Pedro del Barrio Junco y Espriella (July 15, 1682 – ?) was acting governor of

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

from 1748 to 1750 and twice the governor of

Nuevo León Nuevo León () is a state in the northeast region of Mexico. The state was named after the New Kingdom of León, an administrative territory from the Viceroyalty of New Spain, itself was named after the historic Spanish Kingdom of León. With a ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

(1740–1746 and 1752–1757).

Biography

Junco y Espriella was born on July 15,Duque de Estrada y Castaneda, María Dolores; De Alós y Merry del Val, Fernando (1998-1999)
Anales de la Real Academia Matritense de Heráldica y Genealogía
Volume V. Page 20. Real Matritense de Heráldica y Genealogía, Madrid. 1682,De Cadenas y Vicent (1977)
Caballeros de la Orden de Santiago, siglo XVIII
(In Spanish: Knights of the Order of Santiago, 18th century). . Volume II (volume about the years 1709-1730). Numbers 366-740. Editorial Hidalguia, Madrid. Page 268. in

Carranzo Carranzo is one of 28 parishes (administrative divisions) in Llanes, a municipality within the province and autonomous community of Asturias, in northern Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Esc ...

Llanes Llanes (the ''Concejo de Llanes'', ''Conceyu de Llanes'' in Asturian language) is a municipality of the province of Asturias, in northern Spain. Stretching for about 30 km along the coast at the extreme east of the province, Llanes is bound ...

( Asturias, Spain). He was the son of Felipe de Barrio Junco y Espriella and Ana Maria Noriega Rubín de Celis. He had a brother, Nicolás de Junco y Espriela, Knight of Calatrava. He was a knight of the Order of Santiago. He joined the

Spanish Army The Spanish Army ( es, Ejército de Tierra, lit=Land Army) is the terrestrial army of the Spanish Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is one of the oldest active armies — dating back to the late 15th century. The ...

in his youth, attaining the position of

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

. In 1716, he traveled to modern Mexico as a knight of the

Viceroy A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term derives from the Latin prefix ''vice-'', meaning "in the place of" and the French word ''roy'', meaning "k ...

Baltasar de Zúñiga Baltasar de Zúñiga y Velasco (1561 – October 1622) was a Spanish royal favourite of Philip III, his son Philip IV and a key minister in two Spanish governments. In control of foreign policy from 1618 to 1622, he was responsible for Spain's ...

. After that, he returned to Spain, and in 1724 he was appointed Governor of Marquezado Valley, in Mexico, so he returned to this place. In 1740, the

Spanish Crown , coatofarms = File:Coat_of_Arms_of_Spanish_Monarch.svg , coatofarms_article = Coat of arms of the King of Spain , image = Felipe_VI_in_2020_(cropped).jpg , incumbent = Felipe VI , incumbentsince = 19 Ju ...

appointed him Governor the Mexican state of

. He finished this term in 1746. Two years later, on June 3, 1748, he was appointed the interim governor of Texas. He discussed with the friars the place where the Mission San Xavier del Bac should be established, because were not in agreement about the right place for the foundation of the mission. However, he did not get the friars to accept his opinion and the mission was established in

Tucson, Arizona , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

. However, In June 1749, Junco y Espriella spoke with

Juan Galván Juan Galván (?–?) was a Spanish soldier and explorer who served as an ensign and explorer in San Antonio, Texas. It was on his recommendation that the Presidio San Saba was established. Biography Galván settled in San Antonio of Bexar earl ...

, an explorer who led the Mission San Xavier del Bac, to devise a plan to organize an expedition in the valley of San Javier (San Gabriel). He personally investigated the valley to decide how to conduct the expedition. On August 28, after returning from his expedition, Barrio decided to elect Lieutenant Galván to lead a new group of soldiers to San Javier. He jailed the first

regidor A regidor (plural: ''regidores'') is a member of a council of municipalities in Spain and Latin America. Portugal also used to have the same office of ''regedor''. Mexico In Mexico, an ayuntamiento (municipal council) is composed of a municipal ...

to be appointed in

San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= U.S. state, State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , s ...

, but this imprisonment lasted a short time. In 1750, a French soldier, the son of explorer and soldier Louis Juchereau, asked Junco y Espriella for a permit that would allow him to trade with the Caddo people. Junco y Espriella refused to surrender a license, so the soldier carried many goods to the Caddo territory and tried to convince the indigenous people that the Spanish rejected their friendship since they had tried to prevent the delivery of goods to this people. However, Espriella kept alive the trade between French and residents in Texas, as well as the gambling, even though these things were forbidden in the Spanish America. This caused him to be expelled from the Texas government in 1750. In spite of this, Espriella was appointed governor of

for the second time, between 1752 and 1757, and he led many campaigns against Amerindian peoples.Phares, Ross (1976)
The Governors of Texas
Firebird Press. Page 29. Later, he served as provincial

alcalde Alcalde (; ) is the traditional Spanish municipal magistrate, who had both judicial and administrative functions. An ''alcalde'' was, in the absence of a corregidor, the presiding officer of the Castilian '' cabildo'' (the municipal council) a ...

of the

Santa Hermandad Santa Hermandad (, "holy brotherhood") was a type of military peacekeeping association of armed individuals, which became characteristic of municipal life in medieval Spain, especially in Castile. Modern hermandades in Spain, some of which evo ...

(Brotherhood) of

New Spain New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( es, Virreinato de Nueva España, ), or Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain during the Spanish colonization of the Am ...

. On March 27, 1765, he became in captain of the Presidio of

El Paso del Norte EL, El or el may refer to: Religion * El (deity), a Semitic word for "God" People * EL (rapper) (born 1983), stage name of Elorm Adablah, a Ghanaian rapper and sound engineer * El DeBarge, music artist * El Franco Lee (1949–2016), American po ...

, Mexico. Apparently, after this position, he was not reappointed to any other official position. His place and date of death are not known.

Personal life

Pedro de Barrio Junco y Espriella was married to Maria Antonia Rodriguez, and they had two children.

References

External links

Pedro de Barrio Junco y Espriella (gobernador). Protocolo de instrumentos públicos
(Protocol of Public Instruments). {{DEFAULTSORT:Barrio Junco y Espriella, Pedro del Governors of Nuevo León Governors of Spanish Texas Spanish colonial governors and administrators 1682 births 1772 deaths People from Asturias 1740s in Texas 1740s in Mexico 1750s in Mexico