Spain In 1747, the Spanish government sent
José de Escandón to inspect the northern frontier of its North American colonies, including
Spanish Texas. In his final report, Escandón recommended the
Presidio La Bahía be moved from its
Guadalupe River location to the banks of the San Antonio River, so it could better assist settlements along the
Rio Grande. Both the
presidio and the mission that it protected,
Mission Nuestra Señora del Espíritu Santo de Zúñiga, moved to their new location sometime around October 1749. Escandón proposed that 25 families from
New Spain be relocated near the
presidio to form a civilian settlement, but he could not find enough willing settlers. With the conclusion of the
Seven Years' War in 1763, France ceded
Louisiana and its Texas claims to Spain. With France no longer a threat to the crown's North American interests, the Spanish monarchy commissioned the Marquis de Rubi to inspect all of the
presidios on the northern frontier of New Spain and make recommendations for the future. Rubi recommended that several
presidios be closed and that La Bahia be kept and rebuilt in stone. La Bahia was soon "the only Spanish fortress for the entire
Gulf Coast from the mouth of the Rio Grande to the
Mississippi River". The
presidio was at the crossroads of several major trade and military routes. It quickly became one of Texas's three most important areas, along with
Béxar and
Nacogdoches. In early August 1812 during the
Mexican War of Independence, Mexican revolutionary
Bernardo Gutiérrez de Lara and his recruits, called the
Republican Army of the North, invaded Texas. In November, the invaders captured Presidio La Bahia.
Texas Governor Manuel María de Salcedo laid siege to the fort for the next four months. Unable to win a decisive victory, Salcedo lifted the siege on February 19, 1813, and turned toward San Antonio de Bexar. The rebels controlled the
presidio until July or August 1813, when
José Joaquín de Arredondo led royalist troops in retaking all of Texas. Henry Perry, a member of the Republican Army of the North, led forces back to Texas in 1817 and attempted to recapture La Bahia. The Spanish reinforced the
presidio with soldiers from San Antonio, and defeated Perry's forces on June 18 near Coleto Creek. The area was invaded again in 1821. The United States and Spain had signed the
Adams–Onís Treaty in 1819, which ceded all US territorial claims on the Texas area to Spain. On October 4, the
Long Expedition (with 52 members) captured La Bahia. Four days later, Colonel Ignacio Pérez arrived with troops from Bexar, and
Long surrendered. By the end of 1821, Mexico had achieved its independence from Spain, and Texas became part of the newly created country.
Mexico In 1829, the name of the
Mexican Texas village of La Bahía was changed to "Goliad", believed to be an
anagram of
Hidalgo (omitting the silent initial "H"), in honor of the patriot priest
Miguel Hidalgo, the father of the
Mexican War of Independence. On October 9, 1835, in the early days of the
Texas Revolution, a group of Anglo-American immigrants attacked the
presidio in the
Battle of Goliad. The Mexican garrison quickly surrendered, leaving the Anglo-Americans in control of the fort. The first
declaration of independence of the
Republic of Texas was signed here on December 20, 1835, and immediately thereafter,
Nicholas Fagan raised the "Bloody Arm Flag" also known as the "First Flag of Texas Independence" over Presidio La Bahia. Anglo-Americans held the area until March 1836, when their garrison under
Colonel James Fannin was defeated at the nearby
Battle of Coleto.
Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, then president of Mexico, ordered that all survivors were to be executed. On
Palm Sunday, March 27, 1836, in what was later called the
Goliad Massacre, 303 were marched out of the fort to be executed, and 39 were executed inside the
presidio (20 prisoners were spared because they were either physicians or medical attendants); 342 men were killed and 28 escaped. Famous Mexican General
Ignacio Zaragoza was born in Goliad in 1829. He commanded the forces resisting the
French Army in the
Battle of Puebla, now celebrated as
Cinco de Mayo on May 5, 1862. Texas gunfighter
King Fisher lived for a time in Goliad before moving to
Eagle Pass in
Maverick County, Texas.
1902 tornado The 1902 Goliad tornado devastated the town, killing 114 people, including Sheriff Robert Shaw, and injuring at least 225. It is tied for the deadliest tornado in Texas history, and remains among the deadliest in the United States. Dr. Louis Warren Chilton, a young doctor whose wife was injured and whose daughter was lifted in the tornado funnel but survived, set up a temporary hospital and morgue in the courthouse. The
Dr. L.W. and Martha E.S. Chilton House was built starting in June and included an underground shelter. ==Geography==