Los Horconsitos

Los Horconsitos, meaning "Little Forks," was probably located in what is now southern Liberty County. In 1759 Ángel de Martos y Navarrete, governor of Texas, recommended that the Spanish base at El Orcoquisac, consisting of Nuestra Señora de la Luz Mission, San Agustín de Ahumada Presidio, and a proposed townsite, be moved north to either Los Horconsitos or Los Piélagos. Officials approved the suggested transfer to Los Horconsitos on at least three occasions, in 1760, 1762, and 1764. A lack of supplies and a series of disputes between local and provincial officials and between missionaries and soldiers, however, prevented such a move. The location of Los Horconsitos has been the subject of some dispute. Writing during the late nineteenth century, Hubert H. Bancroft believed El Orcoquisac and Los Horconsitos were identical, although little evidence supports this contention. In 1947 Harbert Davenport placed Los Horconsitos at or near the site of present-day Moss Bluff, in southern Liberty County. Subsequent research on El Orcoquisac and the conclusion that Davenport made several geographical errors have led more recent scholars to suggest that Los Horconsitos was southwest of Moss Bluff, near the community of Shiloh and Farm Road 563.

Adapted from the official Handbook of Texas, a state encyclopedia developed by the Texas State Historical Association (TSHA). It is an authoritative source of trusted historical records.