Los Adaes

When Spanish Texas (also known as Tejas or the New Philippines) was permanently settled in 1716, one of its primary goals was to provide a buffer against French Louisiana and secure the Gulf of Mexico. As Spain established a mission here at San Miguel de los Adaes, at the very frontier of their vast Latin American holdings, France was also building a fort at Natchitoches, just 12 miles east. They inevitably clashed when the two powers went to war against each other. In 1719, a small French contingent seized Los Adaes, while its only defender present was not informed of the war.

After Spanish forces retook Los Adaes two years later, they built a new presidio (fort) there to be better prepared in the future. This fort was equipped with 6 cannons and 100 soldiers in garrison. Thanks to its importance, the larger military settlement became the capital of Spanish Texas, despite being far from the rest of the province and New Spain. It protected six missions in the surrounding area.

Like many frontier settlements, however, Los Adaes and eastern Texas became a money sink for the Spanish empire. That was largely because manufacturing and trade by sea were prohibited, with shipping from Spain overland via Veracruz being prohibitively expensive. Instead, the settlers began openly trading with nearby French Louisiana, endangering the empire’s (and their own) security.

The missionaries gave up on converting the local Caddo natives, who were never particularly receptive to them. After Spain took control of Louisiana in 1763, the presidio ceased to serve any real purpose and Texas’s capital was relocated to San Antonio. However, many of the so-called Adaeseños chose to remain in the area, where their unique dialect of Spanish is spoken to this day.

Today, Los Adaes is one of the most invaluable Spanish and Caddo archaeological sites in the U.S. What is left of the fort is open to the public. Favoring signs and log outlines to actual reconstructions, the site makes you work to imagine how things might have been. Thankfully, a multimedia website and re-enactors help bring things to life.