José de Escandón

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José de Escandón

José de Escandón y Helguera , conde (German: Graf) de Sierra Gorda , (* May 19 , (according to other sources: baptized March 25 ) 1700 in Soto de la Marina , Cantabria , Spain ; † September 10, 1770 in Mexico City ) was a Spanish officer who directed the settlement of Nuevo Santander and was the first governor of this province.

Life

Origin and youth

José de Escandón was born to Juan de Escandón y Rumoroso and Francsica de Elguera y Llata ​​in Soto de la Marina, Cantabria, not far from Santander . After attending school in his hometown, he went to America in 1715. He went with the flotilla of Juan José de Vertíz y Hontañón , who took over the office of governor of Yucatán in December 1715 . In Mérida , he joined a Spanish cavalry company as a cadet and served there for five years under the command of his uncle Antonio de la Helguera Castillo.

Military career in Mexico

In 1721 he moved to Querétaro and served in the rank of Sargente Mayor in the local militia, where he was mainly used in the fight against Indian revolts in the Sierra Gorda . In 1724 he married María Antonia de Ossio y Ocampo, the daughter of a captain, who died in 1736. After his wife's death in 1737, he married Josefa de Llera y Bayas, also from Querétaro. She died in 1762.

From 1727 he commanded combat operations against insurgent Indians near Celaya and suppressed a revolt by Indian miners in the mines of Guanajuato and in San Miguel el Grande .

In 1740 the viceroy made him colonel of the Querétaro militia. His missions in the Sierra Gorda, which were successful from the point of view of the rulers, brought him to the nobility as Count of Sierra Gorda and admission to the Order of Santiago in 1749 . In 1751 he was promoted to lieutenant general.

Foundation of Nuevo Santander

In 1746 Escandón was commissioned by Viceroy Juan Francisco de Güemes y Horcasitas to explore the area between Tampico and the Río San Antonio . The coastal forest and the mountain region had become a retreat for rebellious Indian peoples, runaway slaves and outlaws and were considered highly unsafe.

In 1747, Escandón presented the viceroy with a plan for the settlement of the area; seven divisions were to be moved there. On June 1, 1748, Escandón was appointed governor of the new province, which was initially called Colonia de la Costa del Seno Mexicano (German: Colony on the Gulf Coast), but was soon named Nuevo santander in honor of Escandón's homeland .

The settlement expedition left Querétaro in December 1748 with 750 soldiers and around 2,500 potential settlers heading northeast. The Spaniards proceeded with great severity against the Indians in the style of the classic conquista .

On Christmas Day 1748 the settlement process began with the construction of the first settlement, which Escandón named Llera after his wife's last name . In 1749, under the leadership of the governor, the settlers founded the first settlements along the Río Grande : Camargo (March 5th) and Reynosa (March 14th). Revilla followed in 1750, Ciudad Mier in 1753 and finally Laredo in 1755 , which was to grow into the largest and most important city and also became the capital of the province. Missions were set up in each settlement with the aim of converting the local Indians to Christianity.

As governor of Nuevo Santander

In 1767 the settlers of Nuevo Santander received the land rights for the plots they had developed, as they had been promised when they set out. In a second step, the settlement of the areas north of the Río Grande to the San Antonio River in today's Texas began .

When Diego Corrido accused him of mismanagement and abuse of office with the Viceroy, Escandón traveled to Mexico City to defend himself. During the process of the Juicio de Residencia (German: Evaluation of the Office of Administration) he died in September 1770. He was buried in Mexico City. His son, Manuel de Escandón, applied for the case to be closed and the court found him innocent.

literature

  • Jesús Mendoza Muñoz: El Conde de Sierra Gorda Don José de Escandón y La Helguera: militar, noble y caballero . University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA 2008, ISBN 978-970-94275-1-6 ( limited preview in Google Book Search [accessed February 18, 2016]).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ According to the biography of the Handbook of Texas , his first marriage was in 1727 in his native Soto de la Marina Dominga Pedrajo; This does not seem plausible, however, since a trip to Europe (and back) would have taken more than a year.
  2. ↑ This marriage is confirmed by all sources used.
personal data
SURNAME Escandón, José de
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Escandón y Helguera, José de (full name); conde de Sierra Gorda; Count of Sierra Gorda
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Founder and Governor of Nuevo Santander
DATE OF BIRTH before March 25, 1700 or May 19, 1700
PLACE OF BIRTH Soto de la Marina , Spain
DATE OF DEATH September 10, 1770
Place of death Mexico city