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Coahuila governor discovers and names Guadalupe River
On this day in 1689, Alonso De León, Spanish governor of Coahuila,
discovered and named the Guadalupe River at the approximate future site of
Victoria, while leading his fourth and final expedition to find and
destroy the French settlement at Fort St. Louis. De León, an early
advocate of establishing missions along the Texas frontier, blazed much of
the Old San Antonio Road in the course of his expeditions. Eight days
after discovering the Guadalupe, he and his party of 114 men, which
included Damián de Massenet, came upon the ruins of the French settlement
on the banks of Garcitas Creek. De León left Texas for the last time in
1690 and died in Coahuila a year later, probably around the age of
fifty-two. In 1721 the Spanish built Nuestra Señora de Loreto de la Bahía
Presidio on the site of Fort St. Louis.
- Links to Related Handbook of Texas Online Articles
- DE LEON, ALONSO
- GUADALUPE RIVER
- VICTORIA COUNTY
- MASSANET, DAMIAN
- FORT ST. LOUIS
- Other Texas Day by Day Articles for This Date
- Fearful dust storm inspires songwriter (1935)
- First state museum in Texas opens (1933)
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