The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 42, July 1938 - April, 1939 Page: 86
446 p. : ill., maps ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Southwestern Historical Quarterly
all the history of the settlement of Nuevo Santander as one of
the great colonizers of his day. Beginning his work in September,
1748, in the space of seven years he had completely settled the
coastal province.
The first settlement founded by Escand6n on the Rio Grande
was Camargo, March 5, 1749.7 The Spanish flag was unfurled
to the gentle spring breeze, the holy cross was planted, and the
settlement of the valley of the Rio Grande was started. By 1750
the Hacienda de Nuestra Sefiora de los Dolores had been located
on the northern bank of the river.
In the year 1754 Don Tomas Sinchez de la Barrera y Gallardo
petitioned Escand6n for permission to found a town on the north
bank of the Rio Grande, offering at the same time to pay out of
his own funds the expenses necessary for bringing in the required
families and maintaining the settlement.8 The petition was fa-
vorably received, so during the middle of the year 1755 Sanchez,
with three other families, started up the river from Dolores, and,
some twenty-five miles to the northwest, on the left bank of the
Rio Grande del Norte, the settlement was founded on the 15th
day of May, 1755.9 It was an ideal location for the town. The
banks of the river were high; and a short distance to the north
was El Paso de Jacinto, and some few leagues south was El Paso
de Miguel de la Garza, both used as crossings.10 Escand6n gave
the new settlement the name of San Agustin de Laredo, said to
be so named after the town of Laredo on the Bay of Biscay in
Santander, Spain.11 Don Tomas Sanchez was charged with the
7Ibid., Vol. II, p. 110.
albid., Vol. I, p. 444; Prieto, Historia, Geografia y Bstadistica del Estado
de Tamaulipas, p. 188.
sFundaci6n de la Colonia del Nuevo Santander, Vol. I, p. 444, Vol. II,
pp. 123-4.
lolbid., Vol. I, p. 447; H. E. Bolton, "Tienda de Cuervo's Ynspeccion of
Laredo, 1757," in Texas State Historical Association, The Quarterly, Vol.
VI, p. 194 (note), says, "I am informed by Mr. Bethel Coopwood of Laredo
that, although there has been some doubt as to the location of these fords,
the view is probably correct that Paso de Jacinto was what is now called
Paso de los Indios, a landmark at the upper side of the Fort McIntosh
reservation; and that Paso de Miguel de la Garza . . . was in the vicinity
of La Cainada de los Abiones, where the third league of the original tract
terminated on the left side of the river."
nlFundci6n de la Colonia del Nuevo Santander, Vol. I, p. 445, Vol. II,
p. 124. Escand6n in naming his settlements had followed the policy of first
using the names of his king and prince, then his viceroys, and finally those
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 42, July 1938 - April, 1939, periodical, 1939; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101107/m1/100/: accessed March 29, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.