RUSK LIONS CLUB
Program on Texas history presented at meeting
BY BILLY WATSON

Park Superintendent and Park Police Officer John Ferguson presented the program on Mission Tejas State Park near Alto at the Jan. 24 meeting. Mr. Ferguson is also a historian on Texas History. He said in 1685 a group of Frenchmen under the leadership of La Salle (Rene Robert Cavalier) landed on the Texas coast and began exploring the area. It wasn't long before the Spaniards heard of the Frenchmen encroaching on their territory so they sent out expeditions to locate the trespassers. Captain Alonso de Leon led one of the expeditions, and was accompanied by Father Massanet, a Frenchman priest. The expedition had a two-fold purpose which was to protect the area against French settlement and to Christianize the local Indians.

A village of Caddo Indians was found along the San Pedro Creek in what is now Houston County, so the Spaniards planted their flag there. In 1690 Captain de Leon and Father Massanet established the first mission in what would become Texas. When the Spanish soldiers and priests came to the Caddoan Village, the Indians greeted them by saying "Tejas, Tejas" which meant friends, but the Spaniards thought they were the Tejas Indians so they named the place Tejas which later became Texas.

Over the following years the Spanish established other settlements in the area, especially within Nacogdoches, and supplies had to come in from Mexico. A road was built from Mexico City to San Antonio to Nacogdoches. They first called the road El Camino Real, or the Kings Highway, and we know it today as State Highway 21. It was also once known as the Old San Antonio Road. It was the major transportation route in Texas during the 18th and 19th centuries. James Bowie, David Crockett, and other heroes who died at the Alamo, walked or road their horses right through what is now Mission Tejas State Park. Mr. Ferguson spoke of Joseph Rice and his wife, Willie Masters Rice, who came from Tennessee, and were among the first settlers in now Houston County. They built a one room log home adjacent to the road. Many had meals at the Rice home which was built between 1828-38. The home was used as a residence and business until 1919. In 1973 the home was moved to Mission Tejas State Park.