4/4/1689: Spanish explorer names the Nueces
On this day in 1689, Spanish explorer and governor Alonso De León, marching from Coahuila in response to news of a French settlement in Texas, crossed a river in what is now Dimmit or Zavala County which he named RÃo de las Nueces ("River of Nuts") for the pecan trees growing along its banks.
The Nueces River, although not explored in its entirety until the eighteenth century, was the first Texas river to be given a prominent place on European maps. It is identifiable as the RÃo Escondido ("Hidden River"), which first appeared on a 1527 map attributed to Diogo Ribeiro, signifying the obscure location of the river mouth behind its barrier island. It was to this river that René Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle--confused by the period's inadequate maps--sailed in 1685, believing that it was the Mississippi. De León discovered the remains of La Salle's Fort St. Louis on Garcitas Creek eighteen days after crossing the Nueces.
4/4/1836: Sarah Ann Horn and other settlers captured by Indians
On this day in 1836, Sarah Ann Horn was captured by Comanche Indians near the Nueces River.
Her family was traveling from the failed Dolores settlement, in Beales's Rio Grande colony, hoping to reach the port of Matamoros. The Comanches killed several men, including John Horn, Sarah's husband. After capture, Sarah was separated from her children. In 1837 American traders ransomed her at a trading rendezvous in New Mexico. She moved in 1838 to Missouri, where writer E. House recorded her account of her captivity, published the following year as A Narrative of the Captivity of Mrs. Horn, and Her Two Children. Sarah Horn died in 1839 from injuries sustained during her captivity.
Topic: 4/4 A Two Fer! (Read 25 times)