Brooks: Diplomacy and the Borderlakd 41
 More immediate French support of Jefferson's view was found
in the instructions given by Napoleon to General Victor, who had
expected to occupy Texas before the Louisiana sale. In 1802 these
orders were prepared with the statement that, although the bound-
aries of Louisiana were not all clearly defined, at least the limit
followed the Gulf Coast west to the Rio Grande, and north along
it to the Thirtieth Parallel. Professor Marshall has shown that this
paper is of questionable value, since Napoleon did not study the
situation closely. As a matter of fact, certain French maps had
traced the line much farther north than the Thirtieth Parallel
Even the United States' faith in the instructions to Victor was
equivocal. For, whereas the definition of Louisiana as extending
to the Rio Grande was prized, the statement that Louisiana did
not include West Florida was ignored."
 Against these claims the Spanish could confidently hold up the
record of their colonization of Texas, a record marked by counters
to every French thrust, with most of them leading to permanent
establishments. These counterdrives were notably the Alonso de
Le6n expedition of 1689 (answering the La Salle threat), which
saw the temporary founding of missions on the Neches River and
the organization of Texas as a province; the Domingo Ram6n ven-
ture of 1716 (meeting St. Denis' first intrusion), leading to settle-
ments at Dolores on the Neches, at San Antonio, and at Los Adaes;
and that of the Marquis of Aguayo, who in 1720 (answering at-
tacks of the "war" of 1718-1719) made Los Adaes the capital of
Texas and the site of a presidio, occupied the Bahia del Espiritu
Santo, and reinforced San Antonio. By this time it was clear that
the effective outposts of the two nations were at Los Adaes and
Natchitoches. Thus in 1736, when a minor dispute called for settle-
ment, it was natural for local officials to agree that the Arroyo
Hondo, between those outposts, was the boundary, even though
this delimitation obstructed active trade between the two."
 Missionary and commercial activity was not notably successful
in eastern Texas, and the acquisition of Louisiana by Spain in 1763
removed the necessity for military bulwarks against the French.
A reorganization resulted in the withdrawal of the Los Adaes
settlers in 1774 and concentration at San Antonio.
 While Governor Cordero was reistablishing Los Adaes, in 1805,
Jefferson learned from Louisiana officials of one Spanish map