Mission San Francisco de la Espada

Founded in 1690 as San Francisco de los Tejas near present-day Weches, Texas, this was the first mission in Texas. In 1731, the mission transferred to the San Antonio River area and renamed Mission San Francisco de la Espada. A friary was built in 1745, and the church was completed in 1756

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for more information, click here: Mission San Francisco de la Espada

for more information about all the San Antonio Missions click here: San Antonio Missions National Historic Park

Mission San José y San Miguel de Aguayo

Founded in 1720, the mission was named for Saint Joseph and the Marqués de San Miguel de Aguayo, the governor of the Province of Coahuila and Texas at the time. It was built on the banks of the San Antonio river several miles to the south of the earlier mission, San Antonio de Valero (the Alamo). Its founder was the famed Father Antonio Margil de Jesús, a very prominent Franciscan missionary in early Texas.

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for more information, click here: Mission San José y San Miguel de Aguayo

Mission San José y San Miguel de Aguayo

San José, as it became known, was the largest of the missions in the area. At its height, the community contained about 300 Indian neophytes sustained by extensive fields and herds of livestock. Viewed as the model among the Texas missions, San José gained a reputation as a major social and cultural center. It became known as the "Queen of the Missions." Its imposing complex of stone walls, bastions, granary, and magnificent church was completed in 1782.

So rich an enterprise was a natural target for Apache and Comanche depredations. With technical help from the two presidial soldiers garrisoned there, San José residents learned to defend themselves. Already proficient with bow and arrow, Indians also learned the use of guns and cannon.

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for more information, click here: Mission San José y San Miguel de Aguayo