USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -When French explorer La Salle established Fort St. Louis in Texas, Spanish interest in the region was renewed. Rene-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de LaSalle was given ships, colonists, and soldiers by the French King to start a new colony at the mouth of the Mississippi.

Detailed explanation-2: -Spanish Missionary Settlement, 1720s They built a settlement at Matagorda Bay and claimed Texas for France. Karankawa Indians would destroy the French colony within four years. Although the expedition was a disaster for France, it renewed Spain’s interest in Texas.

Detailed explanation-3: -The Spanish returned to southeastern Texas in 1716, establishing several missions and a presidio to maintain a buffer between Spanish territory and the French colonial Louisiana district of New France.

Detailed explanation-4: -Following the Louisiana Purchase, Spain began to reinforce Texas in order to protect its Mexican colony from its new neighbor, the United States.

Detailed explanation-5: -The Spaniards learned that after La Salle’s own men murdered him that the Indians destroyed Fort St. Louis. The French scare prompted a serious Spanish effort to settle Texas before another European power could do so.