The Junior Historian, Volume 14, Number 6, May 1954 Page: 1
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* THE JUNIOR HISTORIAN *
Vol.. XIV, No. 6 AUSTIN, TEXAS MAY, 1954
F F
JOSE DE ESCANDON-COLONIZER
by BETTY PUTNAMI
Uvalde High SchoolIGEFND has it that Pecos Bill in-
vented cowboys. Bill was raised in
Texas by a pack of coyotes and
reluctantly gave up coyote life to invent
cowboy life. A pet rattlesnake gave him
the idea for a lariat, while his first
mount was a mountain lion. Although
Bill's formidable record makes a good
story, the man who actually introduced
ranching to Texas was a Spaniard
named Jose de Escand6n.
After the first rush of the conquista-
dors had pushed the frontiers of New
Spain northward into the unexplored
regions - after adventurers, soldiers,
and missionaries had crossed the New
World from Florida to New Mexico-
the frontier's advance slowed to a
crawl. Francisco Garay and Nifio de
Guzman had tried in vain to establish a
settlement at the mouth of the Rio
Grande and Francisco Vasquez de Coro-
nado had stalked across the plains in
his futile search for Gran Quivera and
the Seven Cities of Cibola.
It was not until Spain, the long un-
disputed ruler of the New World, saw
her empire threatened that any further
concern was aroused over this land. Aft-
er defeating the Spanish Armada, Eng-
land planted colonies in North America
and seized the Bermudas and other is-
lands from Spain. The I)utch and
French also plundered the shipping and
settlements of Spain. In addition they
took some of Spain's islands in the Ca-
ribbean Sea and established colonies in
northeastern South America.
It was the combination of these
threatening nations plus the shock of
Fort St. Louis that spurred Spain to
action.
In the course of a few years the first
successful settlements along the RioGrande were established under the lead-
ership of Escand6n.
Don Jose de Escand6n was born in
Soto la Marina, Spain, in 1700. When
Jose was fifteen years old, he came to
the New World, to Merida, Yucatan,
near the site of the ancient ruins of the
Mayan Empire. Here the youthful
Spaniard enlisted as a cadet in the
mounted company, Los Caballeros En-
comenderos. IFor six years he served in
this distinguished corps against rebel-
lious Indians and marauding English-
men.
His services in Merida had gained
him the rank of lieutenant and the sub-
sequent transfer from the southern ex-
tremity of Mexico to the distant out-
post of Queretaro. In 1727 he returned
to Spain and married Dofia Dominga de
I'edrajo before resuming his career as a
soldier in Mexico. He put down a serious
revolt in Celaya and dealt with raiding
Indians who swept from the mountains
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Texas State Historical Association. The Junior Historian, Volume 14, Number 6, May 1954, periodical, May 1954; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth391341/m1/3/?q=Lamar+University: accessed June 7, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.