The other day, after my sessions finished for the afternoon I hopped into the car and headed south along the river to the original settlement in the area. Founded in 1720, the mission
Mission San José y San Miguel de Aguayo 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.
San
José, as it became known, was the largest of the missions in the area.
At its height, the community contained about 350 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 by 1782.
So rich an enterprise was a natural target for Apache and Comanche attackss. Although they could not prevent raids on their livestock,
the mission itself was almost impregnable. In his journal, Fray Juan
Agustín Morfí attested to its defensive character: "It
is, in truth, the first mission in America . . . in point of beauty,
plan, and strength . . . there is not a presidio along the entire
frontier line that can compare with it." The danger was when
working the fields or during travel to and from the ranch or other
missions. With technical help from the two presidial soldiers garrisoned
there, San José residents learned to defend themselves. Already
proficient with bow and arrow, the men also learned the use of guns and
cannon
Having fallen into disrepair and partial ruin over the years, the
San Antonio Conservation Society and the Federal Government among
others, undertook to restore portions of the mission community in the
1920s and 1930s. The church, which had lost its dome, bell tower, and a
wall, was rededicated in 1937.
In 1941, Mission San José was declared a State Historic Site, and later that same year, a National Historic Site. When the San Antonio Missions National Historical Park was established in November 1978, the Spanish colonial mission was assured of protection in cooperation with the Archdiocese of San Antonio and the parish.
Great post and photos...always love the history stuff! :-)
Posted by: Kayte | June 27, 2013 at 09:46 AM
I figured that you'd appreciate that Kayte! :-)
Posted by: JDeQ | July 08, 2013 at 07:00 AM