Simón de Arocha (1731–1796) was a

Tejano Tejanos ( , ) are descendants of Texas Creoles and Mestizos who settled in Texas before its admission as an American state. The term is also sometimes applied to Texans of Mexican descent. Etymology The word ''Tejano'', with a ''J'' instead ...

cowboy, militia commander, and

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

(a municipal magistrate who had both judicial and administrative functions) of San Antonio de Béxar (1770 and 1787). Like his father, who had been city clerk and public notary, Simón and his brothers became leaders in the province.

Biography

Simón de Arocha was born in San Antonio de Béxar,

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 ...

, in October, 1731. His parents, Francisco de Arocha and Juana Curbelo, came from

La Palma La Palma (, ), also known as ''La isla bonita'' () and historically San Miguel de La Palma, is the most northwesterly island of the Canary Islands, a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in Macaronesia in the North Atlantic Ocean. La Pa ...

, one of the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; ) or Canaries are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean and the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, Autonomous Community of Spain. They are located in the northwest of Africa, with the closest point to the cont ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. They had arrived at San Antonio in March of the same year with a group of Canarian settlers. Simón was the oldest of fifteen children. His father held important administrative positions in San Antonio. In his youth, Simón joined the local militia, and rose through the ranks to become its commander with the rank of

lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...

. Eventually, he was appointed as a judge to distribute public lands among the Isleño community in San Antonio.Jack Jackson
Handbook of Texas Online: Arocha, Simón de
November 26, 2008. He also served as alcalde of San Antonio in 1770 and 1787. Between the years of his service as alcalde Arocha served in other capacities: in 1774 he was appointed lieutenant governor of Béxar province over the objections of the cabildo's sheriff and perhaps most of the local ranchers, and escorted the Adaesaños (also descendants of Spanish settlers), who were residents in

Los Adaes Los Adaes was the capital of Tejas (Texas) on the northeastern frontier of New Spain from 1721 to 1773. It included a Franciscan mission, San Miguel de Cuéllar de los Adaes, and a presidio, Nuestra Señora del Pilar de Los Adaes (Our Lady of ...

, to the new settlement of Bucareli on the Trinity River; in 1778 he prepared a census report on the province for the new commanding general, Fray Juan Agustín Morfi. Four year later, in 1782, Simón and his brother Juan de Arocha obtained title to a ranch north of Floresville, and their families became leaders of the local ranching community. Simón played an important role in organizing a cattle roundup with the Spanish missions in 1787. He and his family subsequently gained almost complete control of the city council of San Antonio. When Simón tried to buy another ranch at the confluence of the San Marcos and Guadalupe rivers, many ranchers in the province protested, with the support of Governor Rafael Martínez Pacheco. The furor following this protest caused the governor to lose his position. Simón de Arocha died on July 29, 1796.

After his death

Most of the Arocha family's lands were confiscated in the early 19th century during the revolutionary uprisings in the Spanish colony of

New Spain New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( ; Nahuatl: ''Yankwik Kaxtillan Birreiyotl''), originally the Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain. It was one of several ...

, of which they were active participants. With the winning of

Mexican independence The Mexican War of Independence (, 16 September 1810 – 27 September 1821) was an armed conflict and political process resulting in Mexico's independence from the Spanish Empire. It was not a single, coherent event, but local and regional ...

in 1821, Simón's grandson was able to reconfirm the title to his grandfather's Spanish land grant.

Personal life

In 1752, Simón de Arocha married María Ignacia de Urrutia; they had eight children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arocha, Simon de 1731 births People of Spanish Texas Texas Isleño people Mayors of San Antonio 1796 deaths Tejano politicians