SPANISH TEXAS

'Spanish Texas' is the name given by Texas history scholars to the period between 1690 and 1821 when Texas was governed as a province of the Spanish colony of New Spain. The period began with the expedition of the governor of Coahuila to destroy the ruins of the French colony of Fort Saint Louis and establish a Spanish presence in the area, and ended with Spain's capitulation in the Mexican War of Independence (Treaty of Córdoba, 1821), facilitating the creation of Mexican Texas.
In the 17th and 18th centuries Spain and France maneuvered for control of Texas, with the Spanish based in Mexico and New Mexico and the French in Louisiana. During the War of the Quadruple Alliance hostilities spread to the New World and French troops from Natchitoches briefly captured the capital of Texas, Los Adaes in what is now Northwest Louisiana. The French were not able to wrest control of Texas from Spain, and were forced out of the region by their treaties with Britain and Spain at the conclusion of the Seven Years' War in 1763. For four decades Spain ruled Louisiana, until Napoleon forced its return to France in 1800. However, he quickly sold it to the United States in the Louisiana Purchase, which then placed the United States as a threat to Spanish control of Texas.

Contents

Famous Spanish Settlers

Famous Spanish Settlers

★ Blas María de la Garza Falcón