Paso de la Santa Cruz

Juan Galván began his military career around 1710 and was stationed at San Antonio de Béxar by the early 1720s, the Handbook of Texas says; in 1723 he married Francisca Xaviera Maldonado, and they had ten children. In 1748 he took command at the San Xavier missions with thirty borrowed men and urged a presidio of fifty soldiers. Ordered in June 1753 to explore Apache country, he set out with only a few men, crossed the Pedernales and Llano, met friendly Apaches on the San Saba and reported strong signs of rich minerals.

What the plaque says

(Holy Cross Ford) Spot where in 1753 Juan Galvan, Spanish explorer, put up a huge cross, to show his choice of site for Mission San Saba. Indians gathered at the cross, remaining to participate in the first known Christian worship service in this area. The mission, 2 miles east, and the river ford were both named for the cross. (1965)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Presidio de San Saba — 1.0 mi
  The ruins of the largest Spanish presidio in Texas, built in 1757 to guard a mission to the Lipan Apache, where the Comanche and their allies first turned back Spain's frontier.
• Fort McKavett State Historic Site — 20 mi
  The post Sherman called the prettiest in Texas, home to soldiers of all four Buffalo Soldier regiments and then to a town that lived in its buildings until 1973.

More markers nearby

• The Ditch — 0.5 mi
• Fort McKavett, C.S.A. — 0.6 mi
• Arroyo de Juan Lorenzo — 0.8 mi
• Pioneer Rest Cemetery — 0.9 mi