FERNÁNDEZ DE JÁUREGUI URRUTIA, JOSEPH ANTONIO (?-?). From 1732 to 1741 Joseph Antonio Fernández de Jáuregui Urrutia served as governor of Nuevo León. In 1735 he wrote a report to the viceroy on conditions in his province. The document focused on the need to curb the hostile natives who inhabited the adjacent coastal region later incorporated into the province of Nuevo Santander. Although Fernández failed to offer a comprehensive plan for conquering the coastal strip, his report initiated a series of efforts to solve problems stemming from the region's hostile natives. When the viceroy failed to respond, Fernández forwarded his report with a map and supporting documents to the Crown, but King Felipe V took little notice. On July 11, 1737, the Nuevo León governor was given an additional assignment as governor extraordinary and visitador of Texas; he was to investigate the administration of ousted Texas governor Carlos Benites Franquis de Lugo. Not until 1738 was he able to renew his appeal on behalf of Nuevo León settlers. In the meantime, other plans, largely self-serving, emerged, leading ultimately to the choice of José de Escandón to subdue and colonize the Costa del Seno Mexicano (Gulf of Mexico Coast). Upon completion of the Franquis investigation, Fernández returned to Monterrey to serve out his term as Nuevo León governor. Prudencio de Orobio y Basterra was named governor ad interim of Texas.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Carlos E. Castañeda, Our Catholic Heritage in Texas (7 vols., Austin: Von Boeckmann-Jones, 1936-58; rpt., New York: Arno, 1976). Joseph Antonio Fernández de Jáuregui Urrutia, Description of Nuevo León, Mexico (1735-1740), ed. Malcolm D. McLean and Eugenio del Hoyo (Monterrey: Instituto Tecnológico de Estudios Superiores, 1964). Robert S. Weddle, The French Thorn: Rival Explorers in the Spanish Sea, 1682-1762 (College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 1991).
