4/30/1675: Bosque-Larios Expedition sets out for Texas

[Craig Tx]

On this day in 1675, an expedition led by Fernando del Bosque and Fray Juan Larios left Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe mission in present-day Monclova, Mexico, to convert the Indians of Coahuila.

On May 11 the expedition reached the Rio Grande, probably a little below the present site of Eagle Pass. Bosque took formal possession of the river, erected a wooden cross, and renamed the river the San Buenaventura del Norte. On May 15 members of the expedition celebrated what may have been the first Mass on Texas soil, in present-day Maverick County. In all, the Spaniards traveled forty leagues past the Rio Grande and made six halts in south-central Texas. They returned to Guadalupe on June 12.