Cháves, García, and Flores Families

Arriving in San Antonio in 1784, Francisco Xavier Cháves brought with him a striking set of experiences that would place him near the center of events on the developing Spanish frontier for the rest of his life. Captured by Comanche Indians as a boy near his home in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Cháves lived with the Comanche and Taovaya tribes until he was about twenty-two, when he escaped and presented himself to officials in San Antonio.

Cháves then began a forty-year military career, serving frequently as an interpreter in discussions and negotiations between Spanish officials and local Indian tribes in Coahuila and Texas. Married twice, Cháves had eleven children with his first wife and five with his second. He died in San Antonio about 1832.

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