The Early History of Texasby Philip LaBerge

A Brief Timeline of the

Native Americans, French & Spanish in

Texas

And key figures:

Louis Juchereau de Saint Denis

Athanase De Mézières

• 1519 – Hernán Cortés lands in Veracruz as begins conquest of Aztec

Empire at Tenochtitlán, Mexico City.

• 1531 – Silver discovered in Zacatecas. Province named Nueva Viscaya.

• Tampico was the northern most Spanish settlement on the Gulf Coast at

the time of La Salle’s landing at Matagorda Bay.

• 1542 – Moscoso Expedition enters Texas near Texarkana and travels south

west past Tyler and Palestine before returning.

Trammel’s Trace – ancient Indian trail, 180 long connecting south west Arkansas with

Nacogdoches and the El Camino Real (San Antonio Trail, Rue Royal)

Referred to as the El Camino Real del los Tejas, Rue Royal and the Old San Antonio Road.

• 1607 – Jamestown, Virginia – First English settlement in North America. Briefly abandoned but became permanent in 1610.

• 1610 – Québec City founded by Champlain.

• 1650 – Thomas Touchet, step-brother of Robert de la Berge, builds house for Nicolas Jucherea in Beauport. Nicolas was the father of Charles and Louis Juchereau de Saint Denis.

• 1658 – My ancestor, Robert de la Berge arrives in Québec.

• 1660 – Maison Laberge built in 1660 in L’Ange-Gardien (Guadian Angel) located ten minutes from Québec City.

• Summer of 1673 – Jolliet & Marquette navigate the Mississippi to within 400 miles of Gulf.

• April 9, 1682 – La Salle reaches the mouth of the Mississippi and claims all lands west as La Louisiane.

• July, 1684 - after his return to France, La Salle departs with 4 ships and 300 colonists to establish a French colony on the Gulf of Mexico at the mouth of the Mississippi.

• Misguided, La Salle overshoots the Mississippi delta by 400 miles and lands in Matagorda Bay. France claims possession of the region that is now Texas. Fort Saint Louis established.

• His ships foundered and sank. The fort fails from starvation & attack by the Karankawa Indians.

• March, 1687 - La Salle died in mutiny on an expedition to find the Mississippi.

• Although Spain claimed ownership of the territory (of Texas), which comprised part of the modern-day U.S. state of Texas, the Spanish did not attempt to colonize the area until after discovering evidence of the failed French colony of Fort Saint Louis in 1689.

• 1689 – Spanish discover the remains of the fort and burn them and later establish a presidio.

Location of La Salle monument in Indianola, TX in Matagorda Bay

near Port Lavaca and Victoria, with Corpus Christi 80 miles to the

west and Galveston 138 miles to the east.

• 1690 – First mission established in Texas amongst the Tejas Indians. Mission San Francisco de los Tejas (later de la Espada) near Weches, TX on San Antonio Road between Crockett and Nacogdoches.

• 1991 to 1693 – Hidalgo was on the 1691 expedition to East Texas and stayed until the San Francisco de los Tejas Mission was abandoned in 1693. Thereafter he advocated new missions amongst the Cado Indians.

• 1698 – Hidalgo established Mission San Juan Bautista at Guerrero, Coahuila.

• 1699 – Pierre Le Moyne d’Iberville establishes the Louisiana Colony at Biloxi, is the first governor of Louisiana, and returns to France.

• 1700 – D’Iberville returns to Louisiana with his brother Bienville and Louis Juchereau de Saint Denis.

• 1702 – Fort moved from Biloxi to Mobile.

• 1702 – Nicolas Laberge (son of my ancestor Robert) signs contract with Charles Juchereau de Saint-Denis to go to establish a tanner on the Mississippi and now Cairo, Ill.

• 1705 – Nicolas Laberge arrives at Fort Louis de la Louisiane in Mobile. Saint-Denis the commander of the fort at that time.

• 1711 – Frustrated by Spain’s lack of support, Hidalgo appeals to Cadillac, the French governor of Louisiana.

• 1713 – 1714 – Saint Denis dispatched by Cadillac establishes Natchitoches and journeys to San Juan Bautista along El Camion Real.

Louis Antoine Juchereau de St. Denis

(September 17, 1676 – June 11, 1744)

was a French-Canadian soldier and

explorer most known for his

exploration and development of the

Louisiana and Texas regions.

• St. Denis was fluent in French, Spanish and many of the Indian languages who is revered

by and called him the “Great White Chief.”

• St. Denis was a diplomat and was instrumental in the fostering of strong relations with

the many Indian tribes in Louisiana and present day Texas and the development of trade

between the French, Indians and Spanish.

• 1713 – 1717 – St. Denis travels an almost unbelievable 14,000 miles in his overland

travels.

• 1714 – St. Denis reaches San Juan Bautista. Commander Don Diego Ramon placed St.

Denis under house arrest for violating trade restrictions by Spain. St. Denis courted and

won the promise of marriage from Ramón’s step-daughter, Manuela Sánchez Navarro y

Gomes Mascorro.

• 1715 – St. Denis ordered to Mexico City and imprisoned.

• 1716 – St. Denis returns to San Bautista and marries Manuela.

• 1716 – 1717 – St. Denis returns to East Texas and establishes six missions and a presidio.

• 1719 – St. Denis returns to Natchitoches with Manuela.

• 1719 – Athanase de Mézières born in Paris.

• 1744 – St. Denis dies.

• 1745 – Césaire de Blanc assumed command of Natchitoches. He marries St. Denis’

daughter, Marie des Douleurs.

• 1746 – St. Denis’ daughter, Marie Petronile, marries Athanase de Mézières.

The map of La Louisiane and the Course of the Mississippi dated 1718

Enlarged view showing Natchitoches, Cadodaquis, Cenis (Tejas) and the route taken by Saint-Denis to San Juan Bautista.

• 1750 – The Taovayas established the most important Wichita settlement at a place that would be one of the landmark villages of the southern plains for the next half-century (later known as Spanish Fort near Nocona, Texas) The excellent site they chose was the farthest point upstream on the Red River that could be reached by boat; it lay just west of the thin sliver of forest know as the Western Cross Timbers. French traders flocked to the village to exchange goods not only with the Taovayas, but also with the Wichitas’ great ally, the Comanches. This tribe was by far the most numerous of all the Indians of Texas and, unlike the settled, agricultural Caddos and Wichitas, roamed the Great Plains on horseback to hunt buffalo. Although the Spaniards of Texas opposed this commerce, they were powerless to stop it and even depended upon the French traders’ good graces to convince the natives to remain peaceful.

• 1756 – 1763 – Seven Years War involving most of the great powers of the time. Also know as:

– The French & Indian War in the United States

– The War of the Conquest in French speaking Canada

• 1759 – Québec attacked by General Wolf. Maison Laberge burned along with all houses along the north coast of the St. Lawrence River.

• 1762 – Cession of French Louisiana to Spain. Spanish officials employed Frenchmen almost exclusively to establish peace with the tribes that had been inimical to the Spaniards in Texas. By the end of the century, due to the efforts of these French traders and diplomats, relations between the natives and the Europeans in Texas stabilized for the first time since the colony was established. Thus during the late 1700’s, the French exercised greater influence in Texas than they would again.

• From Athanase de Mézières And The Louisiana Texas Frontier 1768 – 1780

The frontier groups formed a great arc extending from the Karankawa on the Gulf

coast eastward through the Arkokisa and Bidai to the Hasinai and the Caddo, and then

westward through the Tonkawa and Wichita to the Apache (later the Comanche) of

the upper Red and Arkansas Rivers. Farther north and west, on the New Mexico –

Louisiana frontier, were the Jumano, of the Arkansas, and the Pawnee, of the region

south of the Platte.

Principal Indian Groups of Texas

• The Karankawa

• The Bidai, Arkokisa, and Attacapa

• The Hasinai

• The Caddo

• The Tonkawan Tribes

• The Wichita

• The Apache and the Comanche

• 1763 – Alejandro O’Reilly put Spaniards effectively in control of Louisiana. O’Reilly

realized that peaceful relations had to be established with the tribes of Louisiana

and Texas, for Spain was too weak and poor to afford war with the tribes,

especially wen the aggressive British now stood poised on the east bank of the

Mississippi River. O’Reilly also understood that the Spanish method of treating

with the natives through missionaries who attempted conversion would not work

and that the only way to win the tribes’ allegiance was to allow French trading

methods.

• To put such policy into effect, O’Reilly called upon the man who was said to have a

knowledge of Texas and Louisiana and their native inhabitants “such as no one lese

possesses,” Athanase de Mézières.

• 1769 – In late 1769m the Irishman named the Frenchman – both now in the

employ of Spain – lieutenant governor of the all-important Natchitoches district.

De Mézières was charged with implementing the new trade policy and with

establishing Spanish authority over the tribes of Louisiana and Texas that had been

French allies.

• 1772 – Missions and presidios in Texas abandoned except for San Antonio and La

Bahia. East Texas missions and Los Adaes abolished. Inhabitants moved to San

Antonio

• 1776 – Control of Texas and all northern provinces of New Spain (Provincias

Interas) taken away from Mexico City who were antagonistic to De Mézières.

Commandant-General Teodoro de Croix appointed.

• 1776 – Commandant-General Croix investigates De Mézières plan of 1772 for a

joint Spanish-Norteño campaign against the Lipan Apaches.

• 1778 – De Mézières arrived in San Antonio to plan campaign.

De Mézières received permission to visit the various tribes of Texas in order to

reinforce the neglected alliance with themin preparation for the planned attack on the

Lipans. The Frenchman traveled first to the Kichai and the Tawakoni villages before

heading northward to the Taovaya town on the Red River (Spanish Fort), where he

distributed presents and renewed their mutual friendship.

• 1778 - "De Mézières, a Frenchman then in the service of the King of Spain, probably crossed the West Fork of the Trinity River near present-day Fort Worth, having followed the western edge of the Eastern Cross Timbers from the Tawakoni Village on the Brazos River near present Waco. He then proceeded north to the Red River“

De Mézières to Croxi, April 18, 1778

…I had the honor to inform your Lordship of my observations and of the results of my march from Bexar to the villages of the Tuacanas….I continued my march north and arrived on the seventh day a the village of the Taovayazes….The attractiveness of the lands which I have traversed for the distance of eighty leagues is inexpressible, with respect to the numerous springs and creeks which encourage the irrigation of the adjacent plains, the woods that beautify their banks, the rocks which, making their bottoms firm, facilitate the construction of the dams that may be undertaken, and finally, the abundance of buffalo that feed in their neighborhood. Their number is great that, already having a superabundance of this savory food, it was not a necessity but a vice wantonly to destroy so estimable a gift of divine providence, which, manifesting itself also by numerous herds of deer, antelopes, turkeys, partridges, geese, cranes, rabbits, and hares, gave no place for noticing fatigue, but furnished recreation and diversion. Nor was any thought given to the mere satisfaction of hunger, but only to seeking for luxuries.

• It is worthy to note that from the Brazos River, on which the Tuacanas are

established, until one reaches the river which bathes the village of the Taouayazes,

one sees on the right a forest that natives appropriately call the Grand Forest. (The

Grand Forest was the Western Cross Timbers) It is very dense, but not very wide.

It seems to be there as a guide even to the most inexperienced, and to give refuge

in this dangerous region to those who, few in number and lacking in courage, wish

to go from one village to another.

• Location of Grapevine Creek and Grapevine Springs Park

• October 12, 1779 - De Mézières learned that he had been appointed Governor of Texas.

• November 2, 1779 – De Mézières dies from injuries sustained from being thrown from his horse.

Thus, it was due mainly to the efforts of Frenchmen that the Spaniards in Texas, after nearly a century of dealing with the various tribes, were able to effect a peaceful, working relationship with the Indians by employing the same methods – trade and friendship – that the French had used in Louisiana. In fact, the importance of Frenchmen in Texas would never again be as great as it was during the latter half of the eighteenth century, for French influence in the Spanaish colony began to wane soon after the victory over the Apaches.

• 1791 – As early as 1791, Anglo traders and mustangers began to enter Texas illegally from the United States.

• 1804 – Following the purchase of Louisiana, American officials took possession of Natchitoches in early 1804, and soon thereafter, Anglo traders replaced Frenchmen in the Indian trade that continued to flow westward from Natchitoches.

• 1821 – Following the Mexican independence, Anglo settlers entered Texas in such large numbers that they quickly came to dominate the region.

• 1836 – The Battle of the Alamo.