Missions of Texas

1. Missions,
Presidios,
and
Early
Towns
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2. Word
Definition
Mission
A religious settlement
Missionaries
People who teach their religion to
others
Vaquero
Cowhand or Indians trained to work
on ranches
Presidio
A fort built mostly of wood, stone or
adobe
Plaza
A town square, sometimes in the
center of town
Mestizo
A person whose ancestors were
both Spanish and Native American
Revolt
A fight against people in charge
Heritage
The culture
Illustration
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3. The Missions
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•
•
•
1682 the Spanish built Ysleta (the first mission) near
El Paso
Within 68 years more than 20 missions had been
built in Texas
Were run by Catholic priests, called missionaries
The missions had many buildings inside. Some of
those are:
• houses,
• schools,
• churches,
• and workplaces were inside of mission walls
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4. Lessons that were taught by the missionaries
were:
The first vaqueros were Indians trained by
missionaries
• The Spanish language
• Spanish Culture
• Catholic Religion
Native American jobs
•Women became
• Weavers
• Cooks
• And took care of laundry
•

5. •Men
•
•
•
•
•
•
became
cowboys
sheperds
carpenters
blacksmiths, or
fisherman
Sometimes both men and women became
musicians
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6. Spanish Missions in Texas
Corpus Christi
de la Ysleta del
Sur (1682)
Mission San Jose’ in San
Antonio, Texas - February
23, 1720.
The church at Mission Espíritu
Santo at its final location in
present-day Goliad.
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7. Native American Quarters at the
Mission San Jose’ y San Miguel de
Aguayo
Mission Nuestra Senora de los
Dolores del los Ais was built to
keep the French out of Texas.
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8. Alamo Diagram
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9. Presidios
Forts built by the soldiers to protect the people
living in and near missions – usually a small
force of about 20 soldiers stayed in the
presidios.
• They were mostly of wood, stone, or adobe.
• They were surrounded by walls that were 10
feet tall that soldiers placed cannons on the
walls or in the small towers at the corners
•
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10. Presidios
•
•
Most had one main gate and sometimes a rear
gate that were locked from the inside
Inside were many buildings:
• soldiers living quarters,
• family quarters for the officer in charge,
• and possibly a doctor’s office
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11. Presidio La Bahia
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12. Early Towns
1718-San Antonio de Bexar was started as a
mission and presidio, later a town would be
built
• Another town built from a fort and mission
was Nacogdoches in 1779
• Most early towns included a plaza and an
irrigation system that brought water from the
closest river
• Most settlers were mestizos that were
promised land and supplies by the Spanish if
they would settle in the new land.
•
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13. The early towns faced problems with
Native Americans raids and fighting with
each other.
• They also faced problems of drought,
floods, and diseases.
• Ranchos were set up in the Rio Grande
Valley area by the end of the 1700s.
• Ranchos raised cattle for the settlements
and/or missions.
•

14. Nacogdoches – Old Stone Fort
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