CHAPTER II
OCCUPATION OF THE TRINITY RIVER, 1746-1772
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Although Don Pedro de Rivera claims to have had this region explored in 1727 by Francisco Alvarez Barreyro, who with a detachment of twenty soldiers is said to have examined the coast from the Guadelupe to the Neches, Spanish offi~ials knew little or nothing about it. 1 Governor Prudencio 0robio y Basterra frankly admitted to Fray Benito Fernandez de Santa Anna, as late as 1740, that nothing was known concerning the coast area from the Guadalupe to the Sabinas. 2 The following year, this official, on hearing that French traders were active along the coast, urged the establishment of a presidio near the mouth of the Trinity River but his efforts proved fruitless. When, however, his kinsman, Captain Joaquin Orobio y Basterra of La Bahia reported in 1745 that insistent rumors had reached him con- cerning the presence of French intruders in the Trinity region, the viceroy became suddenly apprehensive and immediately ordered an inves- tigation to determine if the French had actually established a settlement, what were the number and character of the Indians in the vicinity, and to request any Frenchmen found already settled to leave at once. 3 Exploration of t!te Coast by Orobio y Basterra. Upon receipt of the orders, 0robio y Basterra, with a group of men, set out in October to make a preliminary reconnaissance. La Bahia was at this time still on the Guadalupe. Descending the banks of this stream in order to follow 1 Rivera, Diorio ,y derrotero, 63-64. Only vague, indefinite and very inaccurate accounts of this episode were available in the older works until Dr. Bolton first published his study, "Spanish Activities on the Lower Trinity River, 1746-1771," in the Southwestern Historical Quarterly, XVI, 339-377 1 revised and reprinted later in his Te:ras in t!,e /,fiddle Eigl,teentl, Century, 324-374. In 1909 Miss Elise D. Brown, using materials gathered by Dr. Bolton, presented a study, "History of the Spanish Settlements at Orcoquisac, 1746-1772," as a Master's thesis to the University of Texas. Since that time some additional material has become available, particularly in the copies of the San Francisco el Grande Arclzive, obtained by the University of Texas Library from the writer. The account here presented is based on the excellent study of Dr. Bolton and on the new sources now available. A portion of this account !ell chronologically within the scope of the preceding volume, but the author chose to present the incident as a unit here. 2 0robio y Basterra to Fray Benito Santa Anna, July 8, 17 40, cited by Bolton, Te:ras, p. 63, note 18. 1 The Viceroy to Captain Orobio y Basterra, July 18, 1745, in Bejar Arcl,ives.
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