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Los
Adaes
by Archie P. McDonald
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The capital of Texas, and the headquarters of all Spanish activity
in East Texas was once in... Louisiana! Here’s how that happened.
After
Hernan Cortez conquered the Aztecs of Mexico, Spain claimed all of North and South
America. Reality eventually forced them to accommodate, if never completely accept,
the presence of French and English colonial efforts on the continent as well,
so long as they stayed far away.
Then LaSalle attempted to establish French
presence in Texas in the 1680s, and though the effort proved unsuccessful, Spanish
officials were alarmed. They established Mission San Francisco de las Tejas near
Weches, nearly 300 miles northeast of the failed French Fort St. Louis, but allowed
that mission to lapse within a few years.
In 1714, another Frenchman, Louis
Juchereau de St. Denis, appeared in Texas. Back came the missionaries, ostensibly
to save the souls of Caddo but also to reinforce claims to Texas. The eastern
most outpost of the empire was Mission San Miguel de Linaeraes de los Adaes, founded
by Domingo Ramon in 1717 about thirty miles east of the Sabine River—in what became
Louisiana.
The mission closed two years later but was reestablished in
1721 by the Marquis de Aguayo, who left eight missionaries to serve the Caddo
and 100 troops to guard against French activity, including a trading post St.
Denis had established only a few miles to the east at Natchitoches.
In
1729, the viceroy, stationed in far-away Mexico City, increased the prestige of
Los Adaes by designating it the capital of Texas and lessened its chances for
success by reducing the number of personnel at its military presidio to 60 men.
The difficulty of supplying Los Adaes and other Spanish missions in East Texas
over 1,500 miles of uncertain roads, forced them to turn for supplies to the very
French against whom they were supposed to guard the Spanish frontier.
In the 1760s, after France had been removed from North America by the Peace of
Paris of 1763, and England and France divided the former French territory at the
Mississippi River, an investigation conducted by the Marquis de Rubi found the
missions and garrisons in disrepair, unsuccessful, and no longer necessary.
New
orders arrived for the 500 or so residents of Los Adaes—they must pack up and
move to San Antonio. They departed reluctantly, in 1773, closing down the first
capital of Texas as they did so. |
© Archie P. McDonald
All
Things Historical
July
24, 2005 column
A syndicated column in over 40 East Texas newspapers
(This column is provided as a public service by the East Texas Historical Association.
Archie P. McDonald is director of the Association and author of more than 20 books
on Texas. )
See also
First Texas Capital by Bob Bowman |
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