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Spanish expedition leaves for East Texas
On this day in 1693, Gregorio de Salinas Varona, recently appointed
governor of Coahuila, left Monclova, Coahuila, on a relief expedition to
take supplies to the troubled missions of East Texas. The expedition
consisted of some twenty soldiers, including early Texas pioneer Nicolás
Flores de Valdés, and ninety-six mules loaded with provisions. Salinas, an
experienced soldier and explorer, took the occasion of the trip to define
a portion of the Old San Antonio Road. His diary of the expedition is an
important source of information on the small Indian bands he encountered,
including the Sacuache and the Piedras Blancas. As a relief mission,
though, the expedition was a failure. Salinas reached San Francisco de los
Tejas Mission, in what is now Houston County, on June 8 and found illness
and death rampant among the mission Indians. The supplies Salinas brought
were far short of the need. When he departed six days later, two of the
mission's friars went with him, and conditions worsened after his
departure. Salinas's term as governor ended on December 26, 1697.
- Links to Related Handbook of Texas Online Articles
- SALINAS VARONA, GREGORIO DE
- OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD
- SAN FRANCISCO DE LOS TEJAS MISSION
- SACUACHE INDIANS
- PIEDRAS BLANCAS INDIANS
- FLORES DE VALDES, NICOLAS
- Other Texas Day by Day Articles for This Date
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