The Spanish Build Missions

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In this episode I want to talk about the missions that the Spanish established when they colonized Texas. I’ll talk about the reasons for the missions, how many were established, and some of the good and the bad that took place in and around the missions. Spanish explorers operated under the philosophy of the three G’s, God, Gold, and Glory, the Spanish missions in Texas are a direct result of that philosophy. How did that come about?

When Spain began to colonize the Americas, it was a Roman Catholic nation. That meant that while there was a King and a Queen (Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile) , they in fact owed their power to Rome and the Catholic Church. 

They had received Papal Dispensation for Marriage: Ferdinand and Isabella were second cousins, and under canon law, their marriage required a papal dispensation (special permission). They obtained this from Pope Sixtus IV. Once they were in power they established what we know as the Spanish Inquisition.

It was founded in 1478 with the aim of suppressing heresy within Spain and its territories. While initially focusing on individuals suspected of practicing non-Catholic beliefs, the Inquisition later targeted forced converts from Judaism and Islam (conversos and Moriscos) who were suspected of secretly practicing their former faiths.

They were granted this power to establish the Inquisition in Castile, when Pope Sixtus IV published a bull granting them the exclusive authority to name inquisitors, although the papacy retained the right to formally appoint the royal nominees.

As defenders of the Catholic Church, they believed that whenever they encountered new peoples, and that goal was to convert the natives to Catholicism.  Missions played a major role in that effort.

Once the Spanish had established settlements in Mexico they turned their vision north, in search of fabled cities of gold and between 1632 and 1793, in order to establish a foothold in their northern most territory, they sent expeditions which all had at least one Spanish friar as a member.  These teams traveled north from Mexico into present-day Texas, where they built dozens of missions and presidios.  A presidio is a military fort and usually was built in very near proximity or at the same location as the mission in order to provide security to the friars and those who lived and worked at the mission.

In all, 26 missions were established and maintained in Texas with various results. According to the Spanish belief system at the time their goals were somewhat noble. Establish Christian enclaves with communal property, labor, worship, political life, and social relations all under the guidance and supervision of the missionaries.  The missionaries and Spanish authorities sought to make life within the mission communities resemble that of any Spanish villages and echo Spanish culture.  To do so, the priests not only taught the Indians religion but also life skills, they felt the native peoples lacked.

They introduced European livestock, fruits, vegetables, and industry into the Texas area.  The introduced a very structured format for day-to-day living including a highly organized routine of prayer, work, training, meals, and relaxation. Now of course in order to round out the training the missionaries also made certain to celebrate religious holidays and they held other types of celebrations.  As I mentioned, the Spanish plan was for the natives to become productive Spanish citizens and to meet that goal they were taught several vocational skills, such as blacksmithing, masonry, carpentry, weaving, and more.

Unfortunately the results didn’t meet the expectations, for several reasons.  The day-to-day life in the missions wasn’t anything the Native Peoples had ever experienced.  The priests supervised all activities in the mission; however, when we look at their methods from our current social beliefs, their actions could hardly be described as Christian.  They would often physically punish uncooperative natives and for the most part, Native Peoples did not care for mission life, and the records show that very few ever converted to the Catholic faith. Most of those who came into the missions usually stayed only for a few months and then tried to leave.  Those who left were often captured again by presidio soldiers and then punished by the priests. Some returned on their own to escape hunger and the cold winters.

And while the mission provided food and shelter for many natives, it also exposed them to deadly European diseases. Native Texans also had a hard time adjusting to their new diet. They were used to eating a variety of roots, fish, fruits, nuts, and wild game. In the mission, they were served only red meat and starches, such as corn.  Overall, mission life was not something most native peoples enjoyed and the missions had a wide range of success and failures.

Some history of mission establishment, in 1632, the Franciscans established the first mission in Texas near was is now San Angelo, this mission was established as a follow-up to a 1629 missionary trip. The 1632 mission existed for six months before it was abandoned because of its remoteness from the Franciscan home base in New Mexico.  Due to the establishment of Spanish settlements in New Mexico, the first missions North of the Rio Grande were in the El Paso area.  Those were established around 1680, the Franciscans started the missions of Corpus Christi de la Isleta (Ysleta), Nuestra Señora de la Limpia Concepción del Socorro and San Antonio de Senecú.

In 1690 the Spanish turned their missionary efforts East and traveled along El Camino Real, the highway through Central Texas, toward Louisiana. Deep into the Piney Woods, just west of the Neches River, they founded San Francisco de los Tejas.  A few months later, Santísima Nombre de María was established closer to the Neches River.  In 1692, a flood destroyed Santísma Nombre de María and the friars returned to San Francisco de los Tejas, which, in turn, was abandoned in 1693 because of sickness and hostile Indians.  Due to the presence of the French in Louisiana the Spanish could not stay away from East Texas for long and in 1716, three missions were founded in today’s Nacogdoches County: Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe de los Nacogdoches, Nuestra Señora de la Purísima Concepción de los Hasinai and San José de los Nazonis. In modern San Augustine County in January 1717, they started Nuestra Señora de Dolores de los Ais.

San Antonio de Valero Mission (we know it as the Alamo) was established May 1, 1718, as the Spanish created the Presidio of San Antonio de Béxar. The community served as a stopping point for travelers from the Rio Grande to the East Texas missions. Due to the great distance between Mexico and the Eastern Missions in Texas Spain was unable to maintain them and by spring of 1731, the three Querétero (named after the Franciscan who originated in Querétaro and Zacatecas, Mexico)  missions were relocated to San Antonio, with name changes.

La Purísima Concepción de los Hasiani was situated near what had been San Francisco Xavier de Nájara and became La Purísima Concepción de Acuña, or as it is now known Mission Concepción. San Francisco de los Neches, a legacy of the original 1690 San Francisco de los Tejas, was renamed San Francisco de la Espada.  Situated between this new Mission Espada and the older Mission San José (y San Miguel), the East Texas mission San José de los Nazonis became San Juan Capistrano, as is now referred to as Mission San Juan. 

The missions played an important role in the Spanish colonization of Texas, and while there was never a revolt against them by the various native peoples, as there was in New Mexico, they never quite accomplished what they were intended to accomplish, that is converting all the peoples into practicing Catholics.