The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 52, July 1948 - April, 1949 Page: 83

Report o ouis de Sailt Deois'
Jteided Raid on San As tonio
io 1721
HENRI FOLMER
THE attempt by France to seize parts of present-day Texas
in 1684 ended in failure when La Salle's settlement on
present Matagorda Bay met with disaster. The occupation
of Texas by Spain in 169o in order to prevent the French from
returning was abandoned in 1693, but when the French in 1714
penetrated the Indian country between the Rio Grande and
Louisiana, the Spaniards were quick to reoccupy Texas. In
1716 the East Texas missions were rebuilt as a barrier against
French expansion from the Mississippi Valley.
The change in French colonial policy from territorial expan-
sion at the expense of Spain to a desire for peaceful trade rela-
tions with Mexico coincided with the decline of French aggres-
siveness in the Gulf coast region. Yet not all French colonial
officials of the old school were willing to abandon their dreams
of conquest. From the end of the War of the Spanish Succession
in 1713 to the middle of the eighteenth century voices continued
to be heard in Louisiana advocating the seizure of Texas, New
Mexico or New Biscaye. The commercial interests in Louisiana
were, however, opposed to this anti-Spanish policy, and aided by
France's military weakness in Louisiana, their views usually
prevailed.
The war between Spain and France in 1719 gave an 'oppor-
tunity to some of the more aggressively minded Frenchmen in
Louisiana to revive their expansionistic projects. In June, 1719,
Blondel, commander of the French post of Natchitoches,' invaded
eastern Texas with a small force, whereupon the Spaniards hastily
fled to San Antonio, abandoning East Texas a second time.
The report presented below deals with a project to pursue the
'The pronunciation is "Nakitosh" and seems to date from the early occupation
by the French of this Indian village on the Red River.