Father Solis celebrated first Catholic Mass in Duval County
In 1768, Spanish authorities sent Fray Gaspar José de Solís to Texas to inspect the Spanish missions. After arriving at Laredo, he took the well-traveled road to Nuestra Señora del Espíritu Santo in Goliad. On his trek, he spent four days in northern Duval County. He arrived at the San Casimiro Creek northwest of present-day Freer on February 18, 1768, “where there were neither woods nor slopes.” But there was “fairly good water.”
On the way, the priest had seen many “rare snakes,” no doubt the predecessors to the rattlers that gave birth to the Freer Rattlesnake Roundup.
While at San Casimiro, a strong norther blew in with rain and snow. Since there was nowhere to take cover at that place, Father Solís and his party moved on through the bad weather. He soon passed La Retamita and finally came to the place called Señor San Joseph.
While uninhabited, a grove of mesquite, huisache, and nopal provided adequate refuge from the threatening snowstorm. Father Solís stayed there until February 22. It is at this place,
under the warmth supplied by several large fires, that Father Solís celebrated what was most likely was the first Catholic Mass celebrated in Duval County.
The Señor San Joseph mentioned here should not be mistaken for present-day San Jose, located south of the area traveled by Father Solis. La Retamita and Señor San Joseph do not appear in named locations in today’s Duval County.
From Señor San Joseph, the expedition continued on its way, passing through “bare stretches of hills with a few walnut trees and evergreen oaks.” The accompanying soldiers killed several huge snakes. While the small entourage did not encounter any indios, they were on the lookout for Comanche and Lipan Apache. They were known to command the area. “If care is not taken, they do great harm, stealing what they can and killing the people if they have the opportunity,” Father Solís wrote in his diary.
Texas was one of several provinces under jurisdiction of the “Real Audencia Government” of Guadalajara, Jalisco (Nueva Galicia = Jalisco, Zacatecas, Aguascalientes). The Bishop of the Catholic Archdioce of Guadalajara had religious jurisdiction of Texas, Nayarit, Coahuila, Nueva Galicia = Jalisco, Zacatecas, Aguascalientes), Nuevo Leon, Los Californias. I often see this in the church records as I have been doing my geneology and in the archives since 1997. My family has always been in the Jalisco/Zacatecas area since 1606 as I have census, land titles, livestock registration, etc. Regarding Fray Gaspar Jose De Solis. He was at the College of Frays in Guadalpe, Zacatecas, Mexico. That college was founded in 1717 by Fray Antonio Margil De Jesus. If you look at the diary of Gaspar on pg 17 where he leaves Mission Espiritu Santo y also mentions that it was the Bishop of Guadalajara that gave him permission to travel to the northern province of Texas to visit the missions. I believe the presidios were built with silver extracted from the mines of Zacatecas, Mexico. As in the “meritos” of Colonel Don Fernando De La Campa y Cos he states that in Feb 3, 1717 he gave over 90,000 pesos to finance a 500 man expedition from Zacatecas to travel north to Texas.
Thank you, Joan. This is good information. Where is Father Solis’s diary archived? Is it available online?
Great story, thanks Alfredo
Thank you, Ramiro. Glad you enjoyed it.
I enjoyed this brief story and it reminded me of Father Peter Bard, who married my Cavazos grandparents in 1894 and baptized all of their many children in Nueces County. They lived in Agua Dulce and Alice then moved to Bee County then to Goliad County. I do Geneology but have never been able to find information on my grandmother’s (Justa Cavazos) death. Last document I found was the 1910 US Census which shows them living in Beeville.
Would you know if there are any biographical books about Fr Peter Bard and St Theresa Catholic Church in San Diego? Thank you.
Thank you, Fannie. To my knowledge, no one has written a biography of Father Bard. The church in San Diego is named St. Francis de Paula, not St. Theresa. To my knowledge, they do not have a biography of Father Bard. There is, however, a biography of Father Claud Jaillet, Father Bard’s predecessor in San Diego.