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The San Antonio Mission system was a very crucial part of the early settlement of
Texas by a European power. The Missions were used in numerous different ways to help
the Spanish gain control of Texas, which at the time was thought to have no worth to the
Empire. It was only with the encroachment of opposing nations, that the territory of
Texas became relevant. One way they were used was to give shelter to locals, as long as
they would commit to the Catholic religion. A different way that the Missions were used
was the gain control of the territory because of Nations such as France moving closer to
the boarders of the Spanish Empire, so the Missions were used also in connection with
Presidios to establish a Military presence in Texas. One of the last reasons that the
Missions were established was to really show off Spains dominance, to prove to other
countries why they did not want to enter Texas while it was under Spains control. But
what is more interesting, is whether or not the Missions were indeed a success, or a
failure. By observing the missions goals, one can observe both success and failure by the
missions and the people who lived there. The Missions, in my opinion, were both a
success and a failure.
While the missions were an important time period in the early settling of Texas, it
is important to establish what the definition of both success, and failure, really is.
According to Websters dictionary the definition of success is,favored or desirable
outcome. Basically what would be considered a success is something positive or helpful
that came in to play as a result of the missions or the mission system. The definition of
failure is, a lack of success; falling short; a omission of occurrence or performance.
Failure is the negative aspect of what happened as a result of the missions or the mission
system. Like most establishments in history, the missions had both positive and negative

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contributions to both whoever entered them, and the environment surrounding them. To
who was it a bigger success and failure? The Spanish or the Native Americans?
There was a lot of early European exploration in the New world. Explorers set out
from southern South American, all the way through Canada. The early exploration of
Texas was not the land itself, but more of the Gulf Coast. There were multiple
expeditions that were dispatched along the Texas coastline, although at the time it may
not have been known that it was the Texas coastline. Spain was exploring Texas as early
as the 1500s, but the San Antonio Mission system was not built until the early 1700s. By
the time that mission San Antonio De Valero was being built, there were already missions
constructed in east Texas. The mission system in San Antonio was being built as a sort of
crossroads between the missions in east Texas and Mexico.
There were a total of five total missions built in the San Antonio area, along the
San Antonio river. Four out of the five missions were originally founded and established
in east Texas before being moved in to the San Antonio area. These missions were the
largest group of Catholic missions in North America. The Missions were used to expand
Spanish New World influence northward from Mexico.1 The Missions were doing quite
well until disease, a lack of military presence, and increased raiding by both the Apache
and Comanche led to the decline of the Missions. Mission San Antonio De Valero,
Misin Nuestra Seora de la Pursima Concepcin de Acua (Mission Concepcion),
Misin San Francisco de la Espada (Mission Espada), Misin San Jos y San Miguel de

1 Lone Star Junction. The Five Spanish Missions of Old San Antonio. New Stanton,
PA. 1995-2012

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Aguayo (Mission San Jose), and Misin San Juan Capistrano. Misson San Antonio de
Valero.2
Mission San Antonio de Valero was the first one to be built and opened in San
Antonio. It was established on May 1, 1718. The mission had been moved several times
for various reasons, but the Spanish finally decided to put the mission on a bend in the
river, so that it could be easily defended against outside threats. The part of the mission
know as the Alamo, was not actually constructed until almost 1744. The mission was
surrounded by walls to protect from Apache raids, and right outside of the walls was
farmland that was owned by the mission. This was successful in the sense that it helped
Spain increase their dominance of their newly established territory. But in the same
aspect, it was a failure in the sense that it did not help them deal with the rebellious
Indians who were not happy that the Spain had arrived in Texas.

Mission San Jos y San Miguel de Aguayo (Mission San Jose) was established on
February 23, 1720. One of the reasons that mission San Jose was founded was because of
overcrowding from mission San Antonio de Valero. It was located roughly 5 miles south
of the de Valero mission. Buildings were initially build from straw and mud, but were
soon to be replaced by large buildings constructed from stone. There was a very think
outer wall constructed around the mission, with rooms within those walls to house
roughly 350 Indians. As the mission system grew, so did the defenses against local
rebellious Indians. A new church was constructed from local limestone in 1786, and was
beautifully painted. The mission activities ended in roughly 1824. The church was
2 Lone Star Junction. The Five Spanish Missions of Old San Antonio. New Stanton,
PA. 1995-2012
3 Lone Star Junction. The Five Spanish Missions of Old San Antonio. New Stanton,
PA. 1995-2012

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restored in 1930, and evidence of that restoration still exists on the church today. This
was successful because it was a step in the right direction for Spain, due to overcrowding
at San Antonio de Valero. Mission San Jose also saw a different design in the Mission
itself, thicker walls and a different defense set up to help deal with some of the Indian
Raids when immediate military support was not available. There was not really a whole
lot of negative here, San Jose was built as a sort of support Mission to its brethren
Mission a couple miles north. 4,5
Mission Nuestra Seora de la Pursima Concepcin de Acua (Mission
Concepcin) was established in 1731. This mission was moved around a few times before
finally established today roughly 3 miles south of San Antonio de Valero. It was
established on the remnants of the closed Mission San Franscisco Xavier de Najera, and
was renamed to its current name in honor of the current Viceroy of Mexico at the time.
There was a stone church that was constructed in 1755, which still remains as the oldest
un restored stone church in the United States. This was successful because the mission
finally had a guaranteed settlement after being moved around so much. The stone church
stands today which shows great building construction from the Spanish. The negative part
is that the Mission itself did not seem to last very long conducting Mission activites. 6
Mission San Francisco de la Espada was the first mission constructed within the
Spanish boundaries in Texas. The history of this particular mission is quite interesting.
The original mission was constructed in east Texas in the remains of an old French fort
called Fort Saint Louis. In the first two years that the mission was open, it faced some
4 Donald E. Chipman. Spanish Texas: 1519-1821. Austin, Texas.
5 Lone Star Junction. The Five Spanish Missions of Old San Antonio. New Stanton,
PA. 1995-2012
6 Lone Star Junction. The Five Spanish Missions of Old San Antonio. New Stanton,
PA. 1995-2012

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extreme hard ship. Floodwaters followed by drought destroyed most of the crops that the
mission had. Then an epidemic of some sort killed off almost half of the local population.
The priests felt threatened by the locals who accused them of bringing such hardship
upon them. The priests, fearing of an uprising against the mission, buried the mission bell
and set fire to the mission. The mission was later moved to San Antonio and renamed in
1731 where it still remains. This was successful because the Mission was able to be
rebuilt in a different location after the origin Mission was being immediately threatened
and burnt to the ground. The negative is that the original Mission Espada was burned to
the ground because Spain could not handle the locals. 7
Mission San Juan Capistrano was known as Mission San Jose in east Texas, so
when it was relocated to San Antonio in 1731, it was renamed so that there was not any
confusion with the current Mission San Jose. Mission Capistrano was located 3 miles
south of Mission San Jose. It was the furthest from the Presido in Bexar county, so
naturally it was the most raided Mission of them all. The Mission consisted of a Stone
chapel, and rooms to house about 200 people. The mission was secularized in 1794 with
nearby Mission San Jose. The church still serves as an active parish. The successful
aspect behind this was that the Mission still served as a church after its secularization in
1794, which is good for the local people. The negative behind this is the short mission
life. 8
The San Antonio mission system was put in play for multiple reasons. They were
used to convert local Indians to Catholicism, used to show that the land that the mission
7 Lone Star Junction. The Five Spanish Missions of Old San Antonio. New Stanton,
PA. 1995-2012
8 Lone Star Junction. The Five Spanish Missions of Old San Antonio. New Stanton,
PA. 1995-2012

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was built on and the land around it belonged to Spain, and they were used as a sort of
stopping point for people heading from the east Texas missions to Mexico. Also, San
Antonio de Valero was a mission that was linked directly with a Presidio. San Antonio is
viewed as a mini capital of New Spain in Texas. It is a very central point in the geography
of Texas where it is not insanely far from the capital of New Spain in current day Mexico.
Also San Antonio was an established settlement. Part of the reason that the Presidio in
San Antonio was built was because of a large expedition led by Marques de Aguayo.
Spain had to establish themselves in the area of Texas because of newly found French
establishments. As Aguayo found out when he travelled with his expedition, the French
had forts near east Texas. So as Aguayo travelled from New Spain, across the Rio
Grande, throughout south and central Texas, he helped rebuild and restructure some of
the already built missions and presidios, as well as commissioned new missions and
presidios to be built. The was extremely successful because Spain finally realized that if
they claimed the territory of Texas, they needed to establish themselves there. They set up
more Presidios and Missions around the territory so that they could have a better
stranglehold on the area. Granted most of the buildings there were established would not
have been if the French had not started making settlements so near to Spanish territory.

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Works Cited
Castaeda, Carlos E. Our Catholic Heritage in Texas 15191936, Von
Boeckmann-Jones Company, Austin, 1936.
Chipman, Donald E. (1998), Spanish Texas 1519-1821, Austin, Texas: University
of Texas Press
Habig, Marion A. O.F.M. Spanish Texas Pilgrimage: The Old Franciscan
Missions and Other Spanish Settlements of Texas 16321821, Franciscan Herald Press,
Chicago, 1990.
"The Five Spanish Missions of Old San Antonio." Lone Star Junction.
www.lsjunction.com/facts/missions.htmhttp:// (accessed August 5, 2013).
Mason, Herbert Molloy, Jr. (1974), Missions of Texas, Birmingham, AL: Southern
Living Books
Maxwell, Margaret Muenker. Let's visit Texas missions. Austin, Tex.: Eakin Press,
1998.
Morris, John Miller, "EXPLORATION," Handbook of Texas Online
(http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/uzeuj), accessed August 05, 2013.
Published by the Texas State Historical Association.
Plocheck, Robert. "The Spanish Missions in Texas." Texas Almanac.
http://www.texasalmanac.com/topics/history/spanish-missions-texas (accessed August 5,
1989).
Simons, Helen and Cathryn A. Hoyt, eds. Hispanic Texas: A Historical Guide,
University of Texas Press, 1992. The Spanish Missions in Texas by Robert S. Weddle.

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Stephens, A. Ray and William Holmes, Historical Atlas of Texas, University of
Oklahoma Press, 1989. Spanish Missions.
U.S. Department of the Interior. "San Antonio Missions National Historical Park San Antonio Missions National Historical Park." U.S. National Park Service - Experience
Your America. http://www.nps.gov/saan/index.htm (accessed August 5, 2013).