Winner, Presidio La Bahia Award, Sons of the Republic of Texas, 1978
In their efforts to assert dominion over vast reaches of the (now U.S.) Southwest in the seventeenth century, the Spanish built a series of far-flung missions and presidios at strategic locations. One of the most important of these was San Juan Bautista del Río Grande, located at the present-day site of Guerrero in Coahuila, Mexico.
Despite its significance as the main entry point into Spanish Texas during the colonial period, San Juan Bautista was generally forgotten until the first publication of this book in 1968. Weddle's narrative is a fascinating chronicle of the many religious, military, colonial, and commerical expeditions that passed through San Juan and a valuable addition to knowledge of the Spanish borderlands. It won the Texas Institute of Letters Amon G. Carter Award for Best Southwest History in 1969.
San Juan Bautista is one of the most interesting and rewarding books on a Spanish borderland topic to appear in recent years. It is highly recommended.
Robert S. Weddle (1921–2015) was an award-winning historian and the author of more than a dozen books on the Spanish and French colonial history of Texas and the Gulf Coast.
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Preface to the Paperback Edition
- Part I: Frontier Outpost, 1700–1716
- 1. Finding the Gateway
- 2. The Mission Builders
- 3. New Spiritual Conquests
- 4. The Flying Company
- 5. Harvesters in the Vineyard
- 6. From Thorns of Paganism
- 7. Stranger from the Wilderness
- 8. With Sword and Cross
- 9. A Plan for Texas
- 10. The French Cavalier
- 11. Night of Terror
- 12. Back to the Tejas
- Part II: Mother of Missions, 1716–1772
- 13. Padre Olivares’ Dream
- 14. Contraband and Frustration
- 15. Miracle in the Montes
- 16. Changing of the Guard
- 17. The Double Standard
- 18. The Islanders
- 19. Up the Río Grande
- 20. A Cross to Bear
- 21. New Roads to Texas
- 22. To the Meeting of the Rivers
- 23. Brink of Sacrifice
- 24. Providences of 1756
- 25. Ill Wind from the Plains
- 26. Missions in the Canyon
- 27. Isle of the Malaguitas
- 28. The Savage Frontier
- 29. New Line of Defense
- 30. End of an Era
- Part III: Presidio of the Line: After 1772
- 31. Sword above the Cross
- 32. Padre Morfi’s Visit
- 33. Fading of the Missions
- 34. Death to the Gachupines
- 35. Bugle at Dawn
- 36. Decade of the Republic
- 37. Army of Chihuahua
- 38. Closing the Gateway
- Bibliography
- Index
