Spanish Missions

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Spanish Missions
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SPANISH CONTROL OF THE TEXAS BORDERLANDS

• To control the Texas borderlands the Spanish
  built 4 types of settlements
• missions religious communities
• presidios military bases
• settlements small villages with farmers and
  merchants
• ranchos or ranches

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Missions

• Developed in response to other countries
  beginning to settle in the United States.
• The Spanish established these missions to protect
  its borders, and to spread Christianity.
• The Spanish built missions near rivers to ensure
  a good water supply.
• Missions included churches, dormitories,
  workrooms, barns, fields, and gardens.
• Missionaries taught the Indians about
  Catholicism, and taught them how to farm.

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Missions

• To protect these missions, presidios were
  established. A presidio is a military base.
  Soldiers in these bases were generally
  responsible for protecting several missions.
• Settlers homes were built near missions, so that
  they would be well protected. This led to the
  formation of towns, for example, San Antonio and
  El Paso.
• Spaniards lived near missions on ranchos, and
  raised cattle.

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GLUE MAP IN TO JOURNAL
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Missions
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Missions
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New Missions along the Rio Grande

• In the late 1600s, the Spanish began building
  missions just south of the Rio Grande.
• They also built missions among the Pueblo Indians
  of New Mexico.

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Missions

• In 1682, the Spanish built the first mission in
  Texas, just east of present-day El Paso. This
  mission was called Corpus Christi de la Ysleta.

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Spanish Settlements on the Frontier COPY INTO
YOUR JOURNAL
Represent Spanish govern-ment there
Convert AmericanIndians there toCatholicism
Developsettlements there
missions, presidios, towns, ranchos
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Why the French Interest in Texas?

• Wanted to gain a port for the fur trade
• Establish trade with the Spanish colonies
• To gain a claim to Texas and challenge Spains
  empire
• Unfortunately, the expeditions led by LaSalle
  ended in disaster

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EFFECT OF THE LA SALLE EXPEDITION

• Gave France a strong claim to Texas
• 2nd Flag to fly over Texas (French)
• Spain sent expeditions to find Ft. St. Louis
• Spain built missions in East Texas to protect
  their claim to the land

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Activity Vocabulary

• Using the new vocabulary, draw a plan for a
  Spanish Mission,
• Label the following
• Mission
• Presidio
• Rancho
• Settlement

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Example
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Example
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Spanish Missions cont.

• DAY TWO

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Spanish in East Texas

• Between the years of 1686 and 1687, the Spanish
  sent six expeditions by land, and five by sea, in
  an attempt to locate Fort St. Louis.
• In early 1690, two men Alonso De Leon and Father
  Damian Massanet along with about 100 soldiers,
  built the first mission in East Texas. It was
  called San Francisco de los Tejas.
• In 1693, after three years of hardships,
  including drought, disease, and the Indians
  unwillingness to learn Christianity, the
  Spaniards burned the mission to the ground and
  fled to back to Mexico.

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Spanish in East Texas

• A Spanish priests of San Francisco de los Tejas,
  Father Francisco Hidalgo, requested to build a
  mission in East Texas, but the Spanish king
  refused.
• Hidalgo decided to ask the French to build a
  mission instead.
• In 1713, the French sent Louis St. Denis to help
  Father Hidalgo.
• Both men returned to Spanish settlements and the
  Spanish arrested them.
• Because St. Denis told the Spanish that he was
  sent to help Father Hidalgo, the Spanish became
  nervous and began to make plans to return to East
  Texas.

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FAILURE OF SPANISH MISSIONS IN EAST TEXAS

• Location too remote
• Floods, droughts, disease
• Internal conflicts
• Indians not interested in religious instruction

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SAN ANTONIO RIVER AREA

• San Antonio was seen as a midpoint between the
  East Texas missions and the Rio Grande settlement
• Mild climate and location by a river
• Became the site of the most successful Texas
  missions and settlements

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WAR BETWEEN FRANCE AND SPAIN AFFECTS TEXAS

• Chicken War conflict between French and Spanish
  in Texas where the French attacked Mission San
  Miguel de Linares de los Adaes.
• The chickens at the Mission scared the French
  soldiers horses and they began to run away. The
  chicken attack was seen as funny to the
  Spanish, but they retreated just in case. They
  went to the mission at San Antonio de Valero.

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ActivityChicken War

• In your journal draw a cartoon of the Chicken
  War.
• What do you predict would have happened if the
  chickens had not been there.

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Spanish Return to Texas

• France and Spain decide to work together for the
  missions in East Texas
• Spain wants to spread Christianity
• France wants to trade with the Indians
• Spain builds 6 new missions

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Problems with Spanish Missions

• Missions were over 500 miles away from Spanish
  settlements (San Antonio de Valero was built as a
  mid point for this reason)
• Apaches and Comanches raided the supplies wagons
• Difficult to get supplies

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• Successful missions
• 1. San Antonio
• 2. Nacogdoches
• 3. Los Adaes
• 4. Goliad
• Other missions failed because
• 1. disease
• 2. Indian attacks
• 3. crop failure- hunger

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Life in Missions
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MISSIONS AND PRESIDIOS

• Life centered around work and worship
• Life was harsh, uncomfortable dwellings, little
  food
• Life for soldiers was dangerous and difficult

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Life in a Missions

• The day started at dawn with religious services.
• Indians workday began under the direction of the
  priests
• The day ended with prayers and dinner
• This process hardly ever worked, because the
  Indians refused to let go of their old traditions

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Life in a Mission

• Men tended crops, while the women made pottery,
  cared for the livestock, wove cloth, and cooked.
• The dwellings were uncomfortable.
• People sometimes went hungry.

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Spanish Mission

• DAY THREE

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Life in a Presidio
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Life in a Presidios

• Missions were most likely to succeed, if they had
  a presidio nearby
• These military outposts were generally made of
  adobe, stone, and timber.
• They had a chapel, barracks for soldiers, storage
  rooms, and a headquarters building.
• The soldiers were not paid very much, and their
  uniforms were often dirty and ragged.

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LIFE IN SPANISH SETTLEMENTS

• The mission had diverse populations
• And they consisted of homes, government buildings
  and stores
• The economy was based on farming and ranching
• Social activities centered around church and
  family

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The economy of the settlements was mostly based
on farming and ranching.

• The cattle business helped San Antonio and other
  towns grow.
• Vaqueros, or cowboys, worked on ranches near the
  settlements. They were well known for their
  skills at horse riding and cattle handling.

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Mission Government

• The alcalde, served as mayor, sheriff, and judge
  of small cases.
• The friars often allowed the Native Americans to
  vote in local elections and to hold public
  offices.

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SPANISH CULTURE AND TEXAS TODAY

• Spanish heritage present in Texas architecture
  and celebrations
• Apparent in music and food
• Spanish influence seen in place-names, towns, or
  rivers
• Some Spanish missions are still active churches.
• They laid out the first Texas roads.

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Life in Spanish Texas Copy this graphic organizer
into your journals
routes of first Texas roads
Catholic heritage and missions
many Spanish place-names
culture (architecture, art, food, language, music)
cattle ranching traditions and terms
legal traditions