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Photographer's
Note:
"Like a road side park, no services." - Ken
Rudine, February 20, 2008 |
Thornton
Skirmish site
Photo courtesy Ken
Rudine, February 2008 |
Thornton Skirmish
Marker:
The
Spot Where
American Blood was Shed on American Soil
April 25, 1846
Here Captain Philip Thornton
and 42 Dragoons were attacked by Mexican Troops |
Thornton
Skirmish cannon
Photo courtesy Ken
Rudine, February 2008 |
Thornton
Skirmish cannon marker
Photo courtesy Ken
Rudine, February 2008 |
Alonso de Leon
Expeditions
Marker Text:
Spain's desire to colonize this area of the New World in the late
17th Century was spurred by the fear that French
adventurer Rene La Salle, who had landed on the Texas coast in
1684, was claiming vast areas for its bitter rival, France. In 1685
Spain's Mexican Viceroy directed Alonso de Leon to lead expeditions
against French encroachment and protect Spain's claim by initiating
the colonization of Texas.
De Leon's first expedition in 1686 followed the Rio San Juan to the
mouth of the Rio Grande. In 1687 his second expedition crossed the
Rio Grande near present-day Roma,
made its way to the river's mouth, and proceeded up the coast to near
Los Olmos Creek and Baffin
Bay.
On his third expedition in 1688 de Leon captured Frenchman Jean Henri
near present-day Brackettville.
Convinced that the French had settled in Texas, de Leon led a military
expedition in 1689 that crossed the Guadalupe
River near present-day Victoria
before discovering and destroying what remained of La
Salle's Fort
St. Louis settlement in the Matagorda Bay area.
De Leon led an expedition into Southeast
Texas in 1690 that established the area's first Spanish mission,
San
Francisco de los Tejas, and eventually led to Spain's great enterprise
of colonizing Texas. |
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Alonso
De León Expeditions historical marker
Photo courtesy Ken
Rudine, February 2008 |
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