Spanish Missions

1
Spanish Missions
2
SPANISH CONTROL OF THE TEXAS BORDERLANDS

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

3
Missions

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

4
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.

5
Missions
6
Missions
7
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.

8
Spanish Settlements on the Frontier
Represent Spanish govern-ment there
Convert AmericanIndians there toCatholicism
Developsettlements there
missions, presidios, towns, ranchos
9
THE FRENCH

• Wanted to gain a port for the fur trade
• To gain a claim to Texas and challenge Spains
  empire
• Expedition ended in disaster

10
La Salle

• 1682 La Salle claimed the area around the
  Mississippi River for France
• Led an expedition in 1684 to establish a
  settlement near the Mississippi River

11
La Salle

• Difficult journey to Louisiana
• Pirates captured one ship
• Miss the mouth of the Mississippi River
• Landed in Matagorda Bay in Texas
• Move inland and built Ft. St. Louis
• La Salle started looking around for supplies and
  found the Rio Grande

12
Ft. St. Louis
La Salle

• Realized he missed the Mississippi when he found
  the Rio Grande
• When heading back to Canada was murdered by his
  own soldiers.
• Blamed for the failure of the settlement

• Moved inland built settlement
• Struggled to Survive
• Many died
• Burned by the Karankawas

13
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

14
Spanish in East Texas

• In 1689, a Spanish governor named Alonso De Leon
  led another expedition.
• A Spanish priest named Father Damian Massanet,
  accompanied him.
• In early 1690, these two men, 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.

15
FAILURE OF SPANISH MISSIONS IN EAST TEXAS

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

16
Checkpoint!

• Who were the two explorers that searched for the
  abandoned Ft. St. Louis?
• What was the Spanish reaction to learning that
  France was interested in East Texas?

17
SAN ANTONIO RIVER AREA

• 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

18
WAR BETWEEN FRANCE AND SPAIN AFFECTS TEXAS

• Led to the Chicken War, which caused Spain to
  abandon East Texas
• Re-established Spanish control of the region
• Separated control of French Louisiana and Spanish
  Texas

19
WAR BETWEEN FRANCE AND SPAIN AFFECTS
TEXAS (continued)

• Chicken War conflict between French and Spanish
  in Texas where the French attacked Mission San
  Miguel de Linares de los Adaes

20
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

21
Problems with Spanish Missions

• Missions were over 500 miles away from Spanish
  settlements
• Apaches and Comanches raided the supplies wagons
• Difficult to get supplies to

22
How to solve the problems

• Built missions on the San Antonio River as a mid
  way point
• Missions included De Bexar and Alamo
• Built El Camino Reel- only road going from the
  East missions to Mexico

23

• 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

24
Life in Missions
25
MISSIONS AND PRESIDIOS

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

26
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

27
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.

28
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.

29
LIFE IN SPANISH SETTLEMENTS

• Diverse populations
• Consisted of homes, government buildings and
  stores
• Economy based on farming and ranching

30
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.

31
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.

32
Life in Spanish Texas
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