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CHAPTER IV
EscANDON AND THE SETTLEMENT OF THE LOWER Rio GRANDE 1738-1779 First vehemently, then more slowly, the Spanish conquistadors had pushed the frontiers of New Spain from Mexico northward into the unexplored regions of the great unknown. By the end of the sixteenth century we have seen how intrepid soldiers, daring adventurers, and devoted missionaries had trod upon the soil of Texas, penetrating the borders of the State from the Gulf coast region, Nueva Vizcaya, New Mexico, and distant Florida. Garay and Nuno de Guzman had tried in vain to establish a settlement at the mouth of the Rio Grande; Coronado had marched across the Staked Plains in search of Quivira; and Moscoso had attempted to reach New Spain with the worn-out survivors of De Soto's expedition, leading his men from the Sabine River to the upper waters of the Brazos. But repeated failures cooled the ardor of the bold explorers and the advance of the northern frontier slowed down during the seventeenth century. By the middle of the eighteenth permanent settlements had been established in Nuevo Reyno de Leon, Coahuila, Nueva Vizcaya, New Mexico, and Texas. But along the Gulf coast from the Panuco to the Guadalupe River, extending inland for a distance of from one hundred .to one hundred and fifty miles, there remained a vast area yet unoccupied. Here the various tribes of apostates and unconquered Indians found a haven from which they constantly raided the Spanish settlements along the entire frontier from Panuco to Queretaro and San Luis Potosi, in the very heart of New Spain, and from Queretaro to the north and east along the border outposts of Nuevo Leon and Coahuila to Texas. Within this area was included the Sierra Gorda and the present state of Tamaulipas, as well as the rich and fertile valley of the lower Rio Grande from San Juan Bautista (near present Eagle Pass) to the coast. The Sierra Gorda proper is a rough and mountainous region which extends from Rio Verde, in San Luis Potosi, to the vicinity of Queretaro. Beyond this inaccessible region, to the north and east, were the equally difficult mountains of Tamaulipas, and still farther on was the rich valley of the lower Rio Grande. Numerous attempts had been made by Spanish officials, bold explorers
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