Nuevo Santander

Origins

The Gulf coast north of Tampico was held by independent peoples such as the Coahuiltecans and resisted Spanish settlement for two centuries. In 1746 the viceroy commissioned José de Escandón to colonise it, and from 1748 he founded over twenty towns and missions between the Pánuco and Nueces rivers, including Camargo, Reynosa and, in 1755, Laredo.

Rule and society

Escandón governed as colonist and military commander, granting land to settler families from Nuevo León and Querétaro who raised cattle, sheep and horses on large ranchos. The towns were small, defended by soldier-settlers, and missions tried to convert local hunter-gatherers, many of whom died or were displaced. The province formed part of New Spain and at times came under the Commandancy General of the Internal Provinces.

Decline and legacy

With Mexican independence in 1821 the province passed to Mexico and in 1824 became the state of Tamaulipas. The lands north of the Rio Grande, disputed after Texan independence, went to the United States in 1848; the ranching culture of the region shaped the later cowboy and vaquero tradition.