The Spanish crown established a presidio over 300 years ago in what is now present-day San Antonio.
But San Antonio did not serve as the first capital of Spanish Texas. Instead, that title was held for almost 50 years by a small fort and mission near the eastern border with Louisiana, known as Los Adaes.
The book Los Adaes, the First Capital of Spanish Texas explores the colonial history of this all-but-forgotten Spanish fort and mission.
Author Francis Galán, an associate professor of history at Texas A&M University-San Antonio, said although the capital was established to stem the tide of people and goods across the Texas-Louisiana border, it was doomed from the start.
The indigenous population of the region — mainly the Caddo — refused to be converted to Christianity. The region’s climate was also an issue.
“They are so isolated from the rest of Mexico that the weather does come into play with flooding and the inability to be able to establish sustainable harvest,” Galán said. “They relied upon the French for food supplies.”
Following the transfer of Louisiana from France to Spain in 1762, the Spanish chose to shutter Los Adaes, forcing many of its settlers to later march on foot to San Antonio. Several Adaeseños, including some children, died on the journey.
Galán said Los Adaes plays a critical role in the history of the state.
“It calls to attention that the origins of Texas are really diverse and there are different parts … that contributed to the formation of our great Lone Star State,” he said.
