Bexar Archives: Colonial Archives of Texas during the Spanish and Mexican Periods, 1717-1836
From 1717 through 1836 the governments of Spain and Mexico collected in San Antonio de Bexar (when that city was the capital of Texas under Spanish and Mexican rule) an amazing series of official documents detailing the military, civilian, and political life of the Spanish province of Texas and the Mexican state of Coahuila y Texas. These records, which have become known as the Bexar Archives, constitute the most complete and detailed primary source in existence for the study of colonial Texas. Having formerly worked together on a microfilm version, now, in cooperation with the Center for American History at the University of Texas at Austin, ProQuest is digitizing the Bexar Archives in History Vault. The Bexar Archives consist of 250,000 pages of manuscript documentation and more than 4,000 pages of printed material on colonial and regional history.
The scope of the documentation contained in the Bexar Archives is as vast as the territory whose affairs it recorded. The earliest documents deal mainly with the affairs of the Canary Island settlers, religious matters, and relations with Native Americans. At the opening of the 19th century, friction along the Texas-Louisiana border, Anglo-American incursions, smuggling, and troubles over Indian raids and atrocities become prominent topics. The Mexican revolution of 1810, with its counterpart in Texas the following year, is vividly recorded, as are the Gutierrez-Magee invasion of 1812-1813, the battle of Medina in 1813, the Champ D'Asile incident in 1818, Dr. Long's expedition in 1819, the coming of Moses Austin in 1820, the Mexican independent regime in 1821, the Fredonian Rebellion in Nacogdoches in 1827, and, finally, the independence of Texas in 1836. In addition to covering the high points of Texas history, the Bexar Archives also document virtually all aspects of life in Spanish and Mexican Texas.