De León, a Tejano Family History

1. Settling New Spain's Northern Frontier, 1750-1800

    ’  , – Genealogical Chart B ERNARDO DE LEÓN + MARÍA GALVÁN Martín de León (b. 1765, m. 1795) + Patricia de la Garza (b. ca. 1775) 1. Fernando (b. 1798) 2. María Candelaria (b. 1800) Santiago Juan José   • D L, A T F H Martín de León, gangly with the new growth of his fourteen years, raced up the dusty streets of the thriving town of Cruillas in northeastern New Spain. His heart pounded and his breath came fast. He had slipped away from his Franciscan tutor to carry exhilarating news to his father. In , with war raging in Europe and now spreading to the New World, King CharlesIII,thegreatBourbonkingofSpain,hadissuedacallformoresoldiers . He had ordered prayers for victory to be said in all of his dominions for the success of Commandant General and Louisiana Governor, Don Bernardo de Gálvez, the twenty-nine-year-old commander who planned in the early fall to attack the British in Florida. Don Bernardo had already done much to aid the rebellious North American colonists against the British, Spain’s eternal enemy. He had been in communication with Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson, and Charles Henry Lee, had met with their emissaries, and had secured the port of New Orleans to help prevent the British from moving up the Mississippi. Victory for Spain and forthecolonistswasassured.TheBritishwouldhavetofighttheirwaron twofronts,againstthecolonialEnglishrebelsinthenorthandagainstthe growing power of Spain in the Gulf of Mexico.1 Martín had thrilled with pride and excitement at the military exploits of Don Bernardo de Gálvez. The boy, hurrying up the narrow cobbled streets between the brightly painted, thick-walled adobe houses, assured himself that as a grown man of fourteen, he could certainly join Don Bernardo’s military expedition againstBritishWestFloridaanditscapitalatPensacola.Littleelsewasdiscussed in the plazas and homes of northern New Spain. The courageous commandant had launched brilliant attacks up the Mississippi and swept the British from their forts at Natchez, Baton Rouge, and Manchac. Onlyafewmonthsearlier,inJanuary,DonBernardohadattacked and captured Mobile. The attack on Pensacola was scheduled for the fall. In the colony of Texas across the Río Bravo del Norte, the soldiers at the presidiosandthemissionfathersontheSanAntonioRiverweregathering cattletosupplyDonBernardo’stroops.YoungMartínhadbeenthrilledto hear that Cruillas would be included in the great effort. The mine owners in northern Mexico were pushing their workers to increase output, even hoping to reopen played-out mines. Surely his father could see that absolutely everyone was sailing to Cuba to join the war. Martíncrossedthemainplaza,weavinghiswayaroundtheIndianvendorssquattingbesidetheirbrightlycoloredgoods ,theyellowpilesofcorn spilling over into the bright green mounds of chile peppers, the red tomatoes neatly stacked in small pyramids beside the bulging bags of brown Map 1.1  • D L, A T F H beans. The usual gossips were standing at the stone water fountain in the middleoftheplazadiscussingthewar.Threeblocksfromthemainsquare, heturneddownastreetandreachedthethick,iron-bound,woodendoors which opened into the stone-floored patio of his own home. Martín’sfamily,proudoftheirlightskinandSpanishheritage,disdained the dark, single-room adobe homes of the Indians. In his own eyes he felt his family was as good as anyone born in Spain. To the newly arrived Spaniards,however,Martínandhisfamilyweresecond-classcitizens,untrustworthy criollos, perhaps of Spanish blood but unfortunately born in the New World. As a criollo, his father had purchased their home a short distance from the square. Only the king’s newly arrived Spanish officials could inhabit the homes immediately around the central plaza. Martín waspleasedwiththeirnewhome.IthadbeenasideeffectofthemanyeconomicchangeswroughtbyCarlosIII .Newbuildingsintheneo-Classical style, all with elegant columns and arches around a Moorish patio, had beenbuiltthroughoutNewSpainduringthesandsastheeconomy of New Spain had grown. The de León house, however, consisted of largestonerooms,eachtenmetersonaside,withthickwoodenbeams,or vigas, across the high ceilings. The middle beam in the sala, or living room, was carved with their own name and the date and name of the builder. In the rooms behind the main house, mixed-blood mestizos and Indians worked in the kitchen fixing the meals on the tiled stove and in the adobe ovens. At the back of the house were the stables for the horses and rooms for the servants. The de León home was not as ornate as the stone houses of the rich Spanish government officials on the main plaza, but it was a fine, elegant home. Young Martín entered the sala and greeted his father. Don Bernardo de León listened as Martín poured out the reasons he should be allowed to go to war with the great Conde de...