There’s still a lot to learn and understand about early settlements in Texas.
Francis Galan, associate professor of history at Texas A&M University-San Antonio, sheds some light on the complexities of Spanish settlements in the state.
Francis Galán is an Associate Professor of History at Texas A&M University-San Antonio, where he teaches in the College of Arts and Sciences.
Professor Galán teaches classes on Latin America, Mexico, Texas, and Caribbean. His primary research uses Spanish archival records to examine military, political, economic, and social relations in Texas under Spain and Mexico.
His book, Los Adaes: The First Capital of Spanish Texas, was published in 2020 by Texas A&M University Press, College Station, through the Summerfield G. Roberts Texas History Series.
He won a 2023 book award from the San Antonio Conservation Society Foundation and the 2022 book award from the Texas Old Missions and Forts Restoration Association. He was also a Finalist for the 2021 Ramirez Family Award for Most Significant Scholarly Book from the Texas Institute of Letters.
His research interests include Tejanos, Native Americans, Afro-Latinos, Sephardic Jews, and the Texas-Louisiana borderlands.
A Better Understanding of the Interactions Between and Kinship Among Early Texas Settler Groups
When we read stories about the early Spanish settlements in Texas, we are often aware of the separation of the Spanish cultures from others who lived nearby.
My own research of the records from the early missions and settlements of the 18th century, reveals a more complex picture of interactions among people. By examining Spanish government documents from the period, we see a tremendous interest in trade among communities. In many cases, “trade” involved not only ranching, but also smuggling of tobacco and other goods as a way of getting around the strict Spanish laws limiting or even prohibiting trade.
But the people themselves wanted what was called “Comercio Libre” or free trade. As a result, they had come to an accommodation with each other based upon largely, trade.
There are also census records from the period that reveal that a majority of the settlers in the Texas area of New Spain were really not “Spanish” from Spain but often people of color who reflected various designations as outlined in the Spanish racial caste system of the day. Despite the Spanish colonial regulations prohibiting trade, limiting interactions and discouraging contact, the historic record shows that these people, indeed traded goods, cooperated with each other, prayed together and made contact in many other ways, personally and professionally.
In that Northeast corner of New Spain, the settlers were supposed to keep the French from crossing into Texas, and engaging in trade. Yet we now know that they were also inviting the French over to come join in church services inside the chapel. The record reveals many instances of this, as well as the daughter of the Spanish lieutenant who eloped with the son of a prominent French businessman.
So, when we think of early Texas, we now know that there’s more to the story.
