Austin, Travis County
Approximate Site Reached by the Espinosa-Olivares-Aguirre Expedition. A good will trip made in 1709, when Spain was uneasy about her 190-year-old claim to Texas. (She had closed east Texas missions, then had learned of a French trading visit to Texas, 1707.) Capt. Pedro de Aguirre and 14 soldiers escorted from a mission on the Rio Grande, Father Isidro De Espinosa and Father Antonio de San Beneventura Olivares. The Tejas were not in this vicinity as expected. Capt. Aguirre had no order to cross the Colorado River. So the padres sent the east Texas Indians an invitation to visit them on the Rio Grande, and turned back here. (1966)