Imaginary Kingdom: Texas as Seen by the Rivera and Rubi Military Expeditions, 1727 and 1767

The diaries of Pedro de Rivera and the Marques de Rubí, written in the eighteenth century during inspections of the far northern frontier of New Spain, are crucial documents for studying and understanding the Spanish presence on the frontier of what would one day be Texas. Rivera's diary, previously unavailable in English translation, and the heretofore unknown Rubí diary are both presented here, carefully placed in historical context by Jackson and Foster. Because of Spain's tenuous hold on …