SANTÍSIMA TRINIDAD DE SALCEDO. Santísima Trinidad de Salcedo, a Spanish villa, was established on the east bank of the Trinity River where the roads from San Antonio de Béxar and La Bahía to East Texas joined, probably just beyond the northern boundary of present Madison County near Midway. The settlement, also called Trinidad de Salcedo, Spanish Bluff, Salcedo, and Trinidad, was named in honor of Nemesio Salcedo y Salcedo, commandant-general of the eastern division of the Provincias Internas. It was one of the villas founded by Manuel Antonio Cordero y Bustamante to form a chain of settlements between Bexar and Nacogdoches to defend against Indian depredations and foreign incursions. The settlers, probably five families, left Bexar on December 20, 1805. They were joined on the Trinity by twenty-three immigrants from Louisiana under the leadership of Bernardo Despallier. The first land grant was issued on January 23, 1806. The villa attracted a number of settlers from Nacogdoches and Louisiana, and in 1809 the governor was instructed to expel the foreigners from Salcedo. Although an inspection was made, no action was taken. The villa was occupied by the Gutiérrez-Magee Expedition in 1812 and provided a rallying point for the invaders. The Spanish recaptured and destroyed the town in 1813. A granite marker was placed at the site during the Texas Centennial.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Carlos E. Castañeda, Our Catholic Heritage in Texas (7 vols., Austin: Von Boeckmann-Jones, 1936-1958; rpt., New York: Arno, 1976). Mattie Austin Hatcher, The Opening of Texas to Foreign Settlement, 1801-1821 (University of Texas Bulletin 2714, 1927).