More than two and a half centuries ago this week – May 15, 1755, to be exact – a Spanish rancher established the outpost of Laredo on the wild frontier of New Spain.

Although Tomas Sanchez is remembered with good reason as the founder of Laredo, the real credit for the settlement of the lower Rio Grande belongs to Jose de Escandon. He turned the vast territory previously dismissed as inhospitable wasteland into a patchwork of permanent colonies.

Although Tomas Sanchez is remembered wit...