Matagorda Bay…together these establishments were known as La Bahia. The mission was built to convert the Karankawa. It was moved inland several times in later years and its final location is near present-day Goliad.

Clashes on the Frontier The Spanish soon faced another conflict when Indians attacked Spanish settlements during the 1730s and 1740s. The Spanish particularly feared the Apache. Armed with guns and riding horses, the Apache were a deadly enemy.

Clashes on the Frontier Central Texas missions and San Antonio were hard hit by raids. The attacks increased as the Spanish moved into Apache territory and the Comanche pushed the Apache south toward San Antonio Missionaries hoped to convert the Apache and other Central Texas Indians to Catholicism.

Clashes on the Frontier Missions were built along the San Gabriel River (San Xavier missions and presidio) The mission failed due to the tension between the commander of the mission and the commander of the presidio. A smallpox epidemic killed many of the Indians and a friar was murdered -likely by a soldier. With water in short supply, the Spanish moved the missions and the presidio to a different site.

Clashes on the Frontier Many supplies from the failed San Xavier settlements ended up at Santa Cruz de San Saba which was established in 1757…and a presidio was built several miles away. The Spanish had little success converting the Apache. About 1000 Indians, enemy of the Apache, attacked and burned down the mission, killing 2 of the 3 missionaries.

Clashes on the Frontier The attack on San Saba marked the beginning of warfare between the Comanche and the Spanish. The Comanche and the Apache fiercely resisted the Spanish threat to their land and culture. As a result, the Spanish were never able to maintain missions in their lands.