Guerrero

History

The town traces its origin to around 1700, when Franciscans from the College of Santa Cruz de Querétaro, among them fray Francisco Hidalgo, brought their mission work to this stretch of the Rio Grande. Three missions took shape in and around the site: San Juan Bautista, San Francisco Solano and San Bernardo. Their purpose was to convert the indigenous peoples of the area. The Solano mission was moved in 1718 to the San Antonio river, where it gave rise to the mission later known as the Alamo.

To protect the missions, the presidio of San Juan Bautista del Río Grande was established in 1703 with thirty soldiers. Unlike other frontier forts, it never moved. It became the main link between central New Spain and Spanish Texas along the Camino Real de los Tejas, and the nearby river ford was known as the Paso de Francia. In 1718 the expedition of governor Martín de Alarcón set out from here to found San Antonio de Béxar, today San Antonio, Texas.

The presidio survived the military reorganizations of 1771 and 1782, and its parade ground became the town's main plaza. After independence the settlement took the name Guerrero, and with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848 the river beside it became an international border. The mission ruins remain, and the town was named a Pueblo Mágico in 2015.