Juan Galván (?–?) was a Spanish soldier and explorer who served as an ensign and explorer in

San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. It was on his recommendation that the

Presidio San Saba Presidio San Luis de las Amarillas, now better known as Presidio of San Sabá, was founded in April 1757 near present-day Menard, Texas, United States to protect the Mission Santa Cruz de San Sabá, established at the same time. The presidio and ...

was established.

Biography

Galván settled in San Antonio of Bexar early in the 1720s, about ten years after entering military service.The Handbook of Texas
Accessed September 16, 1010. He did well there, being promoted to

alférez In medieval Iberia, an ''alférez'' (, ) or ''alferes'' (, ) was a high-ranking official in the household of a king or magnate. The term is derived from the Arabic ('' al-fāris''), meaning "knight" or "cavalier", and it was commonly Latinised ...

and later entrusted with 30 men on March 13, 1748, to protect the

Mission San Xavier del Bac Mission San Xavier del Bac () is a historic Spanish Catholic mission about south of downtown Tucson, Arizona, on the Tohono O'odham Nation San Xavier Indian Reservation. The mission was founded in 1692 by Eusebio Kino in the center of a cent ...

. He reported back that manpower would be sufficient for the native threat and recommended that

presidio A presidio (''jail, fortification'') was a fortified base established by the Spanish Empire mainly between the 16th and 18th centuries in areas under their control or influence. The term is derived from the Latin word ''praesidium'' meaning ''pr ...

be established with a force of 50. In the summer of 1749, Governor Pedro del Barrio Junco y Espriella went with Galván to investigate whether San Xavier could sustain a settlement. After their expedition, he placed Galvan in command of the

at San Xavier. In 1752, Spanish authorities approved an expedition to explore the

Apache The Apache ( ) are several Southern Athabaskan language-speaking peoples of the Southwestern United States, Southwest, the Southern Plains and Northern Mexico. They are linguistically related to the Navajo. They migrated from the Athabascan ho ...

territory and locate a site for a possible mission.Chipman (1992), p. 157. Galván was given charge of this expedition and set out the following year with a small group, including Father Miguel de Aranda, who worked at

Mission Concepcion Franciscan Friars established Mission Nuestra Señora de la Purísima Concepción de Acuña (also Mission Concepción) in 1711 as Nuestra Señora de la Purísima Concepción de los Hainais in East Texas. The mission was by the Domingo Ramón- ...

. They travelled northwest of San Antonio, exploring the

Pedernales River The Pedernales River ( ) is a tributary of the Colorado River, approximately long, in Central Texas in the United States. It drains an area of the Edwards Plateau, flowing west to east across the Texas Hill Country west of Austin. The name "Ped ...

, the

Llano River The Llano River ( ) is a tributary of the Colorado River, about long, in Texas in the United States. It drains part of the Edwards Plateau in Texas Hill Country northwest of Austin. Two spring-fed tributaries, the North and South Llano, stret ...

, and the

San Saba River The San Saba River is a river in Texas, United States. It is an undeveloped and scenic waterway located on the northern boundary of the Edwards Plateau. Course The river begins in two primary branches. The North Valley Prong runs east throu ...

. The San Saba River area appeared most promising as the soil was fertile, there seemed to be mineral deposits in the area, and local Apache promised to come to a mission. Galvan recommended that a mission be founded along the San Saba, and that a presidio be established nearby to protect the mission against the Comanche. That he recommended a staff of 100 soldiers at the presidio was cause for concern that the region might be too dangerous;Minor (2009), p. 50-51 it took three more years and two more missions with similar findings before the governor agreed and the mission and

was established.Chipman (1992), p. 158. Apaches never embraced the mission, and eventually several of the missionaries abandoned it, but Galván served as lieutenant at the Presidio.Chipman (1992), pp. 159 - 160.Weddle & Oyarzún (2007), p. 42

Personal life

Juan Galvan married Francisca Xaviera Maldonado in San Antonio, in 1723. They had ten children.

Notes

Sources

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Juan Galvan Spanish explorers of North America Explorers of Texas