Kathryn Cutting         

Christian Missions in Texas

  After writing the first response paper I wanted to write more about the first two reasons that the Spanish Explorers went to the new world. The Native Americans were also helped and aided through the missionaries that sprung up around the time of explorers. These missionaries tried to help the Indians by trying to “Christianize and civilize the Native people”(Barringer, p.12).  There were many missions in the Texas. Most of them were started to make sure that Spain had a foothold so that the French could not come in and take the land for themselves. The French were settling mostly in the south near the Mississippi River. I would like to learn more about the how the Indians reacted towards these missions.

            There were many missions in Texas, but the first Catholic mission established in East Texas was the San Francisco de las Tejas.  This mission strived to try to convert the native Americans in that area. The Hasinais were the Native Americans that the mission was near. “In 1690 Franciscan priests, accompanied by soldiers, came to what is now Houston County and established a small mission on San Pedro Creek, a few miles west of the Neches River. (Bowman) The mission had many hard times, partially because supplies took a long time to get there and when the supplies did get there they would not be sufficient to keep the mission afloat. The Indians did not have much respect for the mission. “Teran found the Indians in both missions responding to the friars with growing impudence, more interested in stealing horses than in hearing the Gospel.” (Weddle).  The Indians also had problems with the Native Americans in that they thought that the baptismal waters were fatal and refused to come into the church” (Weddle) These problems all show how the mission though tried hard to stay afloat. This mission was a failure and was later Nuestro Padre San Francisco de los Tejas Mission ( Weddle) San Fransico de la Tejas was mostly a failure because it couldn’t get the Native Americans to do anything but steal their horses.

            There is also a mission named San Antonio de Valero. This is the mission that was the sight of the battle of the Alamo. In this mission the Coahuiltecas were interested in the Christian religion, but soon there was sickness and disease that started to affect the Indians. Later though the mission saw its numbers rising. “The Indian population climbed to 311 in 1745 and 328 in 1756, then declined” The mission was populated by more Indians than thought possible. “Throughout the mission's history, its Indian neophytes included members of more than a hundred groups, including Payaya, Pamaya, Pataguo, Tacame, Tamique, Xarame, Sana, Apache, Coco, Top, Karankawa, Ervipiame, and Yuta Indians”. (Schoelwer) This shows a more successful mission.

            I have learned that for the most part the Indians did not react well to the missionaries. There was a lot of things that were making the missions fail. In some cases the Indians were interested in becoming Christian as in the case of the of the mission San Antionio do Valero. These missions might be successful but the Spanish government had a bad habit of leaving these missions to fend for themselves. This had to be a hard job for any missionary. They would have to deal with hostile Indians, short supplies, and many other things. But some missions did have the capability to be successful. I think that it had a lot to do with the group of Indians that they were dealing with. Some Native Americans at that time were more hostile than others.

Barrubger, Mark. "American Indians in Texas." Texas Heritage. (2003): 3-22. Print.

Schoelwer, Susan Prendergast Handbook of Texas Online, s.v. "," http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/SS/uqs8.html (accessed April 26, 2010).

Robert S. Weddle Handbook of Texas Online, s.v. "," http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/SS/uqs15.html (accessed April 26, 2010).

Bowman, Bob. "Mission of Tejas." Texas Escape n. pag. Web. 26 Apr 2010. <http://www.texasescapes.com/DEPARTMENTS/Guest_Columnists/East_Texas_all_things_historical/MissionTejasBB801.htm>.