LIFE IN SPANISH TEXASLIFE IN SPANISH TEXAS

The Alamo (1718)

San Jose (1720)

San Juan (1731) Concepcion (1731)

Espada (1731)

The Five Missions of San Antonio

Daily Life in the Mission1.Morning Prayers

2. Instruction in the Catholic faith

3.Breakfast

4.Work all day in the fields, kitchen, or in the workshops

The Native Texans that became part of the mission were often punished by the priest if they did not follow rules.

One of the few tribes that did convert was the Coahuiltecans in South Texas

Spanish Spanish TexansTexans

•The Franciscan order of the Catholic Church ran the Missions.

•The Indians who were converted became Hispanics or “turned Spanish”

The front of Mission Concepción near San

Antonio

The San Antonio Missions

•By 1800, only about 3,500 colonists were living in Texas. Most lived in San Antonio and Nacogdoches.

•The Spanish also developed towns near Presidio La Bahia (Near Victoria) and Laredo.

•These towns used whatever they could find to create buildings and they often dug acequias (canals) to bring water to the towns.

The best preserved of the San Antonio

acequias is the one near Mission Espada

The Espada Dam was constructed in 1745

Spanish GovernmentSpanish Government

•The alcalde was the name for the Spanish official that acted as a mayor, sheriff and judge for the town.

•The ayuntamiento was the name for the town counsel.

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•Women in the towns were important as they helped with farm and ranch duties as well as preparing food, making clothes, and teaching morals and values to children.

•Married women in Texas were able to keep property they owned before they were married and owned property separate from their husbands.

•People in towns usually were made up of former presidio soldiers and native Texans that had adapted to Spanish life. They were usually uneducated, as only priest and government officials were literate (could read).

•Life in a town could be very hard. There was always the threat of attack.

•In addition, without running water, sewage was a problem, and therefore disease was always a threat. Muddy streets and standing water helped mosquitoes thrive.

•Pobladores (towns people) celebrated with horse racing, dances, singing, and telling folk tales.

•Some settlers started Haciendas, which is a ranch in Spanish territory

Ruins of a Spanish Colonial Hacienda in Zapata county

•Ranching took hold in Texas because it was easier than farming. it took only a few workers to man a ranch.

Haciendas

The Spanish Vaqueros were the original cowboys.

•Spain began to encourage the cattle industry by given land grants to cattle ranchers.

•The vaqueros (cowboys) developed many techniques still used today to control livestock.

End of the Missions and Preservation• By the early 1800’s the

Franciscans secularized (turned over control) the missions to the Hispanic townspeople of Texas.

• The Missions fell into disrepair.

• In the early 1900’s, Adina de Zavala led an effort to save them.

• They became part of the National Park system in 1975

Adina de Zavala

The Fight to Preserve the Missions