Alonso de León "El Mozo" (c. 1639–1691) was an explorer and governor in New Spain who led several expeditions into the area that is now northeastern Mexico and southern Texas.
Alonso de León González was born in 1639, in the settlement of Cadereyta, Nuevo León in New Spain. He was the third son of General Alonso De León, a celebrated chronicler, historian and conquistador of the frontier of Nuevo León, and Josefa González.[1] To distinguish him from his father, who was also a prominent leader in the colony, sometimes the phrase, El Mozo, would later be appended to his name (or its English equivalent, "the younger").
Alonso de León
De León trained in Spain for a naval career and joined the Spanish navy in 1657. By 1660 he had returned to Nuevo León. He was frequently appointed to lead exploratory parties, and he became an entrepreneur, most notably in salt mining. De León married Agustina Cantú and had six children with her.
Expeditionsedit
In 1684, French explorer La Salle led an ill-fated expedition which was intended to establish a colony at the mouth of the Mississippi River. Instead, the colonists ended up on the Texas coast, where La Salle established a settlement. When Spanish leaders received word that the French had founded a settlement in the northern portion of their territory, De León was chosen to lead the effort to locate and expel the French colonists.
The first two expeditions, in 1686 and 1687, yielded no evidence of the French colony. One Frenchman, Jean Gery, was captured during the third expedition in 1688. It was during De León's fourth expedition, in 1689, that he finally discovered La Salle's settlement, which had been abandoned by that time.
Political offices and later lifeedit
De León served as mayor of Cadereyta from 1667 to 1675. He was governor of Nuevo León from 1682 to 1684. In 1687, he was appointed governor of the region of Coahuila.
Mary G. Ramos (ed.), Texas Almanac 2002-2003, Texas A&M University Press, 2001; pp. 30, 65, 66. ISBN0-914511-32-7.
April 10, 2024
alonso, león, mozo, 1639, 1691, explorer, governor, spain, several, expeditions, into, area, that, northeastern, mexico, southern, texas, mozo, born1639cadereyta, presently, montemorelos, nuevo, león, mexicodied21, march, 1691montemorelos, nuevo, leon, mexicon. Alonso de Leon El Mozo c 1639 1691 was an explorer and governor in New Spain who led several expeditions into the area that is now northeastern Mexico and southern Texas Alonso de Leon El Mozo Born1639Cadereyta presently Montemorelos Nuevo Leon MexicoDied21 March 1691Montemorelos Nuevo Leon MexicoNationalityNew Spain SpanishOccupation s explorer and governor Contents 1 Early life 2 Expeditions 3 Political offices and later life 4 Notes 5 References 6 Further readingEarly life editAlonso de Leon Gonzalez was born in 1639 in the settlement of Cadereyta Nuevo Leon in New Spain He was the third son of General Alonso De Leon a celebrated chronicler historian and conquistador of the frontier of Nuevo Leon and Josefa Gonzalez 1 To distinguish him from his father who was also a prominent leader in the colony sometimes the phrase El Mozo would later be appended to his name or its English equivalent the younger nbsp Alonso de LeonDe Leon trained in Spain for a naval career and joined the Spanish navy in 1657 By 1660 he had returned to Nuevo Leon He was frequently appointed to lead exploratory parties and he became an entrepreneur most notably in salt mining De Leon married Agustina Cantu and had six children with her Expeditions editIn 1684 French explorer La Salle led an ill fated expedition which was intended to establish a colony at the mouth of the Mississippi River Instead the colonists ended up on the Texas coast where La Salle established a settlement When Spanish leaders received word that the French had founded a settlement in the northern portion of their territory De Leon was chosen to lead the effort to locate and expel the French colonists The first two expeditions in 1686 and 1687 yielded no evidence of the French colony One Frenchman Jean Gery was captured during the third expedition in 1688 It was during De Leon s fourth expedition in 1689 that he finally discovered La Salle s settlement which had been abandoned by that time Political offices and later life editDe Leon served as mayor of Cadereyta from 1667 to 1675 He was governor of Nuevo Leon from 1682 to 1684 In 1687 he was appointed governor of the region of Coahuila He was involved in establishing San Francisco de los Tejas in 1690 the first Spanish mission in East Texas In doing so he blazed the trail for much of the Old San Antonio Road During his expeditions he named several Texas rivers including the San Marcos River the Guadalupe the Medina the Nueces and the Trinity De Leon died in Coahuila on March 20 1691 Notes edit Chipman and Joseph 1999 p 24 References editChipman Donald Joseph Harriet Denise 1999 Notable Men and Women of Spanish Texas Austin Texas University of Texas Press ISBN 0 292 71217 0Further reading editClemente Rendon de la Garza Vidas Ilustres English Version General Alonso de Leon El Mozo Handbook of Texas Online s v De Leon Alonso Mary G Ramos ed Texas Almanac 2002 2003 Texas A amp M University Press 2001 pp 30 65 66 ISBN 0 914511 32 7 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Alonso de Leon amp oldid 1217642740, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
