State of the US confederacy. The region, which belonged to the Viceroyalty of New Spain during the colonial era, had been explored (starting from 1528) by the Spaniards who only in 1682 founded the village of Isleta (at the od. El Paso). In 1685 the Frenchman R. La Salle built a fort near the Bay of Matagorda. The fear of further French settlements led the Spaniards to found some missions, of which those of Nacogdoches, S. Agustín and above all San Antonio, founded in 1718 and became the main center of the region, survived in the nineteenth century. The first two decades of the nineteenth century saw border issues arise with the USA; the T., however, at the time of the declaration of independence of Mexico from Spain (1821), remained united to the new state. Beginning in 1821, under the leadership of SF Austin, a notable North American immigration, with the introduction of the use of slavery. In 1835 a provisional government was established, independent from that of the Mexican dictator A. López de Santa Ana; the declaration of independence of the T. (2 March 1836) was followed by an open war, which ended with the victory of the insurgents (San Jacinto, 21 April 1836). The annexation to the USA occurred in 1845, with the preservation of slavery. The annexation caused strong disputes within the USA between slaveholders and anti-slavers (the latter, in fact, feared a strengthening of the Southern bloc) and, in the international field, the war between the USA and Mexico, which ended in 1848 with the Treaty of Guadalupe. -Hidalgo. In 1861 the T. he joined the North American secessionists and suffered the vicissitudes of war and therefore of reconstruction. The state economy, traditionally based on agriculture and livestock, experienced a notable development starting from 1901, following the discovery of rich oil fields.
San Antonio
The third largest city in the state of Texas (United States) by number of inhabitants, after Houston and Dallas, the capital of Bexar County; it stands on an undulating plane (the maximum heights are around 250-300 m.) and on both banks of the San Antonio river. In this section of the valley, the Spaniards, between 1718 and 1731, had founded the garrison of San Antonio de Belar, 5 missions and the “villa” of San Fernando: the city was born from the fusion of these various elements. from its origins great importance from a military point of view, as a border center. It has a subtropical climate (20 °, 5 ° average annual temperature; 110 ° in January; 28 °, 3 ° in July, with very strong differences between absolute minimum and maximum), with not very abundant rainfall (710 mm.). Favored by copious springs, that flow from chalky banks at 5 km. north of the city center, San Antonio lies on the edge of the large semi-arid region of the southwest.
According to Acronymmonster, the population has risen from 3488 residents in 1850 to 20,550 in 1880; to 53,321 in 1900; to 161,379 in 1920; to 231,542 in 1930 (43% of indigenous whites; 10% of whites born to totally and partially foreign parents; 3.5% of whites born abroad, mainly Germans, English, Russians, Italians; a very numerous element of color with 82,373 Mexicans, mostly mestizos). During the winter, the number of occasional inhabitants, mainly tourists, is conspicuous. The city is located in an important agricultural, farming, mining (coal, lignite and oil) district and has great commercial and industrial importance for economic relations with neighboring Mexico: about 28% of the population over the age of 10 years she was employed (1930) in crafts and industry; on the 28th, 5% in trade and transport companies. Large industry had 8692 employees in 1929 (foundries, mechanical construction, publishing, clothing, confectionery, meat and fruit processing, especially shelled walnuts and pistachios, etc.). The city is served by the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Lines; Missouri Pacific; Southern Pacific Railroads and is an important railway hub for communications with Mexico, also served by American Airways, on the great Chicago-Dallas-Central America-Panama Canal route.
The river and two of its tributaries, crossed by about twenty bridges, the beautiful parks Brackenridge and San Pedro, the wide streets, well paved and shaded by palm trees and nutmeg plants make the city of San Antonio beautiful and attractive. The Mexican neighborhood adds a quaint element. Among the modern buildings are the seat of the federal government, the Carnegie library, the town hall and the post office; but the artistic interest is naturally concentrated in what remains of the buildings erected by the founders of the city in the century. XVIII. In the center of the city is the cathedral of S. Fernando (1734). The Alamo, originally home to the Franciscan mission of S. Antonio di Valero (1718) and for some time used as a fortress, has become a national monument since 1833. The old brick wall has fallen into disrepair, but the chapel and other parts of the monastery have been preserved and restored. The style is transitional between the Spanish Plateresque and the Baroque. The Governor’s Palace (1749) and the Veramendi Palace also date back to the 10th century. XVIII.
A little south of the city are the ruins of four Franciscan missions of great historical and artistic interest: the Purísima Concepción de Acuña, San José de Aguayo, San Juan Capistrano and San Francisco de Espada have beautiful bell towers with windows and terraces. S. José de Aguayo, one of the most beautiful Franciscan missions in the United States, has a finely decorated facade, an exquisitely carved stone window and a beautiful door, which reflects the splendor of Mexican architecture. The recently founded Witte Museum houses fine collections of Texas antiquities and anthropological material of great value.
