Salado Valley

The creek that made the valley runs thirty-eight miles. Salado Creek rises in the Fair Oaks Ranch area of northern Bexar County and flows southeast through the eastern side of San Antonio to the San Antonio River, two miles northeast of Buena Vista, through rolling clay loam that carries live oak, mesquite and grasses. Its name appears at least as early as 1716, in the diaries of Domingo Ramón's expedition. The Old San Antonio Road crossed it near the present junction of Interstate 35 and Loop 410, and in 1813 it gave its name to the battle of Rosillo.

What the plaque says

Salado Valley Because of fertile soil and abundant water, was a favored dwelling place and hunting ground for south Texas Indian tribes in Pre-Columbian times. In 1709 Spanish explorers discovered and named Salado Creek; soon after, this valley beame a well-known resting and watering spot between San Antonio and all points east. In 1731, with the arrival in San Antonio of the Canary Islanders (the first civilian colonists), Salado Creek became a town boundary. In 1836 Mexican Gen. Santa Anna crossed the valley prior to defeat by Texan Revolutionary forces at San Jacinto. In 1842 the valley saw two other fights against Mexican troops: the victorious "second battle of the Salado"; and "Dawson's Massacre", in which 33 Texans were slain attempting to reach safety. During the 19th century, Salado Valley was also crossed by the Goliad, Gonzales, Nacogdoches, and San Antonio roads--major travel arteries. The valley was a key to increasing United States military strength, 1876, when it became site of Fort Sam Houston. Other military units followed, including Brooks Air Force Base in 1917. Thus the valley has been an important factor in both the development and defence of Texas from Colonial to modern times. (1968)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• San Antonio Missions National Historical Park — 3.2 mi
  Four working parish churches on the Mission Trail south of downtown, with the visitor center at Mission San Jose, the Queen of the Missions, and the descendants who still worship there.
• Mission San Juan — 3.4 mi
  The mission near the river bend where the San Antonio got its name in 1691, with an unfinished church foundation and farm fields still watered by an eighteenth-century acequia.
• Mission Concepción — 3.8 mi
  A stone church dedicated in 1755 that has never fallen into ruin, its convento ceilings still painted, and the ground where the Texas Revolution's fight for San Antonio began.
• Mission Espada and the Espada Aqueduct — 4.3 mi
  The southernmost San Antonio mission and the oldest Spanish aqueduct in the United States, still carrying river water over Sixmile Creek to the fields after nearly three centuries.

More markers nearby

• Goliad Road — 0.2 mi
• Site of the Camp of Stephen F. Austin — 1.6 mi
• Saint Philip's Episcopal Church — 1.7 mi
• Edward H. White II Memorial Hangar, Brooks Air Force Base — 2.4 mi