José Francisco Calahorra y Saenz

José Francisco Calahorra y Saenz. . , During the Spanish colonial period in Texas, Jose Francisco Calahorra y Saenz (birth date unknown) served as a Catholic missionary to Native Texans. He began ministering in east Texas by 1730, and was well-respected by many Native Texans, who often relayed information to him about activities involving enemies of the Spanish., In 1758, a contingent of approximately 2,000 Comanches, Tonkawas, Tejas, Bidias and Yojuanes attacked the Mission Santa Cruz de San Saba, near present Menard. After the Spanish countered with an expedition led by Capt. Diego Parrilla, Taovaya and Tawakoni leaders came to the missionary to ask for peace, admitting a role in earlier attacks. After the Native Texans agreed to relinquish two captured cannons and to stop warring with mission Indians, Calahorra sent a letter to Texas governor Angel de Martos y Navarrette in 1760 asking that the Native Texans not be punished. With the governor's blessings and provisions, in September 1760, Calahorra journeyed with soldiers and others to visit the Tawakoni villages. Among the roads he used were what later became known as the Cherokee Road and the Kickapoo Trace. The entourage arrived here, where a group of Native Texans escorted the party to their villages on the Sabine River., Calahorra worked diligently on behalf of the Ysacani-Tawakoni people, and visited again in 1761 and 1764. His written accounts of these visits has left valuable information for later historians, archeologists, anthropologists and others. In his later years, Calahorra taught at the college in Zacatecas, Mexico. He died on May 30, 1774