These pearls can still be found today, mostly in the Concho River near San Angelo, but special permission is needed before searching for them. Though there are no reports of any gold mines coming into operation in the area, the Spanish did discover fresh water pearls in several of the rivers. Several expeditions were launched into West Texas during the 17th and 18th centuries in order to explore, map, and survey the region for mineral wealth.
Because of this mysterious woman, the Spanish did indeed begin to enter the Jumano lands and did establish some small temporary missions. This Lady in Blue had instructed them in the ways of the Catholic Church and then had told them that they needed to ride west and south in order to get monks and missionaries to follow them into their home regions, so that their people could be baptized. These representatives told fascinating stories about a mysterious Lady in Blue who had made frequent visitations to their villages and had preached to them about a man named Christ. Due to the research of many Texas historians, it is now generally believed, because of the geographic and natural evidence of West Texas today that Coronado decided to end his failed expedition in search of the lost cities of gold in a ravine which is located between modern day Sterling City (Sterling County) and San Angelo (Tom Green County).ĭuring the 17th Century, Spanish missions in present day New Mexico and along the Rio Grande were frequently visited by representatives of Jumano tribes. Though still debated by historians, the ill fated explorers under Cabeza de Vaca could have been the first Europeans to see the region as they tried to make their way back into Mexico.Īfter De Vaca had returned to Central America, he published in a book on his journey through this unexplored land and which fueled the excitement that eventually led to the famous Coronado Expedition of the 1540s. The first people of European descent to enter into West Texas were the Spanish in the early 1500s. Located between the eastern bank of the Pecos and about mid-way to the Colorado River, West Texas has a history that is, in some parts of the region, older than the U.S. However, most residents of the state generally accept the Pecos River as the dividing line between Far West and West Texas. As stated in the Far West Texas section of this website, two areas of the state can be considered Western Texas.