Espinosa-Olivares-Aguirre Expedition
Austin, Travis County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Approximate Site Reached by the Espinosa-Olivares-Aguirre Expedition. A good will trip made in 1709, when Spain was uneasy about her 190-year-old claim to Texas. (She had closed east Texas missions, then had learned of a French trading visit to Texas, 1707.) Capt. Pedro de Aguirre and 14 soldiers escorted from a mission on the Rio Grande, Father Isidro De Espinosa and Father Antonio de San Beneventura Olivares. The Tejas were not in this vicinity as expected. Capt. Aguirre had no order to cross the Colorado River. So the padres sent the east Texas Indians an invitation to visit them on the Rio Grande, and turned back here. (1966)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In 1709, with Spain uneasy about its long-standing but thinly held claim to Texas, a small goodwill expedition set out from a Rio Grande mission: Captain Pedro de Aguirre with fourteen soldiers escorting the Franciscan fathers Isidro de Espinosa and Antonio de San Buenaventura Olivares. They came seeking the Tejas people but did not find them here, and lacking orders to cross the Colorado River, the padres sent an invitation to the East Texas Indians and turned back near this site. The trip reflected Spain's anxious response to news of French traders probing Texas.
Why it matters
This early Spanish entrada is part of the long colonial contest between Spain and France over Texas—and of the first sustained European contact with the region's Native nations.
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Related people
- · Pedro de Aguirre
- · Isidro de Espinosa
- · Antonio de San Buenaventura Olivares
Related events
- · Espinosa-Olivares-Aguirre Expedition of 1709
Themes & tags
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