Alonso de Leon School Project

In this post, Alonso de Leon School Project, I will talk about helping my son make a display poster about Alonso de Leon, his 12th great-grandfather.

My youngest son, Marcus, a 5th grader came home last week with a blank poster. His assignment was "Make a display about a famous Historical Person" and he asked if I could help him. I said to my self "sure why not".

I then asked my 7th grader, Matthew, do you know who Alonso de Leon is? He said "yes the teacher was talking about him last week".

I then thought, "ok that's famous enough".

Marcus was not very exited about making a display poster about Alonso de Leon since he had no idea who he was. I then explained to him that he was the Spanish Explorer that did the first explorations into Texas and due to his work Texas was colonized by the Spanish. 

His eyes open up when I told him that he was his 12th great-grandfather. Chances are that if you are reading this he is also your ancestor.

He got very exited and even more when he did a google search about him. He read everything he could find and even searched YouTube for videos.

We came across maps of his explorations, photos of what remains of his home, and the canons that his soldiers buried in Fort St. Louis.

I told him to do a summary about Alonso de Leon and of what he did. The only real work that I did was printing out the images and putting together a timeline of his life.  

Oh, and a report on how he is related to Alonso de Leon. The rest was his own work.

Here is the end result:

In case you ever want to do something similar with your grandkids or children, I hope that the above image inspires you.

Chronology of the Life of Alonso de Leon

Age        Date                      Event

0              1639                       Born in Cadereyta, Nuevo Leon to Alonso de Leon and                                                       Josefa Gonzalez

16           1655                       Went to Cadiz, Spain. Became a sailor to fight the French

26           1665                       Fought on Military Campaign to Pilon Chico

29           1668                       Fought on Military Campaign against the Catajuno                                                            Indians

31           Abt. 1670             Married Agustina Cantu

43           1682                       Was Major Sargent on Military Campaign to Huasteca

43           1682                       Represented Monterrey in Mexico City with the Vicerroy

43           1682                       He was assigned as interim Governor of Nuevo Leon

47           1686                       First entry into Texas in search of the French Settlers,                                                        explored the Rio Grande Nowadays Reynosa and                                                             Matamoros

48           1687                       Did a second entry into Texas

48           1687                       He was made Governor of Coahuila

48           1687                       Founded the city of Santiago de Valladares

50           1689                       Founded the city of Monclova, Coahuila

50           1689                       Did a third entry found Fort St. Louis on Garcitas Creek                                                    and captured Jean Jerry

50           1689                       On Fourth entry explored Texas and stablished Missions                                                  and Presidios

52           1691                       Died at Hacinda del Carrizal on his way home to                                                                Cadereyta

Alonso de Leon had four sons and four daughters: Juan, Juana, Alonso, Santiago, Maria Ines, Mateo, Andrea and Maria.

Note: Feel free to use the chronology in your own school project.

Sources: For the above chronology

1. Garza Israel Cavazos, Diccionario Biografico de Nuevo Leon (Monterrey; Grafo Print Editores, S. A., 1996).

2. Herbert Eugene Bolton, ed., Spanish Exploration in the Southwest, 1542–1706 (New York: Scribner, 1908; rpt., New York: Barnes and Noble, 1959).

3. Robert S. Weddle, The French Thorn: Rival Explorers in the Spanish Sea, 1682–1762 (College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 1991).

4. Robert S. Weddle, Wilderness Manhunt: The Spanish Search for La Salle (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1973).

Book That May be of Interest

De Leon: Last Names of Nuevo Leon - This 399-page book contains ten generations of descendants of Alonso de Leon and his wife Juana Josefa Gonzalez (Parents of Alonso de Leon).