Don Melchor Portocarrero Lasso de la Vega, Count of Monclova, became viceroy of New Spain on November 30, 1686. As a member of the Council of the Indies, he had come to America with a directive from that body to rid Texas of the French menace caused by La Salle's settlement at Fort St. Louis. Monclova arrived at Veracruz on September 13, 1686. He first sent out the expedition under Martín de Rivas and Antonio de Iriarte that discovered the wreck of a French vessel in Matagorda Bay but failed to find the French colony. Two other unsuccessful maritime expeditions were sent out during the two years of his administration. The third land expedition of Alonso De León discovered the French, but the location of La Salle's colony was not discovered until after the close of Monclova's administration in November 1688, when he went to Peru as viceroy. Monclova was commonly known as Brazo de la Plata because of his false arm. The city of Monclova, for a time a contestant to be the capital of Coahuila and Texas, was probably named for him.
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Carlos E. Castañeda, Our Catholic Heritage in Texas (7 vols., Austin: Von Boeckmann-Jones, 1936–1958; rpt., New York: Arno, 1976). Charles W. Hackett, ed., Pichardo's Treatise on the Limits of Louisiana and Texas (4 vols., Austin: University of Texas Press, 1931–46).
The following, adapted from the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition, is the preferred citation for this entry.
Robert Bruce Blake,
“Monclova, Conde de,”
Handbook of Texas Online,
accessed August 17, 2022,
https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/monclova-conde-de.
Published by the Texas State Historical Association.
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Original Publication Date:
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1952
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Most Recent Revision Date:
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May 28, 2020
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