Vicente Álvarez Travieso (1705–1779) was a Spanish judge and politician who served as the first alguacil (sheriff or constable) of San Antonio, Texas, from 1731 until his death.
[2] After leaving the port of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, on their way to Texas, the Canarian settlers stopped in what is now modern Mexico.
After arriving in San Antonio de Béxar, on March 1731, the settlers established a municipal government and Travieso obtained the office of alguacil for life.
After this, Alvarez Travieso sent a series of demands to Government of Texas,[1] asking that they allow him to give permission to the Canarians so that they could travel to the city.
One of these demands (which it took place in 1740) required the use of Native Americans from the Christian missions by the colonists, as they would be used to work on their farms, and the right of the Isleños to trade with the garrison of the presidio.
Travieso sent another demand in 1756, which was directed against the exclusive domain that had the missions on the lands and waters located near the villages, to which the Canarians had no access.
However, it was not carried out, so Álvarez Travieso was still not officially recognized as owner of the Rancho de las Mulas, losing land and livestock that he had there.
[4] Alvarez Travieso's family did not continue the struggle to recover their livestock, part of which had moved away from the nearby pastures.
To prevent such "excesses," the Governor Vicencio Ripperdá issued "two trials against the stockmen of the San Antonio River valley".