Presidio San Francisco Xavier de Gigedo

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Presidio San Francisco Xavier de Gigedo (1751-1755) - A Spanish Presidio established in 1751 by Captain Felipe de Rábago y Teran near present day Rockdale, Milam County, Texas. The Presidio was abandoned as a fortification in 1755. Also known as Presidio de San Francisco Xavier.

The Spanish Period

On 30 Mar 1751, Presidio San Francisco Xavier de Gigedo was approved by the viceroy of New Spain to protect the three missions in the valley. By December 1751, 50 soldiers under the command of Captain Felipe Rabago y Teran had arrived to garrison the presidio. A conflict between Captain Rabago and the missionaries arose that led to Fray Juan Jose Ganzabal and another man being killed in 1752. Captain Rabago was implicated in the murders and all but one of the remaining friars left and most of the Indians fled.

Possibly as a sign from above after Ganzabal's death, a ball of fire appeared in the sky, encircled the presidio and exploded with the sound of a cannon. Then worst of all, the San Xavier River began to dry up, leaving stagnant pools. This condition of drought continued for several years until it became unbearable.

Rabago's uncle, Pedro de Rabago y Teran arrived at the presidio in 1754 and found the three missions in a bad state. In July 1755 he ordered, on his own initiative, the presidio and the nearby mission relocated to the San Marcos River. The two remaining missions were moved to the San Marcos River by August, 1755.


Presidio San Francisco Xavier de Gigedo Commanders List (edit list)
Assumed Relieved Rank Name Cullum Notes
1751 1754 Captain Rábago y Teran, Felipe de N/A
1754 1755 ? Rago y Terán, Pedro de N/A
1755 1755 Colonel Parilla, Diego Ortiz N/A
Dates are formatted in yyyy-mm-dd to sort correctly.
The Cullum Number is the graduation order from the United States Military Academy by year and class rank and links to a page for the officer on the website version of the Cullum Register. Listings without a Cullum Number indicate that the person was not a graduate of the United States Military Academy.

Current Status

Historical markers for the three missions are placed near the mission sites. All of the actual locations are on private property with only archeological remains.

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Location: Near Rockdale, Milam County, Texas. The map points are approximate and for the missions they are the marker locations. For the presidio the map point is the Mission San Francisco Xavier de la Delores Marker map point, used pending a more accurate set.

Maps & Images

Lat: 30.69142 Long: -97.11332

  • Multi Maps from ACME
  • Maps from Bing
  • Maps from Google
  • Elevation: ......'

See Also:

Sources:

  • Roberts, Robert B., Encyclopedia of Historic Forts: The Military, Pioneer, and Trading Posts of the United States, Macmillan, New York, 1988, 10th printing, ISBN 0-02-926880-X, page 777.
  • Frazer, Robert W., Forts of the West, University of Oklahoma Press, Norman OK, 1965, ISBN 0-8061-1250-6, page 161.

Links:

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