Local promotional literature from the Nacogdoches Convention and Visitors Bureau describes Nacogdoches as "The Oldest Town in Texas". Evidence of settlement at the same site dates back to 10,000 years ago. It is near or on the site of Nevantin, the primary village of the Nacogdoche tribe of Caddo Indians.
Nacogdoches remained a Caddo Indian settlement until the early 19th century. In 1716, Spain established a mission there, Misión Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe. That was the first European construction in the area. The "town" of Nacogdoches got started after the French had vacated the region (1760s, following the French and Indian War), and Spanish officials decided that maintaining the mission was too costly. In 1772, they ordered all settlers in the area to move to San Antonio. Some were eager to escape the wilderness, but others had to be forced from their homes by soldiers. It was one of the original European settlements in the region, populated by Adaeseños from Fort Los Adaes.
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The El Camino Real de los Tejas National Historic Trail is a national historic trail covering the U.S. section of El Camino Real de Los Tejas, a thoroughfare from the 18th-century Spanish colonial era in Spanish Texas, instrumental in the settlement, development, and history of Texas. The National Park Service designated El Camino Real de los Tejas National Historic Trail as a unit in the National Trails System in 2004.
The modern highways Texas 21 (along with Texas OSR) and Louisiana 6 roughly follow the original route of the trail.
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Nacogdoches
The Gateway to Texas
Nacogdoches Speaks by Karle Wilson Baker (1878-1960)
I was The Gateway-Here they came, & passed, the homespun centaurs with their arms of steel & taut heart-strings: wild wills, who thought to deal bare-handed with jade fortune tracked at last out of silken lairs into the vast of a man's world. They passed, but still I feel the dint of hoof, the print of booted heel, like prick of spurs-the shadows that they cast. I do not vaunt their valors or their crimes: I tell my secrets only to some lover, some taster of spilled wine & scattered musk. But I have not forgotten; & sometimes, the things that I remember rise, & hover, a sharper perfume in some April dusk
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Throughout the storied history of Nacogdoches, nine different flags have flown over the region. The six flags of Texas are well known, but three others have also been raised. The traditional six flags include those for Spain (1519 – 1685; 1690 – 1821), France (1685 – 1690), Mexico (1821 – 1836), the Republic of Texas (1836 – 1845), the United States of America (1845 – 1861; 1865 – present) and the Confederate States of America (1861 – 1865).
The earliest of the other flags was an emerald banner for the Gutiérrez-Magee Expedition (1812 – 1813). Lt. Augustus Magee and Col. Bernardo Gutiérrez organized an army which controlled territory east of San Antonio. However, Gutiérrez lost support, a Mexican force regained San Antonio, and the army disbanded. Another flag contained red and white stripes with one white star on a red field, representing the Long Republic (1819). Col. James Long set up a government from Nacogdoches, which fell to Spanish forces; he was later captured and killed. The final of the three flags was red and white, and inscribed with the words, “Independence, Freedom and Justice.” It belonged to the Republic of Fredonia (1826 – 1827). Empresario Haden H. Edwards proclaimed a new republic following the Mexican revocation of his colonial charter. When he failed to enlist aid, Edwards fled, ending the rebellion.
Nacogdoches has been a gateway to Texas for hundreds of years, not only for settlers but also for ideals. The nine flags of Nacogdoches represent revolutionary activity that was essential to the spirit of Texas. In 1997, residents began celebrating the Nine Flags Festival, which commemorates the city’s importance as a center of freedom and a community vital to Texas history.
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