Tejano History
Urrutia, Jose De
Tejanos |
URRUTIA, JOSÉ DE (ca. 1678–1741). José (Joseph, Josef) de Urrutia was born in Guipúzcoa, Spain, about 1678. He came to America before 1691, when, as a member of the Domingo Terán de los Ríos expedition, he was left at the garrison established near the Neches River. When the soldiers withdrew in 1693, Urrutia met with an accident on the Colorado River and was forced to remain among the Indians. He was one of four soldiers who remained in East Texas at this time. He lived with the Kanohatinos, Tohos, and Xarames for seven years, was made “captain general” of all the nations hostile to the Apaches, and conducted several extensive campaigns against the Apaches. He rejoined his countrymen shortly after the founding of San Juan Bautista Mission in 1700. By July 23, 1733, when Urrutia was made captain of San Antonio de Béxar Presidio, he had forty years' experience with the Indians in Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Texas and was probably the best informed of all Spaniards on Indian affairs in Texas. In the winter of 1739 he led a campaign against the Apaches in the San Saba region; he apparently reached the same point that Juan Antonio Bustillo y Ceballos had reached in his Apache campaign of 1732.
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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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