How Spain Colonized Texas

Brief History 1492 – Columbus came to America

Spaniards came to explore American mainland 1500s – Spanish explorers

Cabeza de Vaca and Coronado reinforced Spanish claim to Texas

Friars were establishing missions 1682 – La Salle led first the European expedition to navigate

the Mississippi River and Gulf of Mexico Claimed the entire region surrounding the Mississippi

for France/France had a claim to Texas

1684 mistakenly landed in Texas and established the first settlement in Texas: Ft. St. Louis

Missions had several purposes:

Convert the Natives to the Catholic faith

Teach the natives to be subjects of Spain (loyal to the government)

MAJOR GOALS OF MISSIONS

MAJOR GOALS OF MISSIONS Keep control of their lands

Spaniards feared a French Texas

Decided it was time to settle Texas Renewed efforts to establish missions

and settlement

The major goal of missions was to help Spain colonize and eventually become the greatest nation in the world.

What does Colonization mean and how did the Spaniards plan to accomplish it in Texas?

Teach Indians about

Catholicism and

Spanish way of life

Create Spanish

presence in the

Americas

Protect Spanish

citizens at missions

and ranches

To control the borderlands

Mission-Presidio System

Goal Goal Goal

Four types of Spanish settlements

missions, presidios, towns, ranchos

Major Players Father Damian Massanet

Born in Spain

Came to New World in 1683 to help found a missionary college.

Accompanied Gov. Alonso de Leon through Texas finding the remains of Fort St. Louis and helped convince him to start a mission in East Texas.

Established first mission in East Texas, San Francisco de los Tejas, in 1690.

Disagreed with de Leon over the size of the military forced needed at the mission.

Eventually abandoned the mission due to lack of supplies and conflict with natives.

Major Players Alonso de Leon- Spanish Governor who

found Ft. St. Louis and helped settle the first mission in East Texas.

Martin de Alarcón – established San Antonio de Bexar and San Antonio de Valero – one of the most important settlements in Texas

José de Escandón- Spanish Governor who founded missions in the Rio Grande Valley

Antonio Margil de Jesús- Founded Mission de Los Adaes and later the most successful missions in San Antonio, San José y San Miguel de Aguayo.

What Was a Spanish Mission Missions were the main tool for colonizing Texas. Most missions were a square compound with

enclosed walls to protect those inside. Run by a priest. Meant to be self sufficient

Purpose Missions were expected to:

Be self supporting (grow, make its own stuff)

Make a profit$$$ for Spain

Produce goods for export ( beads, artwork)

Daily Life In the Missions Morning Prayers

30-60 minutes of Catholic school

Worked in the field or workshops

After evening meal, more prayers

More Catholic school

How well would you have done if you lived in a mission? Explain two things you would have liked and two things that you would have hated.

Tough Going Missions were not all that

successful.

Mission population shrank.

Natives ran away because they disliked mission life.

It cost the Spanish government $$$ to keep these missions going.

Some Success, though… Some missions did thrive (do well)

and eventually became major cities.

El Paso

San Antonio

Laredo

Many East Texas missions were named after Native Texan tribes

Consequences Missions brought civilization and

religion to Texas.

New diseases also came with the missionaries and colonists. The Native Texans had no immunities to these diseases, so many died of influenza and other simple illnesses.

Presidios Provided military support for the

missions, and later, settlements.

It protected missionaries and colonists from attacks by Native Americans.

Where do the following vocabulary terms belong? Write a sentence defending your answer.

Vocabulary

Church Vaquero Presidio Priest Convert Catholic Cattle Fransican Soldier Friar

Mission

Spanish Colonization

Presidio Ranch Town

Mission Corpus Christi de la Ysleta Established in 1682 by Spanish friars

Located a few miles east of the present-day El Paso

Texas’ first permanent settlement.

All that remains is the restored mission church

Has changed names several times making it difficult to keep up with

Mission Corpus Christi de la Ysleta

Warm up

Explain something you would have hated and something you would have liked about living on a mission.

What were the goals of the Spanish Mission-Presidio system?

De León and Father Massanet find two

French survivors.

La Salle Expedition

New Spanish Policy:

The Spanish learn of the expedition

and begin searching for it.

De León and Massanet find the remains of Fort

St. Louis and meet the Tejas.

establish missions in East Texas to convert the

Tejas and protect the region from the French

• Alonso DeLeon-Spanish Governor-General sent to find LaSalle’s colony

• Father Damián Massanet accompanied de Leon to convert Native Americans

• Along travels met Hasinais or as Spanish called them Tejas

• Massanet believed the Tejas were interested in establishing a mission

• They return in 1690 with friars and 100 soldiers and established the Mission San Francisco de los Tejas

Search for LaSalle by the Spanish

Failed mission A year later the mission was in trouble.

Tension arise between the two men about how many soldiers were necessary. Massanet felt like too many soldiers would hinder the priests work.

Natives (Tejas) blame the Spanish for diseases, become hostile and refuse to work in the missions.

The Spanish burn the mission and flee back to Mexico City.

What do you think was the reason that Missions did not succeed? Could they have done something different to be more successful?

Father Francisco Hildalgo

Founded Mission San Juan Batista (Rio Grande), wanted to keep East Texas missions open so wrote letter to Governor of Louisiana (French) to help build missions

French explorer Louis Juchereau de St. Denis sent to find Father Hildalgo

St. Denis found trading post in Natchitoches, Lousiana (1714)

St. Denis finds Hildalgo, but is arrested by Presidio Commander Diego Ramon, lives with them, until sent south to Mexico City.

Spain Reclaims East Texas In 1716 San Francisco de

los Tejas was reopened

A mid-point for supply caravans was needed.

In modern day San Antonio the Mission San Antonio de Valero and the Presidio San Antonio de Bexar was built.

Valero would become the Alamo

w

Mission San Antonio de Valero

Mission San Juan Originally founded in 1716 in Eastern Texas

Transferred in 1731 to its present location outside of San Antonio.

Helped support San Antonio missions and local settlements

By the mid 1700s, it was a regional supplier of agricultural produce

Mission San Juan Bautista

Mission San José Founded in 1720

Reached its peak in 1794 with 350 Indians

Completely closed as a mission in 1824

The state’s largest restored mission compound and has the most ornate church façade

Still a parish church

Mission San José

Martín de Alarcón Governor of Spanish Texas builds a mission on the San

Antonio River in 1718, Mission San Antonio de Valero

Winters were mild and summers were hot, but not very humid, cotton wood trees dotted most of the land

Antonio Margil de Jesus establishes San Jose y San Miguel de Aguayo becoming the most profitable mission in Texas, by 1781, a sugar mill was built.

Ultimately, many Coahuiltecan lived there and large rancho’s of cattle

15 Canary Islands families move to the presidio, town named San Fernando de Bexar; first civil government rule

The entire area is renamed San Antonio de Bexar or San Antonio

San Antonio

de Valero

San Antonio

de Béxar

San José y

San Miguel

de Aguayo

Martín de Alarcón

Martín de Alarcón

Antonio Margil de

Jesús

Settlement Type Founder(s) Year

San Fernando

de Béxar

1718

1718

mission

presidio

mission 1720

civil

settlement 1731 Canary Islander families

San Antonio de Béxar

Chicken Wars June 1719, French soldiers surprise 2 Spaniards near a

mission near what is now Louisiana

French took supplies to include several chickens from the mission’s henhouse

The French officer tied them to his horse, but the horse was frightened and the rider was thrown

The confusion allowed one of the Spaniards to escape and warn of the incident,

The escapee exaggerates the number of French soldiers and this became known as the Chicken War

The raid causes the Spanish to realize they do not have enough people in Texas to maintain the area.

Spanish Strongholds in East Texas are Established

By 1721 abandoned missions were reopened by Marques de San Miguel de Aguayo, governor of Coahuila and Texas and guarded by hundreds of soldiers.

Presidio Los Adaes became the capital of newly created province of Texas (Natchitoches LA.) NAK-ə-təsh

Texas was now secured by Spain

Los Adaes

Do you think the Spanish chose a good place for the capital? If so, why? If not, where would you have chosen to put it?

New Settlements in Rio Grande Long stretches of the Gulf Coast inhabitated by Native

Americans and was open for France/England to claim this area. Spain again was concerned.

1746 Jose de Escandon established a colony in La Bahia

Ranching industry grew in this area along the San Antonio River

Missionaries improved relationship with Karankawa

Escandon founded 24 settlements in South Texas and 15 missions.

More than 6000 people lived in these colonies compared to all the 1800 that lived in rest of Texas

Presidio La Bahía (Golidad, TX) Fort dates back to 1749 La Bahía’s job to protect Mission Espíritu Santo Site of many skirmishes during the Mexican and Texan

revolutions Karankawa Indians not hospitable

Moved to the Guadalupe River

Became known as Goliad

Presidio La Bahía

The Spanish abandon East Texas.

The Spanish return to Texas.

Effects Effects Effects

Conflict between France and Spain

Aguayo Expedition

• built settlements

along Rio Grande

• secured Gulf Coast

area

• missions failed to

convert Apaches

• missions attacked

by hostile Indians

• founded missions

and presidios

• strengthened

Spanish control

Aguayo expedition José de Escandón Central Texas missions

Clashes on the Frontier San Saba 1757 built by Franciscan with a presidio to

guard it

Little success was made to convert the Apaches, but they did live at the mission

Comanche, Tonkawa, Kiowa numbering 2000 warriors attacked the Apaches and the mission in 1758

Burned the mission and killed the preists

This ended Spanish attempts to spread into Central Texas

Spanish Missions in Texas

The Camino Real was a rough road that connected the Texas missions with Mexico. Unfortunately, native raids and swollen rivers frequently made the road impassible.

Examples of Spanish

Influence in Texas

culture

(architecture,

art, food,

language,

music)

legal

traditions

cattle

ranching

traditions and

terms

routes of

first Texas

roads

Catholic

heritage and

missions

many

Spanish

place names

Chapter Wrap-Up

• How did the Spanish attempt to change American

Indian culture?

• How did San Antonio’s climate and location help

the settlement become successful?

• Why did the Spanish first leave and then return to

Texas?

Resources Information Anderson, Adrian N. et al. Texas and Texans. Columbus: Glencoe/McGraw

Hill, 1993. Foster, Nancy Haston. The Texas Monthly Guidebooks: Texas Missions,

Houston: Gulf Publishing Company, 1995, 150 pgs.

http://www.nps.gov/saan/ http://hotx.com/missions/history.html http://www.lsjunction.com/facts/missions.htm http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/SS/its2.html