Mapping old trails has a romantic allure at least as great as the difficulty involved in doing it. In this book, William Foster produces the first highly accurate maps of the eleven Spanish expeditions from northeastern Mexico into what is now East Texas during the years 1689 to 1768.
Foster draws upon the detailed diaries that each expedition kept of its route, cross-checking the journals among themselves and against previously unused eighteenth-century Spanish maps, modern detailed topographic maps, aerial photographs, and on-site inspections. From these sources emerges a clear picture of where the Spanish explorers actually passed through Texas.
This information, which corrects many previous misinterpretations, will be widely valuable. Old names of rivers and landforms will be of interest to geographers. Anthropologists and archaeologists will find new information on encounters with some 139 named Indian tribes. Botanists and zoologists will see changes in the distribution of flora and fauna with increasing European habitation, and climatologists will learn more about the "Little Ice Age" along the Rio Grande.
William Foster produces the first highly accurate maps of the eleven Spanish expeditions from northeastern Mexico into what is now East Texas during the years 1689 to 1768.
The late William C. Foster was a partner in the law firm of Patton Boggs, L.L.P., in Washington, D.C., and wrote several books about Texas history.
- Preface
- 1. Introduction
- 2. In Search of La Salle: Governor Alonso de Léon's 1689 Expedition
- 3. A Mission for the Tejas: Governor Alonso de Léon's 1690 Expedition
- 4. San Antonio de Padua: Governor Domingo Terán de los Ríos's Expedition, 1691-1692
- 5. To Resupply the Mission: Governor Gregorio de Salinas Varona's 1693 Expedition
- 6. New Road to the Colorado: The 1709 Expedition of Fray Isidro de Espinosa, Fray Alc-
![Spanish Expeditions Into Texas, 1689-1768 [Paperback]](/itemImage/2/6/1/8/2_296182.jpg "Spanish Expeditions Into Texas, 1689-1768 [Paperback]")