El Camino Real-Old San Antonio Road

Spanish presence in the northeast quadrant of its new kingdom was expedited by the arrival of the Frenchman, Rene Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, on the coast of Texas in 1685. In search of the mouth of the Mississippi River, La Salle instead over-sailed it and landed near present day Garcitas Creek (McGraw and Sparks 1998, 49, 50). Word of the unintentional French landing in Texas reached Spanish officials in New Spain and inspired them to send out entradas, or military expeditions, in search of their colonial rivals. The entradas were carried out both by sea and land.