DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker at Goliad has to say — and friend, this one reaches back further than most folks reckon. Now, when people talk about the great Texas cattle drives, their minds tend to drift toward the 1800s — dust clouds, cowboys, the Chisholm Trail. But the marker standing out here in Goliad County points to something that happened a whole lot earlier, and the chain of events that started it stretches clear across the Atlantic Ocean.
In 1779, Spain joined the American colonists in declaring war on England. That decision set a whole lot of things in motion. A Spanish soldier by the name of Bernardo de Galvez traveled to New Orleans to raise an army — and an army, as any general worth his salt knows, has got to eat.
Now, Galvez had spent time stationed in Texas. He knew this country. He knew what was out here roaming the brush and the coastal plains.
So he went to the Spanish governor of Texas with a request: send cattle. Send them to feed his troops. The governor obliged.
About ten thousand head of cattle were assembled — gathered up from Texas missions and ranches — right there at Presidio La Bahia. Ten thousand. Let that number settle over you for a moment like a good hat.
Then, between 1779 and 1782, those cattle were herded out of La Bahia, driven toward the Gulf Coast, where Spanish soldiers were preparing to fight in the American Revolution. The marker calls it what it is believed to be — the first major Texas cattle drive. Not the Chisholm Trail.
Not the Western Trail. This one. Moving beef for a war most Texans never think to connect to this land.
So the next time you pass through Goliad, tip your hat to Presidio La Bahia. Turns out Texas was in the cattle drivin' business before Texas was even Texas.
What the marker says
After Spain joined the American colonists in declaring war on England in 1779, Spanish soldier Bernardo de Galvez traveled to New Orleans to raise an army. Aware of the great number of wild cattle in Texas from his time spent stationed in the region, Galvez asked the Spanish governor of Texas to send cattle to feed his troops. As a result, about 10,000 head of cattle from Texas missions and ranches were assembled at Presidio La Bahia. Between 1779 and 1782, in what is believed to be the first major Texas cattle drive, cattle were herded from La Bahia to Spanish soldiers preparing to fight in the American revolution along the Gulf Coast. (1999)