Dón Antonio Gil Ybarbo (1729–1809), also known as Gil Ybarbo, Gil Ibarbo, and many other name variants, was a pioneering settler of Nacogdoches, Texas. Ambiguously described by the National Park Service as a "prolific trader and smuggler," Gil y'Barbo's contribution to Texas was essential to the well-being of "his people," and a critical element in providing a staging point for the Anglo-American settlers that would follow them.
Background
Antonio Gil Ybarbo was born in 1729 at the presidio of Los Adaes, now in Louisiana but then at the far eastern reaches of the Spanish province of Texas. His parents were Spanish colonists Matheo Antonio y'Barbo, born in 1698 in Seville, Spain, and Juana Luzgarda Hernandez, also born in Seville in 1705. Matheo was attached to the Spanish military garrison deployed at Los Adaes ostensibly to defend New Spain against French expansion from Louisiana. The younger Antonio followed his father into the military but also became involved in cattle ranching, establishing a ranch near Lobanillo Creek, located in present-day Sabine County, Texas; at some point he married Maria Padilla, his first wife, and established a home at the Rancho Lobanillo.
Under the unusually stringent mercantilism of the Spanish Monarchy, life at such a remote outpost as Los Adaes could be difficult. It was a feature of colonial mercantilism that colonies existed for the benefit of the colonial power. Colonies could provide raw material for the mother country but were captive markets for any manufactured goods produced there. Spain was not alone in this, but in the Spanish case, it was required not only that goods be purchased from Spanish sources, but that they be delivered first to Veracruz, then Mexico City. Only then would they be sent overland to points north, first to Bexar and then another 300 miles up the El Camino Real to Los Adaes and the missions it nominally supported. Legally, colonists were thus dependent on the government for basic goods like soap, sugar, seeds and clothing as well as farm equipment, weapons, and gunpowder. Because of these bizarre routing requirements, supplies were slow and erratic at best; because competition, certainly competition from the French, was illegal, goods came at significantly higher prices than they might be obtained elsewhere. Given that the French outpost of Natchitoches was a mere 13 miles to the east, incentive to ignore the law—and for local officials to look the other way—was overwhelming. Much of the trade that made life bearable at Los Adaes was illegal.
Exodus
Originally established to counter French intrusions into Spanish territory, the Los Adaes outpost became superfluous when, in 1763, at the close of the Seven Years' War, Louisiana was ceded to Spain. In 1773, after an inspection of the former Texas frontier, the Marques de Rubi ordered the closing of the presidios and missions of East Texas. With little time to prepare, the military garrison, other colonists and all their families, by that time numbering around 500, were ordered to abandon the post and relocate to San Antonio de Bexar.
The Los Adaes settlement had existed for over 50 years, however, and for many Adaeseños the return to Bexar was no salvation from frontier hardship: They were being forced to leave their homes, and some simply avoided the order by leaving the compound and melting into the forest; some took temporary refuge with friendly Indians. For the majority who obeyed the order, it would be an arduous trip.
An Ill-fated Compromise
Soon after arriving at Bexar, Gil Y'Barbo, who had emerged as their de facto leader even before the exodus from Los Adaes, made repeated efforts on behalf of the colonists petitioning authorities at Bexar to allow their return to the east. These efforts were of little avail. Fearing contraband trade with the English and Indian access to contraband firearms and powder, Inspector-in-Chief Hugo O'Conor refused. Eventually, Y'Barbo and Gil Flores traveled to Mexico City to lodge a personal entreaty with the viceroy, Antonio Maria de Bucareli y Ursúa. (It is a testament to their relationship with the native people of the area that a chief of the Tejas Caddo (el jefe Texito) made the trip with them to join the plea.) Surprisingly, the Viceroy relented, not only consenting to their returning as far as Los Ais, a settlement and mission near present-day San Augustine and one even closer to El Lobanillo than Los Adaes, but gaining ratification from a junta de guerra y hacienda called to consider the matter.