Campsite of Marques De Rubi, 1767

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about this spot right here in Kimble County. Now, picture the year 1764. King Charles III of Spain, the King of Spain, mind you, decides he wants eyes on every presidio in all of New Spain.

Every fort, every outpost, every crumbling adobe wall flying a Spanish flag. And the man he taps for that job is the Marques de Rubi, a Spanish army field marshal. Not a scout, not a courier; a field marshal.

The king wasn't sending a boy to do a man's work. Rubi arrives in Mexico in February of 1766, and right away he picks up a traveling companion worth havin': Nicolas de Lafora, an engineer and mapmaker. Because what good is an inspection tour if nobody's drawin' the map?

Together they sweep through the Northwest, through California territory, and then on July 17, 1767, they cross into Texas. Now here's where it gets personal to this very ground you might be standing on. Six days into Texas, on July 23, 1767, Rubi looks around at this location right here in what's now Kimble County and says, in so many words, this is where we camp tonight.

Could've been the shade. Could've been the water. The marker doesn't say, and neither will I.

What matters is he stopped here. And when a Spanish field marshal stops, he's also thinking. Rubi's report, when it finally made its way back through the chain of command, carried a recommendation with real consequence: close the small Texas missions.

And in 1772, that's exactly what happened. When the dust settled, only two remained standing; Goliad and San Antonio. Two, out of everything Spain had planted across this vast Texas territory.

The rest were closed. All on the strength of a report written by a man who, just a few years before, had camped right here.

What the marker says

Campsite of Marques de Rubi, 1767. In 1764 King Charles III of Spain ordered the Marques de Rubi, a Spanish army field marshal, to tour and inspect all presidios in New Spain. Rubi arrived in Mexico in February 1766, and was joined by Nicolas de Lafora, engineer and mapmaker. They made a tour of the Northwest and California territory and entered Texas on July 17, 1767. Rubi chose this location for his campsite July 23, 1767. His report suggested small Texas missions be closed. This was done in 1772. Only Goliad and San Antonio remained. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, 1967