Tejano History
Fuerte De Santa Cruz Del Cibolo
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FUERTE DE SANTA CRUZ DEL CÍBOLO. El Fuerte de Santa Cruz del Cíbolo, also called El Fuerte de Santa Cruz, El Fuerte del Zívolo, El Fuerte del Cíbolo, Arroyo del Cíbolo, or simply El Cíbolo, was an eighteenth-century Spanish fort that existed from 1734 to 1737 and again from 1771 to 1782. It was built to protect the many Spanish ranchos that belonged to missions and private individuals between Bexar and La Bahía. From the time when San Antonio was first established, its presidio, missions, and settlers were subjected to constant raids upon their livestock by Indians, mainly Apaches. In order to stop these depredations, Governor Manuel de Sandoval, who took office in 1734, decided to strengthen the garrison at San Antonio with extra soldiers from Los Adaes, La Bahía, and the Rio Grande and to protect the presidial horses by moving them to a secluded site on Arroyo del Cíbolo about sixteen leagues southeast of San Antonio. But the early attempt to establish this fort, at this time called Arroyo del Cíbolo or El Cíbolo, failed after three years, and after two Apache raids in 1737, both the garrison and the horses were moved back to San Antonio.
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Full article on the Texas State Historical Association's Handbook of Texas Online
Courtesy of the Texas State Historical Association.
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