Spanish Fort
Spanish Fort, Montague County, Texas
Marker Inscription
The town of Spanish Fort. Occupies the Site of an Ancient Taovayas Indian Village. Scene of first severe defeat in Texas of Spanish troops by Indians in 1859. Named Fort Teodoro in 1778 by De Mezieres in honor of Teodoro De Croix, Commander of the Interior Provinces of Mexico. Permanent white settlements began in this vicinity after 1850. "Let the grandeur of the pioneer be discerned in the safety he has secured, in the good he has accomplished, in the civilization he has established." (1936)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Long before it was a town, this site on the Red River was home to a fortified village of the Taovayas, an agricultural Wichita-affiliated people. In the mid-18th century it was the scene of a stinging defeat of a Spanish military expedition by allied Indians, and in 1778 the Spanish officer De Mézières named a post here Fort Teodoro in honor of Teodoro de Croix, commander of the northern provinces. Permanent Anglo settlement came only after 1850, and the place kept the name Spanish Fort.
Why it matters
The site marks the northern frontier of Spanish Texas, where powerful Native nations checked European ambitions and shaped the contest for the southern plains.
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Related people
- · Athanase de Mézières
- · Teodoro de Croix
Related events
- · Taovayas village
- · Spanish expedition against the Taovayas
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Site of the 1759 Taovayo Victory Over Spain
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In 1759, Spanish commander Diego Ortiz Parrilla marched north from San Antonio with some 600 soldiers and Indian allies to punish the Comanches and their French-armed allies after the destruction of Mission San Sabá. At this bend of the Red River he found a fortified Taovaya (Wichita) village flying a French flag, its defenders well supplied with guns. After a four-hour battle cost him 52 men, Parrilla withdrew under cover of night and was harried for days on his retreat—a stinging defeat for Spain on its northern frontier.
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