Victoria County was the early home of the Karankawa Indians. Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca roamed this region in 1534-1535 as the first white man and one of the companions to travel from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. In 1685, Rene Robert Cavelier Sieur de La Salle and his companions attempted the first French settlement in Texas here, building Fort St. Louis on Garcitas Creek. The settlement was devastated by the Karankawa Indians and burned by members of the Alonso De Leon expedition in 1689. On its remains, the Spaniards constructed Presidio de Nuestra Senora de Loreto de la Bahia Del Espiritu Santo as protection for the Mission de Nuestra Senora del Espiritu Santo de Zuniga, both established in 1722 by Joseph De Azlor, Marquis of Aguayo, and Father Fray Agustin Patron, O.F.M. Both moved to Mission Valley on the Guadalupe River in 1726 and finally to Santa Dorotea, now Goliad, near the San Antonio River in 1749. The area embraced by the county was settled in 1824 by the colony of Martin De Leon, empresario, who named the seat of his colony Guadalupe Victoria in honor of the president of Mexico and hero of its struggle for independence. Under the Mexican government, Victoria was a district in 1832 and a municipality in 1835. Under the Republic of Texas, Victoria County was created on March 17, 1836, with Victoria as the county seat, and its territory was later materially reduced through the creation of other counties. During the 19th century, cattle raising was the principal industry of the region's people; the industry had its origin in Texas here, and Victoria County continued to be the state's leading cattle county.