The expedition led by the Spanish explorer Francisco Vasquez de Coronado, was probably the first made by white man into what is now known as the Southwest. Several centuries later, we find some of the same territory known as the Brush Country, or the Brasada, peopled with the Indians and the long-horned cattle left by the Spaniards. It was in 1716 that the Spaniards seriously began the establishment of missions and colonies in Texas. However, it was not until Texas had achieved its independence from Mexico that the territory between the Nueces River and the Rio Grande was considered a part of the State.