Missions and Settlements

1. Missions and Settlements Chapter 5: Texas History

2. First Missions are Built • 1682: the first permanent settlement was founded in Texas-Mission of Corpus Christi de la Ysleta. • Spain built missions, presidios and towns in lands occupied by Native Americans. • Presidios: military outposts • Alsonso de Leon led an expedition to destroy La Salle’s fort, but found it abandoned.

4. Missions • De Leon led his troops northeast and met the Hasinai people, whom they called Tejas (friend). • Angelina, a Hasinai woman, served as a guide and interpreter to the Spanish • Father Damian Massanet founded a mission in East Texas called San Francisco de los Tejas, along the Neches River.

5. A Mission Abandoned • San Francisco de Tejas soon failed • The Tejas people rejected Catholicism, and resented the Spanish as a result. • Drought and diseases also killed many of the Tejas • Other settlements began to appear as Spanish saw a need for power in the claim for Texas • Mission San Juan Bautista: became the base for many expeditions whose aim was to establish more missions in east Texas. • Provided grain, cattle and horses to missionaries on expeditions

7. France Threatens Again • France once again tried to claim land by the Mississippi in 1699. • 1699: a French expedition established a colony on the Gulf Coast at Biloxi in present day Mississippi. • Louis de St. Denis was sent to negotiate the Rio Grande with the Spanish, but was arrested on his arrival. • He tried to assure the Spanish that France had no intention of occupying East Texas. • As a result, the Spanish viceroy and his council (advisors), ordered more missions with Spanish soldiers to protect them. • All trade between the Spanish and French stopped.

8. East Texas Missions • San Antonio was founded in order to bridge the distance between the Rio Grande to east Texas. • Supplies arrived slowly and the trip was dangerous • Martin de Alarcon helped build a permanent settlement • Founded the Presidio San Antonio de Bexar • Mission San Antonio de Valero was founded • The mission chapel is now known as the Alamo

10. Defending the Missions • France and Spain went to war in 1719, and settlement of East Texas came to a stop • Marques de San Miguel de Aguayo was ordered to organize a force to defeat the French • Built Nuestra Senora del Pilar de los Adaes • Became unofficial capital of Texas in 1722 • Set up a mission and presidio near the ruins of La Salle’s fort, until it was moved to the present day town on Goliad. • Set up 9 missions, 2 villages and 4 presidios with the protection of over 500 Spanish soldiers.

12. San Saba Mission Fails • 1757 missionaries founded Mission Santa Cruz de San Saba, and soldiers built a presidio a few miles away. • Wanted to Christianize the Native Plains people • Apaches often visited the mission and hoped it would provide protection from the Comanche • Efforts to Christianize the plains people failed • Lacked supplies and enough people to survive in such a remote region.

13. Life on the Missions • Spaniards wanted to teach Native Americans their way of life. • Children went to school • Prayer in the morning • Women wove cloth, molded pottery or cooked • Men learned blacksmithing or carpentery • Spanish soldiers faced difficult and dangerous conditions • Protected missions and settlements • Wanted to control the Native Americans • Usually poorly equipped

14. Important Settlements in Texas • San Antonio, Goliad, Los Adaes and Nacogdoches were the most important civilian settlements in Spanish Texas. • San Antonio was the largest and served as the capital by 1722 • Landowners elected a city council called an ayuntamiento and a chief official called an alcalde.

15. Spanish Living in Texas • Population was made up of Spaniards, Native Americans, Mestizos and African Americans • Mestizos were people mixed with Spanish and Native American heritage • Most African Americans were free, with only a few enslaved at this point • Tejano culture was becoming part of the Texas cultural landscape