Spanish Exploration in Medina County

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Spanish exploration in Medina County. Now settle in, because this story starts a long time before there was a Medina County, or a Texas, or much of anything else with an English name on it. By 1531, Spain had her hands on present Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, half of South America, and much of what we now call the United States.

Half of South America. Let that sink in for a second. These were people with ambition.

And that ambition had a particular pull northward, toward the lands above the Rio Grande. So the expeditions came, one after another, through the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries, pushing into territory that European maps either got wrong or left blank. One of the earliest and most remarkable was the expedition of Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca, who traveled through Texas between 1526 and 1537, exploring and mapping country that was, to the Spanish crown, entirely unknown.

That is eleven years of wandering and recording in a land with no roads and no welcome signs. Then came others, each one pressing further into the territory. Alonso de Leon led an expedition through.

Father Manuel de la Cruz came through. Father Juan Larios and Fernando del Bosque traveled together. Domingo Teran de los Rios made his way across.

Father Isidro de Espinosa added his name to the list. Soldiers, missionaries, settlers. All of them crossing what would one day be called Medina County.

And not just crossing it quietly. They wrote things down. Detailed descriptions of the land appear in the official accounts of many of these expeditions.

These people were observers, and their observations survived. In fact, the marker tells us that at least twenty Spanish expeditions crossed present Medina County before 1844. Twenty documented crossings.

And the land remembers them. The rivers remember them. The streams remember them.

The geographical features of Medina County still carry the names those explorers gave them back in the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries. Spanish names tied to early settlements, sites, rivers, and streams, all of them still standing right where the explorers planted them, quiet reminders of a heritage that shaped this corner of Texas long before Texas had that name. So next time you cross a creek or pass a landmark out here in Medina County and the name sounds like it came from another world entirely, well, in a way, it did.

And now you know a little of why.

What the marker says

By 1531 Spain ruled present Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, half of South America, and much of the United States. The desire to claim new lands north of the Rio Grande led to continuous Spanish expeditions through present Texas during the 16th, 17th, and 18th Centuries. The expedition of Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca traveled through Texas between 1526 and 1537, exploring and mapping the unknown territory. Later Spanish expeditions, which established missions, presidios (forts), and townships, included those led by Alonso de Leon; Father Manuel de la Cruz; Father Juan Larios and Fernando del Bosque; Domingo Teran de los Rios; and Father Isidro de Espinosa. At least twenty Spanish expeditions led by soldiers, missionaries, and settlers crossed present Medina County before 1844. Detailed descriptions of the area appear in the official accounts of many of the expeditions. Many of the county's geographical features retain the names given them by Spanish explorers of the 16th, 17th, and 18th Centuries. Spanish names associated with early settlements, sites, rivers, and streams serve as reminders of the rich Spanish heritage of the area now known as Medina County. (1989)