Francisco Hidalgo

Francisco Hidalgo was a Spanish Franciscan priest who founded missions in Spanish Texas and sought to create a line of missions from Mexico to the Caddo.

Early life Francisco Hidalgo was born in Spain in 1659 and seems to have been orphaned shortly thereafter. He joined the Franciscan order in 1659, eventually becoming a priest, and left Spain for New Spain in 1683 to help found the College of Santa Cruz de Querétaro. and subsequently retired to Mission San Juan Bautista, where he continued to ask for permission to preach to the Apaches until 1725.

Francisco Hidalgo was known for his preaching to natives, especially outside Querétaro and Zacatecas,