Colonization of the Lower Rio Grande Area

Escandón was a soldier before he was a colonizer. Born in 1700 at Soto la Marina in Santander, Spain, he reached Yucatán at fifteen as a cadet, put down an uprising at Celaya in 1727 and was made colonel of the Querétaro companies in 1740. Named governor of Nuevo Santander in 1748, he became Count of Sierra Gorda the next year. Then Diego Corrido accused him of maladministration. Escandón went to Mexico City to answer and died there on September 10, 1770, before the trial ended. In 1773 a court cleared him completely.

What the plaque says

Colonization of the Lower Rio Grande Area In 1746, Jose de Escandon was selected by Spanish officials to be chief colonizer for the lower Rio Grande Valley, then a part of Mexico's northern frontier. A native of Spain, Escandon (b. 1700) had proven himself a capable administrator and military leader as part of the Spanish forces in Mexico. Escandon took over 700 people, including missionaries, soldiers, and Indians, on his initial exploration of the area. His findings from this venture allowed him to complete his colonization plans. By 1748, thirteen settlements had begun in the area, which came to be called Nuevo Santander after Escandon's home province. A total of nineteen settlements, including Laredo, San Ygnacio, Falcon, and Lopeno, owe their foundings to Escandon. Escandon issued royal land grants in tracts known as "porciones," and in return the settlers were to fulfill certain requirements. The final inspection of the land grants, known as the General Visitation of 1767, marked the beginning of private and individual land ownership in this part of the state, as valid applicants were given possession of their "porciones." The colonization efforts also resulted in the farming and ranching settlements from which grew the immense cattle industry of South Texas. (1986)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Zapata County Museum of History — steps away
  The museum of a county whose old town of Zapata went under Falcon Reservoir, keeping the photographs, artifacts and natural history of the families who were moved.
• San Ygnacio Historic District — 14 mi
  A Rio Grande village of sandstone houses on land granted in 1750, home to the Treviño-Uribe Rancho, a fortified family compound begun in 1830 and a National Historic Landmark.
• Falcon State Park — 23 mi
  A 576-acre state park at the foot of the Falcon International Reservoir, made by the dam Presidents Eisenhower and Ruiz Cortines dedicated in 1953, known for bass fishing, camping and brush-country birds.

More markers nearby

• In the Vicinity of this Site was Mission Revilla a Visita — steps away
• Old Zapata — steps away
• Site of Uribeño. — 5.6 mi
• Zapata County — 5.6 mi