20 March 1721

[Craig Tx]

From the Texas State Historical Association

Aguayo expedition enters Texas

On this day in 1721, an expedition under the Marqués de Aguayo crossed the Rio Grande into Texas. José de Azlor y Virto de Vera, Marqués de San Miguel de Aguayo, was governor of Coahuila and Texas when the viceroy of New Spain accepted his offer to reestablish Spanish control of East Texas in the wake of the French invasion of 1719.

Aguayo organized a force of some 500 men, which he called the Battalion of San Miguel de Aragón, with Juan Rodríguez as guide. Aguayo reached San Antonio on April 4 before proceeding to East Texas. A detachment under Domingo Ramón occupied La Bahía del Espíritu Santo on the same day.

The Indians east of the Trinity welcomed the Spanish, as did the French commander Louis Juchereau de St. Denis, who agreed to withdraw to Natchitoches. Leaving 219 of his men at various presidios in Texas, Aguayo returned to Coahuila, where the force was disbanded on May 31, 1722.

The expedition resulted in the increase in the number of missions in Texas from two to ten, the increase in the number of presidios from one to four, and the establishment of so definite a Spanish claim to Texas that it was never again disputed by France or by the French in Louisiana.


Craig