Don Jose Miguel de Arciniega

Arciniega's father, a soldier of the company from San Carlos de Parras, came to reinforce Béxar in 1803. The son scouted the eastern border for Spain, reporting in 1818 on foreigners at Galveston and on the Trinity, and in 1826 met Richard Fields and leaders of the Comanche, Caddo and other nations near Nacogdoches to learn the Cherokees' intentions. Elected with José Antonio Navarro to the state congress at Saltillo in 1827, he helped pass a law allowing slavery in Texas. In December 1835 he interpreted for Gen. Martín Perfecto de Cos in the surrender of Béxar.

What the plaque says

Don Jose Miguel de Arciniega In 1810, Don Jose Miguel de Arciniega (1793-1849), a maker of Texas, entered the Spanish military at the age of 17. After the Mexican War for Independence in 1821, Arciniega held many municipal posts, including San Antonio Alcalde in 1830 and Political Chief in 1833. He also served as a land commissioner for Stephen F. Austin's colonies. After the Texas Revolution, Arciniega continued to serve in judicial roles as well as oversee the security of Texas borders. Arciniega served as a major leader in Texas even as its own government changed many times. He was fluent in Spanish, French and English and spoke several Native American dialects. Arciniega street runs near the site of his old homestead. (2015)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• San Antonio River Walk — steps away
  A Depression-era park one level below downtown, built because San Antonio refused to pave its river after the 1921 flood, and designed by an architect the project later fired.
• La Villita Historic Arts Village — steps away
  The little village across the river from the presidio, where Cos surrendered San Antonio in 1835, rebuilt by Depression-era youth crews as a working crafts village.
• San Fernando Cathedral — 0.4 mi
  The Canary Islanders' parish church on Main Plaza, where Bowie married and Santa Anna raised a red flag, rebuilt in Gothic Revival around the walls of the 1750s church.
• King William Historic District — 0.5 mi
  Mission farmland turned German merchants' quarter on the San Antonio River, renamed in World War I, then saved by a neighbor who restored fourteen houses, starting with his own.

More markers nearby

• El Quartel (El Cuartel) — steps away
• John W. Smith — steps away
• St. Philip's College (original site) — steps away
• King William Neighborhood — steps away