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Captain Domingo Ramon (d. 1723) was the son of Captain Diego Ramon (d. 1724), the commandant of the Presidio San Juan Bautista (Presidio del Rio Grande). In 1715, the Spanish authorities appointed Domingo Ramon to establish a presidio and four missions in Tejas (present day East Texas). The subsequent entrada, called the Ramon-Espinosa expedition, was the second attempt by Spain to form a permanent settlement in the province of Tejas. Spanish authorities intended the presidio to prevent the expansion of illicit French trade into the Texas frontier. When Ramon reached the Neches River in 1716, he established the first site of the Presidio Nuestra Senora de los Dolores de los Tejas and four missions within two weeks of arrival. He then established two more missions after initial settlement. The native inhabitants of the region, the Hasinai Caddo (Tejas) nation, tolerated the presence of the presidio and cooperated with Spanish authorities to repel the French. Ramon's tenure at Presidio Dolores came to an end when its easternmost mission, San Miguel, was attacked in 1719 by French Lt. Philippe Blondel, commandant of Fort Saint Jean Baptiste. Despite the minor nature of the attack, members of the presidio and its six missions abandoned East Texas for the safety of San Antonio de Bexar. Ramon never returned to Presidio Dolores. He continued his career at the Presidio Nuestra Senora de Loreto located on La Bahia del Espiritu Santo (Matagorda Bay). The Ramon-Espinosa expedition facilitated the establishment of El Camino Real de los Tejas, arguably the most important route for travel in Texas during the Spanish colonial period. (2015) |
