There is very little historical evidence about the native tribes that lived in present-day Matamoros. But just like in many parts of northern Tamaulipas, the region of Matamoros was most likely occupied by the one of these three tribes that inhabited Tamaulipas—the Olmecs, the Chicimecs, and the Huastecs—before the colonization by the Spanish colonials.
Foundation
In the year 1519, the same year that Hernán Cortés arrived to the Americas at the port of Veracruz, a captain named Alonso Álvarez de Pineda carried out a brief expedition to the region of northern Tamaulipas, where he named the town known today as Rio Bravo (Rio Grande) as Rio de las Palmas (Palms River). Nevertheless, the actual founding of Matamoros began in 1686, when Captain Alonso de León explored the area and concluded that the Rio Grande River was an excellent route for navigation, and that the area of Matamoros was an ideal spot for cattle raising.
In the year 1749, thirteen enterprising families, twelve from Camargo and one from Reynosa, decided to invest and begin a new, influential cattle industry in the area. Former landowners were reluctant that this new investment would be successful, since the frequent overflows from the Rio Grande caused severe floods, and because ranches were occasionally attacked by Indians. Nonetheless, these thirteen families effectively carried out their business plan and structuralized 113 cattle-raising sites. In the year 1774, they officially named the area San Juan de los Esteros Hermosos, known today was Matamoros.
In order to colonize the province of Nuevo Santander in 1793, Francisco Pueyes and Manuel Júlio Silva, two Franciscan missionaries, established a parish in the main plaza of Matamoros and proposed a new name for the community, Villa del Refugio, in honor of the parish and patron saint, Our Lady of the Refuge of the Estuaries.
Mexican Independence
In 1826, the governor Lucas Fernandez
