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First Missions in Texas

First Missions are Built: Spain looks to Texas In 1682, friars founded the first permanent settlement in Texas. The Spaniards named it the mission of Corpus Christi de la Ysleta (located near present day El Paso.) Although most Spanish activity during the 1690s was in the eastern part of Texas, near French Louisiana.

First Missions are Built: Spain looks to Texas In the next several decades, Spain built missions, military outposts called presidios, and towns in lands occupied by Native Americans. When Spain learned of La Salle’s fort in Texas, Alonso de Leon, the governor of Coahuila, was sent to Fort St. Louis to destroy it. When de Leon arrived in Fort St. Louis, he found the fort deserted and in ruins.

First Missions are Built: A Tejas Mission De Leon met the Caddoes, whom de Leon called the Tejas, a word meaning “friend.” Father Damian Massanet, a Catholic church official, was on the expedition with de Leon, and when they returned to Mexico, he asked the viceroy (a royal official) for permission to found a mission among the Tejas. In 1690, Massanet started the first mission in east Texas which he named San Francisco de los Tejas.

First Missions are Built: A Mission Abandoned Trouble soon struck San Francisco de los Tejas, drought ruined the Tejas crops, and diseases killed many of the Native Americans. The Natives living in the mission blamed the holy water of the church for the diseases, and rejected the Catholic religion

San Francisco de los Tejas The Spaniards soon realized there was no reason to spend money supporting missions in the east because France was not a threat. Even though the San Francisco de los Tejas mission was a failure, the mere presence of it in east Texas strengthened Spain’s claim to Texas.

First Missions are Built: From Mission to Settlement The Spaniards realized that a colony needed presidios and Spanish families who would settle on the land. In 1699, Mission San Juan Bautista was built west of the Rio Grande River, near present day Eagle Pass. Mission San Juan Bautista was seen as the “Mother of Texas Missions” because it was a base for many expeditions into Texas.

First Missions are Built: France Threatens Again In 1699, a French expedition established a colony on the Gulf Coast at Biloxi (Mississippi.) The French were not interested in taking territory or converting the Native Americans to Catholicism, instead they were interested in trade. They made large profits off of exchanging blankets, guns, and wine for animal fur and skins. The French also hoped to trade with Spanish merchants in Mexico, but Spanish law prohibited foreigners from trading with the colonies of New Spain.

First Missions are Built: France Threatens Again Father Francisco Hidalgo of New Spain had repeatedly asked permission to return to the Tejas to start another mission, but his requests were denied. Father Hidalgo then wrote a letter to the French governor of Louisiana asking that he establish a mission among the Tejas. The French governor listened to Father Hidalgo’s request because it offered an opportunity to open trade. The French governor appointed Louis de St. Denis to negotiate trade offers with the Spanish officials on the Rio Grande.

First Missions are Built: France Threatens Again On the way to the Rio Grande, St. Denis built a trading post, Natchitoches, on the Red River. When St. Denis arrived in San Juan Bautista, in 1714, Captain Diego Ramon was alarmed and arrested St. Denis. St. Denis was taken to Mexico City where he assured the Spanish viceroy that France had no plans to occupy east Texas. The viceroy did not believe St. Denis and ordered for new missions to be built in east Texas, and for all trade between the Spanish and French to stop.

East Texas Missions Guided by St. Denis, a large Spanish army arrived at the abandoned Tejas mission in 1716. The army brought their families with them for the trip and the Spanish began settling East Texas for the first time. Within a year, the Spanish established six missions in East Texas in the event of a French invasion.

Spanish Colonies Need Spanish People After the failures of several missions in Texas, the Spanish realized that in order for a colony to succeed in Texas, they needed two things: presidios Spanish families who would settle on the land.

San Antonio is Founded Spanish officials again saw the need for a settlement between New Spain and the East Texas missions to help provide protection and supplies for those making the 500 mile trip from the Rio Grande to eastern missions. The Spanish were forced to trade for food with the French in order to survive. In 1718, San Antonio de Bexar was founded to act as the halfway point. The primary mission at San Antonio was named Mission San Antonio de Valero, later to be known as the Alamo.

Aguayo Defends the Missions The settling of East Texas stopped when war broke out between Spain and France in 1719. The French seized a mission near present-day Nacogdoches but a Spanish friar escaped and reported to the Spanish military that the French army was sweeping through Spanish territory. He greatly exaggerated the size of the French army and the viceroy of New Spain sent Marques de San Miguel de Aguayo to retake East Texas. Aguayo brought with him an army of 500 men.

Think, Pair, Share How did Spain increase its efforts to colonize Texas? Spain increased its efforts to colonize Texas by .

Aguayo Founds Two Cities Aguayo marched his men into present-day Louisiana and built a large presidio. St. Denis was now the commander of the French fort in Natchitoches and protested that the presidio was located in French territory. The Mission was known as Los Adaes and the Spanish recognized it as the unofficial capital of Texas in 1722 and remained the capital for almost 50 years. Aquayo is also given credit for founding the city of La Bahia near the ruins of Fort St. Louis.

An Uneasy Peace When Aquayo returned to New Spain, Spanish rule in Texas seemed secure. In 1727, the Spanish officials said that the cost of Texas was too much and moved three of the missions out of East Texas and into San Antonio. Although the French presence bothered the Spanish, France made no attempts to settle west of the Arroyo Hondo (Calcasieu River in West Louisiana). The Arroyo Hondo acted as a neutral ground between the Spanish and the French.

Plains People Resent Missions Though the East Texas natives were not interested in converting to Catholicism, they had a relatively peaceful relationship with the missions. The Plains cultures, on the other hand, resented the missions for coming into their hunting grounds and made life dangerous for the Spanish. The Comanches valued Spanish horses and constantly fought the Spanish. The Spanish established the San Xavier missions to help serve the Tonkawas but ultimately failed.

San Saba Mission In 1757, missionaries founded Mission Santa Cruz de San Saba in Central Texas. Spanish missionaries wanted to convert the Apaches into Christians after the Apaches had asked for the mission to be built to help use the Spanish as protection from their Comanche enemies. The mission failed because they lacked supplies and people and the natives were too independent.