6.4 War and Expansion

6.4 War and Expansion

The Aguayo Expedition • 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. • 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.

6.4 War and Expansion