The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 6, July 1902 - April, 1903 Page: 91
401 p. : ill. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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The Southwest Boundary of Texas.
to Escand6n to found a new pueblo on the left bank of that river,
in a place he had selected. Escand6n agreed to this, but as he had
previously attempted a settlement on the Nueces, he wished San-
chez first to undertake one there. Sanchez visited the Nueces, but
returning reported to Borrego, at Dolores, that he could not find a
suitable place for a settlement, and that unless he could form his
settlement on the Bravo, he should desist entirely from the enter-
prise. Borrego, to whom Escand6n had left the ultimate decision,
then permitted Sanchez to form his settlement in the desired local-
ity. Thus, May 15, 1755, was founded the villa of Laredo, ten
leagues from Dolores.1
In this manner was accomplished the pacification and settlement
of the colony of Nuevo Santander. In 1755 Escand6n retired to
Quer6taro, there to make out a statistical report of all that he had
done and of the places founded by him.2 By his vigorous work he
had extended his conquests, not only along the coast of the gulf of
Gexico, but also up both banks of the Bravo, so that the limits of
hiscolony touched Coahuila on the west, near the villa of Laredo,
and Texas on the north, with the Nueces as the accepted boundary
l~ne'i fficially established by a royal cedula of 1805. B ,extending
1zis conquests into the Apache country, although by no means en-
tirely subduing the Indians, together with the founding of the set-
tlements mentioned above, he had effectually deprived Nuevo Leon
of territory bordering on the Rio Grande, and had made one less
neighbor for Texas on the southwest.
The remaining years of Spanish domination brought no special
changes in the boundaries of Texas, the documentary evidence of
this period simply confirming the limits already roughly laid down.
A letter of 1762 thus describes them: "This vast province of
Texas is found at a distance of three hundred and sixty leagues,
more or less, from the City of Mexico, on a line drawn to the north-
northeast; it borders on the south the colony of the Mexican Gulf,
although there remains on this and other boundaries much unin-
hi~bited land. On the west-southwest [it borders] the province of
Coahuila; on the west-northwest, Sonora [Chihuahua?]; on the
1Prieto, 188.
'Ibid., 189. This report is found in SecciSn de Historia, 55, Archivo
General, City of Mexico.
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Texas State Historical Association. The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 6, July 1902 - April, 1903, periodical, 1903; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101028/m1/95/: accessed March 29, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.