The first Europeans to settle in Victoria County were French, led by Rene Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle. Arriving in 1685, La Salle and his colonists established a settlement on the west bank of the Garcitas Creek. La Salle never gave a name to this settlement; it is known today as Fort St. Louis. Because of personal intrigue, treacherous, unpredictable and untrustworthy Karankawa Indians, lack of fresh water and food, and various diseases, La Salle’s colony came to a tragic end in 1688.
After several land and water expeditions conducted by the Spanish to find the French intruders, Alonzo de Leon came upon what remained of the settlement on April 22, 1689. Prior to reaching the site, de Leon crossed and named the Guadalupe River in honor of the patron saint of Mexico, Our Lady of Guadalupe.
In 1721, the Spanish began construction of the first Presidio La Bahia directly atop the burned remains of Fort St. Louis. The following year Roman Catholic missionaries constructed Mission Espiritu Santo on the east side of Garcitas Creek in present day Jackson County. Within two years, the presidio and the mission were moved to Tonkawa Bank on the Guadalupe River. In 1726 they moved another 8 miles up the river. In 1749, both were relocated to Goliad County. The road from San Antonio de Bexar to the Guadalupe River site was an important portion of the “camino real.” The road continued on to Nacogdoches in East Texas. Historically it is known as the Bexar-La Bahia-Nacogdoches Road.
After the mission and presidio moved to the San Antonio River at Goliad, the camino real continued to convey traffic across “Mission Valley” in Victoria County. The former site of the presidio became known and was shown on maps of the day as Presidio Viejo.
