Los Adaes

Infobox_nrhp | name =Los Adaes
nrhp_type =nhl


caption = The first map to depict an Adais (Adaie) settlement, shown to the west of a cluster of Natchitoches villages. Drawn in 1718 by Guillaume Delisle.
nearest_city= Robeline, Louisiana
locmapin = Louisiana
area =
built =1721
architect=
architecture=
designated= June 23, 1986cite web|url=http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=1759&ResourceType=Site
title=Los Adaes |accessdate=2008-02-01|work=National Historic Landmark summary listing|publisher=National Park Service]
added = June 07, 1978cite web|url=http://www.nr.nps.gov/|title=National Register Information System|date=2007-01-23|work=National Register of Historic Places|publisher=National Park Service]
governing_body = State
refnum=78001427

Los Adaes was the capital of Tejas on the northeastern frontier of New Spain from 1729 to 1770. It included a mission, San Miguel de Linares de los Adaes, and a presidio, Nuestra Señora del Pilar de Los Adaes (Our Lady of Pilar of the Adaes). The site is located in the present-day Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana. The Los Adaes State Historic Site preserves the site. It has been designated a National Historic Landmark, the highest honor.

History

The mission at Los Adaes was founded by Domingo Ramón some time prior to 1719, but it was abandoned in that year when threated by the French. The Marqués de Aguayo led an expedition to the region in 1721, and recoccupied the mission. Upon Aguayo's departure from the area, he left a presidio manned by 100 Spanish cavalry troops and several Franciscans.cite web|url=http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/LL/nfl1.html|title=Los Adaes|publisher=The Handbook of Texas Online, Texas State Historical Association | date= 2008-01-18|accessdate=2008-04-14]

In 1729, Los Adaes was named the capital of Tejas. But at the same time, the garrison was reduced to sixty troops in order to lessen administrative costs.

Although the Spanish settlers in the area did not encounter hostile Native Americans, since the local Caddoan speaking peoples were friendly, the Franciscan missionaries were unsuccsessful in converting the local people to Catholicism. After several years of frustration in this regard, in 1768 the College of Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe de Zacatecas, which was the sponsor of the missionaries at Los Adaes, recalled their missionaries, and the mission was closed.

Because of the long distance between Los Adaes and the rest of the populated portions of Tejas, the settlers in the area turned most often to the French colonists in neighboring Natchitoches, Louisiana for trade. Thus the colony of Los Adaes, which had been established to prevent the spread of French influence in the area, grew to depend upon the French themselves for its survival. In addition, the French trade goods spread among the local Native Americans, in itself helping to spread French influence.

In 1762, ownership of Louisiana was passed from France to Spain. Thus the purpose for existence of the colony of Los Adaes came at an end, since it was no longer needed as a buffer against French expansion. In 1772, the Spanish crown ordered the abandonment of Los Adaes, and the transfer of the inhabitants to San Antonio de Bexar, present-day San Antonio. The inhabitants of Los Adaes, although required to abandon their homes, did not, in fact, transfer to San Antonio, but instead founded what is now Nacogdoches, Texas. The last inhabitants left Los Adaes in 1773.

drew this extraordinary map accurately depicting Los Adaes. This map serves as a fine guide for the archeological investigations at Los Adaes.See. [ [http://www.texasbeyondhistory.net/adaes/time.html Los Adaes ] ] ]

The site of Los Adaes was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1986.citation|title=PDFlink| [http://pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/NHLS/Text/78001427.pdf National Historic Landmark Nomination: LOS ADAES / Nuestra Senora del Pilar Presidio (16NA8); San Miguel de Los Adaes Mission (16NA16)] |1.45 MiB |date=September 24, 1992 |author=Mark R. Barnes |publisher=National Park Service]

Present day

Today the site of Los Adaes is the [http://www.crt.state.la.us/parks/ilosadaes.aspx Los Adaes State Historic Site] near the town of Robeline, Louisiana. The Los Adaes site has proven to be one of the most important archaeological sites in the US for the study of colonial Spanish culture.

Dr. Hiram F. "Pete" Gregory Jr., an archaeologist at nearby Northwestern State University, conducted landmark excavations at the historic presidio from the 1960s through the 1980s. In the 1990s, the state appointed Dr. George Avery to the newly created position of station archaeologist of the Los Adaes State Park. In this capacity, Avery contributed a great deal in his own right. Los Adaes has since lost its station archaeologist position. However, Avery, Gregory, and other archaeologists specializing in the Spanish colonial borderlands continue to advance the knowledge of this frontier outpost. Gregory, in particular, has championed the need for more academic interest in Los Adaes and the colonial history of northern and central Louisiana in general.Fact|date=February 2008

Many of the descendants of the original Spanish population of Los Adaes live seven mile north of Los Adaes in the Spanish Lake community and in Nacogdoches, Texas. Several hundred descendants of Y'Barbo still reside in a small rural community near Toledo Bend Lake called Ebarb. Fact|date=February 2008

References

External links

* [http://www.crt.state.la.us/siteexplorer/ virtual museum showing the history of Los Adaes]
* [http://www.lastateparks.com/losades/losadaes.htm Los Adaes State Historic Site (LA)]
* [http://crm.cr.nps.gov/archive/20-11/20-11-20.pdf#search=%22Hiram%20Gregory%20Los%20Adaes%22 Los Adaes: An 18th-Century Capital of Texas in Northwestern Louisiana] by George Avery, Los Adaes Station Archaeologist.
* [http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/travel/caneriver/ Cane River National Heritage Area, a National Park Service "Discover Our Shared Heritage" Travel Itinerary]
* [http://www.louisiana101.com/ideas_stdenis.html The Story of St. Denis]