Presidio San Antonio de Béxar
Presidio de Béxar was a Spanish fort built near the San Antonio River, located in what is now San Antonio, Texas, in the United States. It was designed for protection of the mission San Antonio de Valero and the Villa de Bejar. The Presidio de Bejar was founded on May 5, 1718 by Spanish colonial official Martin de Alarcon, and his party of thirty-five soldiers. The Villa de Bejar is known for being the first Spanish settlement of San Antonio and consisted of the families of the Presidio Soldiers and those of the prior  expeditions. It also served to secure Spain's claim to the region against possible encroachment from other European powers. Establishment. From the Convent of Querétaro, several expeditions were organized to the region of Texas, an area of great strategic importance to the Spanish crown. With that goal, in 1675 an expedition formed by Fray Antonio de Olivares, Fray Francisco Hidalgo, Fray Juan Larios, and Fernando del Bosque was sent to explore and describe the country beyond the Rio Grande, to test the possibilities of new settlements in the area. In 1709, Olivares participated in the expedition headed by Pedro de  Aguirre, together with Fray Isidro de Espinosa, exploring the territory between the present-day location of the city of San Antonio and the Colorado River. The same year, he traveled to Spain to convince the authorities of the importance of maintaining the territory and establishing new missions on the bank of the San Antonio River. The authorities said "yes." He remained in Spain six years (until 1715). In 1716, Fray Antonio de Olivares wrote to the Viceroy of New Spain, telling of their hopes and plans for the future mission, and urged him to send families of settlers to found  a town. In the same letter, he stressed that it was necessary for some of these families to be skilled in the useful arts and industries, "to teach the Indians all that should be required to be useful and capable citizens." Fray Antonio's perseverance eventually paid off, and the Viceroyalty gave formal approval for the missions in late 1716, assigning responsibility for their establishment to Martín de Alarcón, the governor of Coahuila y Tejas. Fray Antonio de Olivares organized the construction of the new mission San Antonio de Valero, from the next Mission San Francisco Solano. He also built  the first irrigation ditch in Texas (Acequia Madre de Valero), six miles long, to irrigate 400 hectares of land and to supply water to the new facilities. The operating complex was completed with the construction of the Presidio San Antonio de Béxar, on the west side of the San Antonio River, approximately one-half mile from the mission. It was designed to protect the system of missions and civilian settlements in central Texas and to secure Spanish claims in the region against possible encroachment by other European powers. The presidio consisted of an adobe building, thatched with grass, with soldiers  and their families quartered in brush huts. As settlers concentrated around the presidio complex and mission, it began to form the town of Béjar or Béxar, which became the cornerstone of Spanish Tejas or Texas. Being located in the center of several operating systems, mission Béxar did not suffer the needs and anxieties of other presidios. Despite occasional Indian attacks, the defenses of the presidio walls were never completed or were deemed necessary, as the mission was partially completed and later converted into the main unit of walled defense. On May 5, the Presidio San Antonio de Béxar was founded  on the west side of the San Antonio River, marking the origin of the present city of San Antonio, Texas. The event was chaired by Martin de Alarcón, settling around 30 families in the surrounding area. On February 14, 1719, the Marquess of San Miguel de Aguayo made a report to the king of Spain, proposing that 400 families be transported from the Canary Islands, Galicia, or Habana to populate the province of Texas. In June 1730, 25 families came to Cuba, and 10 families were sent to Veracruz. Under the leadership of Juan Leal Goraz, the group in Veracruz  marched overland to the Presidio San Antonio de Béxar, arriving on March 9, 1731. The group joined the military community resident since 1718, forming the first government of the city and taking as its headquarters the Presidio of San Antonio de Béxar. In 1726, there were 45 soldiers in the fort and 4 families living nearby; nine soldiers were spread between the missions and the total civilian population was 200 people. Soldiers' quarters and the Spanish Governor's Palace were completed in 1749 to house the military garrison's commanding officer. The location became known as the "Plaza de Armas