Early East Texas History
Written by:
H. Gordon Pettey, PH.D

Fr. Antonio Margil de Jesus's Contribution to the Birth of European Texas

Although he is not nearly enough known or appreciated, Antonio Margil de Jesus is one of the most famous and important missionaries to labor on the American Continent. His works centered in Mexico, Central America and Spanish Texas but influenced a far greater area. He was instrumental in the founding of three colleges, hundreds of missions, thousands of the ways of the cross, several hospices, forts and towns, plus male and female convents – many of these still operate after more than 300 years.

Born in Valencia, Spain, August 18, 1657, he entered the Franciscan Order April 22, 1673 at 16 years of age. He studied and preached in Spain for 10 years, then volunteered for missionary service among the Indians of America. With a small group of twenty-five other religious from Spain, he arrived at Vera Cruz, Mexico, June 6, 1683 at age 26.

From here, he began walking; stopping to preach to Indian tribes along the way, finally arriving at the ancient Convent of San Francisco de Assisi in Mexico City, of which had been financed by the conqueror of the Aztecs, Cortez himself. From here, he continued to walk on to the mountain town of Queretaro, where he co-founded America's first religious college. Then he walked all the way down to Central America. Here, he preached to the Indians in all of the countries from the Yucatan to Costa Rica. While here, he established his second college at Antigua, Guatemala. He is called "the Apostle of Guatemala" to this day.

After several years of service in Central America, he was called to come back to Mexico and establish a college high in the Sierra de los Gardas (fat) Mountains. It would be named Nuestra Señora Guadalupe de Zacatecas – this was his third college. He was appointed its first guardian but soon left to preach to the Indians near the Texas boarder. While on this mission trip, on the Mexican side south of the Rio Grande, it came time to complete his and others plans to go build missions and settle Eastern Texas – then called Northern Mexico, and to establish a buffer against the French who were intruding on this territory, and to stop other "foreign" religions from entering. This entrada (entrance) had been previously well planned by the Spanish king, his Viceroy, the college at Zacatecas and the college at Queretaro who would equally share the missions. The Viceroy (Vice King) in Mexico City provided a twenty-five man military contingent and the livestock for this venture. The military leader was Captain Domingo Ramón and the two religious leaders were Fathers Isidro Félix de Espinosa and Antonio Margil de Jesus.

He was now 59 years old. The staging ground was at the mission and presidio located at present Guererro, Mexico just south of the Rio Grande called San Juan Bautista. While all were assembling here, Fr. Margil became deathly ill and the large entrada had to leave him behind with three priests and brothers who stayed with him, fully expecting him to die. Saying their goodbyes and blessing Margil, the main group began its journey into Texas on April 24, 1716, traveling along the ancient El Camino de los Tejas Trail (Road to the Tejas Indians of East Texas).

Upon their arrival and meeting the first Indians, there were celebrations from both sides, then they immediately began building grass missions, Caddo Indian style, with the help of each local tribe that had asked for one. Some missions served more than one tribe. The first to be built was for the Neche (Neches) tribe located on the east side of the Neches River near the present Indian mounds west of the town of Alto. It replaced the old Tejas mission of 1690 that had been built on the west side of the river. Working their way across East Texas, they quickly built three more missions near present towns of Cushing, Douglass and at Nacogdoches.

Almost immediately after the opening of the Guadalupe mission at Nacogdoches, Fr. Margil arrived in East Texas appearing at Nacogdoches in July 1716, in record time, totally and miraculously well. Fr. Margil is credited with several miracles while in Eastern Texas, one of which was the Oho de Padre Margil-Springs of Fr. Margil, at Nacogdoches. Living here for about one year, he immediately set to work rebuilding the Indian made grass mission, planting, making things for the mission and learning the Indian's language.

The next Spring (1717), Fr. Margil opened two more missions. The first was for the Adais tribe near present Robeline, Louisiana (near Natchitoches), but then part of Spanish Texas. Here he erected the first church in what would become part of Louisiana and Los Adaes would soon become the first capitol of Texas, not Washington- on- the Brazos, or Houston, or Austin. After he left Los Adaes, he established a mission just south of present San Augustine, Texas and named it Nuestra Señora de los Dolores where he decided to stay after leaving Nacogdoches.

In 1719, an attack was made upon Los Adaes, the most easterly mission, by a few French soldiers from their post at Natchitoches, Louisiana, only 16 miles away. These soldiers brought a false rumor that a hundred French troops from Florida were on their way to destroy all six missions. The Spanish only had twenty-five very inadequate soldiers mostly consisting of poorly trained and armed boys and old men. After sending a rider with a frantic message to the new military post at San Antonio asking for reinforcements which did not come, and after two months of camping west of the Neches River, waiting, deliberation and living in confusion, all Spanish in East Texas, including the reluctant priest, set out on the arduous and deadly journey to the new frontier mission and fort on the San Antonio River – now known as the Alamo. East Texas was totally vacated only this one time in its history.

They would remain there beginning in October 1719 and were returned to their homes and East Texas missions in April 1721 – one year and seven months later.

While the East Texans waited on the San Antonio River for help to come to their aid and to take them back , the ever-busy Fr. Margil established two more missions. One is located in San Antonio and is known as the most beautiful mission in Texas and ranks among the most beautiful in the United States. Today, it is simply called "San Jose". His last mission was established near the Gulf Coast below present Victoria and was named Our Lady of the Bay-"La Bahia". It was later moved and is now located at Goliad.

Help came in 1721, led by the Marques de San Miguel de Aguayo, Governor of Coahuila and Texas -Texas had no governor yet, but would soon have its first one located at Los Adaes. Aguayo had volunteered to gather a new, larger entrada (entrance) to re-establish the East Texas colonies and missions, and to establish a new, larger presidio at los Adais, at his own expense. The king gladly accepted this offer and Aguayo immediately began gathering thousands of more head of livestock, plus more soldiers and settlers. All this new entrada, including Fr. Margil, Fr. Espinosa and most of the original group were accompanied back to East Texas. Four of their old missions were reopened and two were relocated and rebuilt. With this new strength to back him up, Aguayo put the French trader, St. Denis, a smuggler according to Spanish law, on notice to stay out of Texas and all six missions begin operating again. This time, Fr. Margil moved to Los Adaes after it was reopened and a one hundred man fort was built there. Texas, including this part which is now in Louisiana, has been settled ever since. This was the real beginning of European Texas.

There are many Spanish descendants of these mission settlements still living in East Texas and Western Louisiana today. A vast amount of the imported livestock went feral (wild) and multiplied, and within 50 years Texas would become known as the land of cattle, with its famous cattle drives. The first cattle drives went to Louisiana., not Kansas, etc.

After nearly six years (five years and nine months) of service in Texas, in April 1722 Fr. Margil was called to come back to his college at Zacatecas. Returning, he soon visited the Vice Roy at Mexico City, pleading for more support of his East Texas missions and did more missionary work among the Indians near Zacatecas in Mexico, but soon became extremely ill. In great pain and winding his way back to Mexico City for treatment, he returned to the old Convent of St Francis of Assisi in Mexico City where he had started his work in America so many years before. The nuns made a valiant attempt to save him, but he died August 6, 1726 after giving 43 years of intense service in the Americas.

Today, after having been buried several times in various places, he is finally interred at the church of his college at Zacatecas. Fr. Margil's legacy in Texas included the 1716 entrada into East Texas, which was, as mentioned, the actual beginning of European Texas and for this reason, Fr. Margil was one of the founders of Texas. He helped bring the families, whose descendants were the original pioneers and first native European Texans. This entrada introduced the large amount of livestock, which were the beginning of the great Texas ranching industry. From this, grew the massive cattle drives of the 1870-1880's. And, Fr. Margil brought religion and civilization to that far off region of Northern Mexico, now called Texas and even to Louisiana where he also preached. This Catholic population exists to this day.

He walked to all the scattered regions that he served—it has been estimated that he walked eighty thousand miles in the New World. He wrote to a friend that he hoped he would die in East Texas. He loved the Caddoan Indians, the solitude of the great piney woods of East Texas, and wanted it to be his permanent home, but this was not to be. He labored forty- three years on the American Continent then was nominated for sainthood shortly after his death and was venerated in 1836. This process actively continues to this day. When this occurs, he will be Texas' only saint.

Sources: C. E. Castañeda, Our Catholic Heritage, II (1936); William H. Oberste, The Restless Friar, Venerable Fray Antonio Margil de Jesus, Missionary to the Americas (1970); H. Gordon Pettey, Ph.D, In Search of a Saint (2008). Go to texashistoricalpress.org.

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