Spanish
Missions
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SPANISH CONTROL OF THE TEXAS
BORDERLANDS
To control the Texas borderlands the
Spanish built 4 types of settlements:
1.missions – religious communities
2.presidios – military bases
3.settlements – small villages with farmers
and merchants
4.ranchos – or ranches
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Missions
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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.
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 1600’s, 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
To control the borderlands
Mission System
Goal
Goal
Goal
Represent
Spanish government there
Convert American
Indians there to
Catholicism
Develop
settlements
there
Four types of Spanish settlements
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 Spain’s 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:
1. Mission
2. Presidio
3. Rancho
4. 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
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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.
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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.
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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
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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.
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
soldier’s 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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Activity:
Chicken War
1. In your journal draw a cartoon
of the Chicken War.
2. 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:
Catholic
heritage and
missions
routes of
first Texas
roads
many
Spanish
place-names
Examples of Spanish
Influence in Texas
culture
(architecture,
art, food,
language,
music)
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legal
traditions
cattle
ranching
traditions and
terms