Latin American History

Bexar Archives, 1717-1803 in the archives of the University of Texas
Author: University of Texas. Library. Archives Collection.
Published: Austin, University of Texas Archives, 1967
Language: Spanish
31 microfilm reels

Please Note: The Bexar Archives are now available online from 1717-1801 from the University of Texas at Austin. The microfilm collection at Stony Brook contains material from 1717-1803.

Bexar Archives is "one of the great historical treasures of the American continent," according to Historian Lester Gladstone Bugbee. The Bexar Archives preserve the military, civil, and political life of the Spanish province of Texas and the Mexican state of Coahuila y Texas, and constitute the principle resource for the Spanish and Mexican history of Texas from 1717–1836.

Particularly rich in administrative, social, and ethno-history, and because of their volume and breadth of subject matter, the documents are an essential source for any scholar interested in the history of the borderlands.

During the period covered by the Bexar Archives, Texas, originally populated by a variety of Indian tribes, became a major arena of conflict, as a host of invaders gradually penetrated the area. Indian nations fought one another. The Spanish fought the Indians. The French fought the Spanish. Soldiers, civilians, and missionaries fought amongst themselves. The Mexicans fought the Spanish for their independence. Finally the Anglo-American colonists fought the Mexicans for their own independence, and then returned to fighting the Indians. Thus modern Texas emerged from a long and complex struggle between competing interests.

Please Note: The Bexar Archives are now available online from 1717-1801 from the University of Texas at Austin. The microfilm collection at Stony Brook contains material from 1717-1803.

MICROFILM 376

Microforms Library - Central Reading Room