Tejano History
Urrutia, Toribio De
Tejanos |
URRUTIA, TORIBIO DE (ca. 1710–1763). Toribio de Urrutia, military commander, was the fifth child of José de Urrutia and Rosa Flores y Valdez of Saltillo. He was probably born at San Juan Bautista around 1710. He married Josefa Flores Valdez; they had no children. In 1740 he succeeded his father as captain of San Antonio de Béxar Presidio, and in 1743 he was justicia mayor of San Antonio. In 1745 Urrutia, in command of some fifty Spaniards and accompanied by Father Benito Fernández de Santa Ana, led a punitive campaign against the Apaches. The entrada may have penetrated as far as the San Saba River. In a clash with Lipans and other Apaches, Urrutia defeated the Indians and took a number of them captive. His actions, however, were severely criticized by Father Santa Ana, who viewed the entire military undertaking a little more than a slave-catching expedition. In the late 1740s and early 1750s Urrutia was often caught in the crossfire of controversy that surrounded the establishment of missions and a presidio on the San Gabriel River.
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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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