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Villasur Expedition

 
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The Villasur expedition of 1720 was a Spanish military expedition
Spanish colonization of the Americas

The Spanish colonization of the Americas was Spain's conquest, settlement, and rule over much of the western hemisphere. Beginning with the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1492, over three centuries the Spanish Empire expanded from early small settlements in the Caribbean to include Central America, most of South America, Mexico, what toda...
 intended to check the growing French
New France

The Viceroyalty of New France was the area French colonization of the Americas by France in North America during a period extending from the exploration of the Saint Lawrence River, by Jacques Cartier in 1534, to the cession of New France to Spain and Kingdom of Great Britain in 1763....
 presence on the Great Plains
Great Plains

The Great Plains are the broad expanse of prairie and steppe which lie west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains in the United States and Canada....
 of central North America
North America

North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere....
. Led by Lieutenant-General Pedro de Villasur, the expedition ended with a defeat at the hands of the Pawnee
Pawnee

The Pawnee are a Native Americans in the United States tribe that historically lived along the Platte River, Loup River and Republican Rivers in present-day Nebraska and in Northern Kansas....
.

In the first part of the 18th century, French explorers and traders began to enter the plains west of the Missouri River
Missouri River

The Missouri River is a tributary of the Mississippi River, and the longest river in the United States of America. The Missouri begins at the confluence of the Madison River, Jefferson River, and Gallatin River rivers in Montana, and flows through Missouri River Valley south and east into the Mississippi north of St....
.






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Pawneevillasur1720
The Villasur expedition of 1720 was a Spanish military expedition
Spanish colonization of the Americas

The Spanish colonization of the Americas was Spain's conquest, settlement, and rule over much of the western hemisphere. Beginning with the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1492, over three centuries the Spanish Empire expanded from early small settlements in the Caribbean to include Central America, most of South America, Mexico, what toda...
 intended to check the growing French
New France

The Viceroyalty of New France was the area French colonization of the Americas by France in North America during a period extending from the exploration of the Saint Lawrence River, by Jacques Cartier in 1534, to the cession of New France to Spain and Kingdom of Great Britain in 1763....
 presence on the Great Plains
Great Plains

The Great Plains are the broad expanse of prairie and steppe which lie west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains in the United States and Canada....
 of central North America
North America

North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere....
. Led by Lieutenant-General Pedro de Villasur, the expedition ended with a defeat at the hands of the Pawnee
Pawnee

The Pawnee are a Native Americans in the United States tribe that historically lived along the Platte River, Loup River and Republican Rivers in present-day Nebraska and in Northern Kansas....
.

In the first part of the 18th century, French explorers and traders began to enter the plains west of the Missouri River
Missouri River

The Missouri River is a tributary of the Mississippi River, and the longest river in the United States of America. The Missouri begins at the confluence of the Madison River, Jefferson River, and Gallatin River rivers in Montana, and flows through Missouri River Valley south and east into the Mississippi north of St....
. In 1714, Étienne de Veniard, Sieur de Bourgmont
Étienne de Veniard, Sieur de Bourgmont

?tienne de Veniard, Sieur de Bourgmont was a France explorer who made the first maps and documentation of the Missouri River and Platte River rivers....
 became the first European to reach the Platte River
Platte River

The Platte River is an approximately . long river in the Western United States. It is a tributary to the Missouri River, which in turn is a tributary to the Mississippi River....
. Spain, which had claimed ownership of the Great Plains since the Coronado expedition
Francisco Vásquez de Coronado

Francisco V?zquez de Coronado y Luj?n was a Spain conquistador, who visited New Mexico and other parts of what are now the southwestern United States between 1540 and 1542....
, was wary of this expansion of French influence. In 1718, the War of the Quadruple Alliance
War of the Quadruple Alliance

The War of the Quadruple Alliance was a result of the ambitions of King Philip V of Spain, his wife, Isabella Farnese, and his chief minister Giulio Alberoni to retake territories in Italy and to claim the French throne....
 broke out between France and Spain; at this time of heightened tension, Villasur was sent by the governor of the Spanish colony of Nuevo México
Santa Fe de Nuevo México

Santa Fe de Nuevo M?xico was a province of New Spain that existed from the late 16th century up through the early 19th century. It was centered on the upper valley of the Rio Grande, in an area that included most of the present-day U.S....
 to capture French traders. By doing so, Spanish authorities could gather intelligence about French ambitions in the region.

Villasur left Santa Fe
Santa Fe, New Mexico

Santa Fe is the Capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico. It is the List of cities in New Mexico and is the county seat of . Santa Fe had a population of 62,203 at the United States Census, 2000; the estimate for July 1, 2006, is 72,056....
 on June 16, 1720, leading an expedition that included about 40 soldiers, 60-70 Pueblo
Pueblo people

The Pueblo people are a Native Americans in the United States people in the Southwestern United States. Their traditional economy is based on agriculture and trade....
 scouts, and approximately 12 Apache
Apache

Apache is the collective term for several culturally related groups of Native Americans in the United States. These indigenous peoples of North America speak a Southern Athabaskan languages language, and are related linguistically to the languages of Athabaskan speakers of Alaska and western Canada....
 guides. The expedition also included Jose Naranjo, as scout, war captain for the Indian auxiliaries and explorer who had visited the Platte River region several times in the past, a priest, and a Spanish trader. The expedition made its way northeast through present-day Colorado
Colorado

The State of Colorado is a U.S. state located in the Mountain States of the United States of America. Colorado may also be considered to be a part of the Western United States and Southwestern United States regions of the United States....
, Kansas
Kansas

The State of Kansas is a Midwestern U.S. state in the Central United States of the United States of America, an area often referred to as the United States "Heartland"....
 and Nebraska
Nebraska

Nebraska is a U.S. state located on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States and Western United States.Nebraska probably gets its name from the archaic Chiwere language words ?? Br?sge or the Omaha-Ponca language N? Bth?ska meaning "flat water," after the Platte River that flows through the state....
. In August, the expedition made contact with Pawnees and Otoes
Otoe tribe

The Otoe or Oto are a Native Americans in the United States people. The Otoe language, Chiwere, is closely related to that of the Iowa tribe and Missouri tribe....
 along the Platte and Loup
Loup River

This article is on the Loup River in Nebraska, USA; for information on the Loup River in southeast France, see Loup River .The Loup River is a tributary of the Platte River, approximately long, in central Nebraska in the United States....
 rivers. Using a captured Pawnee slave, Francisco Sistaca, several attempts were made to negotiate with Indians in the area. On August 13, Sistaca disappeared. Villasur, nervous about the possibility of attack, camped that night just south of the Loup/Platte confluence, near what is now Columbus
Columbus, Nebraska

Columbus is a city in Platte County, Nebraska, Nebraska, United States, 80 miles west by north of Omaha, Nebraska on the Loup River, a short distance above the confluence with the Platte River....
.

The following morning (August 14) a large Pawnee force (possibly aided by French traders) attacked the Spanish camp. Villasur, 34 of his soldiers, and 11 Pueblo scouts were killed after a brief battle. The remaining survivors returned to Santa Fe on September 6.

The expedition, which had journeyed farther to the north and east than any other Spanish military expedition, marked the end of Spanish influence on the central Great Plains.

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