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San Antonio Missions: Spanish Influence in Texas 

(Photo by Beth Boland) 

Most Americans know the clarion call "Remember the Alamo!" and have a hazy recollection 

that the "fort" originally had been built as a Spanish mission. What is less well known outside 

the Southwest is that the Mission San Antonio de Valero--the Alamo--was only one of a chain 

of missions strung along the San Antonio River. Established between 1718 and 1731, these 

missions were built not only to spread the faith of the conquistadors, but also to serve multiple 

foreign policy objectives for the Spanish government. 

The famous Alamo is now a state historic site under the stewardship of the Daughters of the 

Republic of Texas and serves primarily as a reminder of the Texas Revolution of 1835-36. The 

other San Antonio River missions--Concepcion, San José, San Juan, and Espada--with some 

surrounding lands, constitute San Antonio Missions National Historical Park. By cooperative 

agreement with the Archdiocese of San Antonio, the mission churches remain active places of 

worship. Their importance, however, reaches far beyond their religious significance. 
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Document Contents 

National Curriculum Standards 

About This Lesson 

Getting Started: Inquiry Question 

Setting the Stage: Historical Context 

Locating the Site: Map 

1. Map 1: Mission sites and rivers 

2. Map 2: Mission Trail 

Determining the Facts: Readings 

1. Reading 1: The San Antonio Missions and the Spanish Frontier 

2. Reading 2: The Spaniards and the Indians 

Visual Evidence: Images 

1. Drawing 1: Plan of Mission San José 

2. Photo 1: Mission San José 

3. Photo 2: Mission San José Church 

4. Photo 3: Main entrance, Mission San José Church 

5. Photo 4: Convento Garden, Mission San José 

6. Photo 5: Espada Aqueduct and Acequia 

Putting It All Together: Activities 

1. Activity 1: Comparing Spanish and English Colonial Policy 

2. Activity 2: Researching the Columbian Exchange 

3. Activity 3: Researching the Community 
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Where this lesson fits into the curriculum 

Time Period: Early 18th Century 

Topics: This lesson can be used in teaching units on Spanish conquests in the Americas or 

the early colonization of the United States. 

Relevant United States History Standards for Grades 5-12 

This lesson relates to the following National Standards for History from the UCLA National 

Center for History in the Schools: 

US History Era 1 

• Standard 1D: The student understands the differences and similarities among Africans, 

Europeans, and Native Americans who converged in the western hemisphere after 1492. 

• Standard 2A: The student understands the stages of European oceanic and overland 

exploration, amid international rivalries, from the 9th to 17th centuries. 

• Standard 2B: The student understands the Spanish and Portuguese conquest of the Americas. 

US History Era 2 

• Standard 1A: The student understands how diverse immigrants affected the formation of 

European colonies. 

• Standard 1B: The student understands the European struggle for control of North America. 

• Standard 2B: The student understands religious diversity in the colonies and how ideas about 

religious freedom evolved. 

• Standard 3A: The student understands colonial economic life and labor systems in the 

Americas. 

US History Era 4 

• Standard 2E: The student understands the settlement of the West. 
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San Antonio Missions: Spanish Influence in Texas 

 

 

 

Relevant Curriculum Standards for Social Studies 

This lesson relates to the following Curriculum Standards for Social Studies from the National 

Council for the Social Studies: 

Theme I: Culture 

• Standard C: The student explains and gives examples of how language, 

literature, the arts, architecture, other artifacts, traditions, beliefs, values, and 

behaviors contribute to the development and transmission of culture. 

Theme III: People, Places and Environments 

• Standard G: The student describes how people create places that reflect cultural 

values and ideals as they build neighborhoods, parks, shopping centers, and the 

like. 

• Standard H: The student examines, interprets, and analyzes physical and cultural 

patterns and their interactions, such as land use, settlement patterns, cultural 

transmission of customs and ideas, and ecosystem changes. 

• Standard I: The student describes ways that historical events have been 

influenced by, and have influenced, physical and human geographic factors in 

local, regional, national, and global settings. 

Theme IV: Individual Development and Identity 

• Standard E - Government policies and laws. 

Theme VI: Power, Authority and Governance 

• Standard H - The student explains and applies concepts such as power, role, 

status, justice, and influence to the examination of persistent issues and social 

problems. 

• Standard I: The student gives examples and explains how governments attempt 

to achieve their stated ideals at home and abroad. 

Relevant Common Core Standards 

This lesson relates to the following Common Core English and Language Arts 

Standards for History and Social Studies for middle school and high school students: 

Keys Ideas and Details 
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San Antonio Missions: Spanish Influence in Texas 

• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.2 

Craft and Structure 

• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.4 

• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.6 

Integration of Knowledge and Ideas 

• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.7 

Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity 

• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.10 
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About This Lesson 

This lesson is based on the National Register of Historic Places registration file "San Antonio 

Missions National Historical Park" http://pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/NRHP/Text/78003147.pdf 

(with photographs http://pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/NRHP/Photos/78003147.pdf) and 

materials prepared by the park and the Missions Education Committee. 

This lesson plan was published in the early 1990s and written by Fay Metcalf, education 

consultant. It was edited by Teaching with Historic Places staff. This lesson is one in a series 

that brings the important stories of historic places into classrooms across the country. 

Objectives 

1. To explain the significant role that Spanish missions played in the early history of Texas and 

the Southwest; 

2. To describe the psychological and cultural factors that led the Coahuiltecan (Kwa-weeltekens) Indians to accept mission life; 

3. To explain the role irrigation systems, such as acequias (ah-SAY-key-ahs), played in the 

development of Texas farmland and other arid areas; 

4. To investigate the early religious history of their own community. 

Materials for students 

The materials listed below can either be used directly on the computer or can be printed 

out, photocopied, and distributed to students. 

1. Two maps of the mission sites; 

2. Two readings about mission life on the Spanish frontier and its impact on American Indian 

culture; and; 

3. Five photographs and one drawing of Mission San José and a mission irrigation system 

Visiting the site 

The missions of San Antonio Missions National Historical Park are located along Mission 

Road, south of San Antonio, Texas; signs help guide motorists along the route. The missions 

are open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. (9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Daylight Savings Time), except for New Year's Day 

and Christmas. For additional information, write to the Superintendent, San Antonio Missions 
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National Historical Park, 2202 Roosevelt Avenue, San Antonio, Texas 78210 or visit the park 

web pages at http://www.nps.gov/saan. 
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San Antonio Missions: Spanish Influence in Texas 

Getting Started 

What style of architecture is this? What purpose do you think this 

building serves? 
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Photo Analysis Worksheet 

Step 1: 

Examine the photograph for 10 seconds. How would you describe the photograph? 

Step 2:

Divide the photograph into quadrants and study each section individually. What details--such as 

people, objects, and activities--do you notice? 

Step 3:

What other information--such as time period, location, season, reason photo was taken--can 

you gather from the photo? 

Step 4:

How would you revise your first description of the photo using the information noted in Steps 2 

and 3? 

Step 5: 

What questions do you have about the photograph? How might you find answers to these 

questions? 
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Setting the Stage 

Missions were a major part of Spain's plan to establish and manage a colonial frontier in what is now 

the American Southwest. Settlement of this frontier has had significant and far-reaching effects on the 

development of the United States, both politically and culturally, effects that continue to be felt today. 

The missions were directly involved in the military, religious, and cultural development of the Texas 

frontier, and they influenced policymaking across the entire Southwest. The contribution of the missions 

to agriculture and commerce–they strongly influenced the development of the cattle industry–was of 

critical importance to the growth of the state of Texas and the San Antonio region. The mission 

buildings constitute a unique record of the architecture, art, and sculpture of the Spanish colonial period 

in Texas. 
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San Antonio Missions: Spanish Influence in Texas 

Locating the Site 

Map 1: Mission sites and rivers in Texas 

(Adapted from Missions Education Committee, San Antonio Missions National Historical Park: A Guidebook, San Antonio 

Junior League of San Antonio, 1986) 
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Questions for Map 1 

1) Examine the location of the missions. What do their locations have in common? Why do you think 

that this was important? 

2) Compare the dates of the first established mission, presidio (military town or encampment), and 

village with the dates of the first mission in the San Antonio River area. Why do you think the later 

missions were built in a more central part of Texas? 
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Locating the Site 

Map 2: Mission Trail 

(Adapted from Missions Education Committee, San Antonio Missions National Historical Park: A 

Guidebook, San Antonio: Junior League of San Antonio, 1986) 
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Questions for Map 2 

1) Measure the distances between the missions. Why do you think they were located so closely 

together? (Additional information is provided in Reading 1.) 

2) Map 2 is a recent view of the area around the missions. How do the street names reflect the 

history of San Antonio, Texas, and the United States? 
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Determining the Facts 

Reading 1: The San Antonio Missions and the Spanish Frontier 

Spain's expulsion of the Moors and its decision to support Columbus's voyage of discovery, 

both of which took place the same year, opened a new world of possibilities. In the Americas, 

Spain soon began to use its soldiers to extend its domain, find wealth, and spread the Catholic 

faith. 

After Cortes's conquest of Mexico in 1519, the Spanish moved north in search of further riches 

and potential converts. Though they failed to find gold and silver as they had farther south, in 

present-day Arizona and New Mexico they established missions to work with peaceable 

American Indians and presidios (forts) to control hostile ones. 

In the late 1600s the French, already in Canada, explored the Mississippi River to the point 

where it emptied into the Gulf of Mexico. This expansion posed a threat to Spain's territory and 

Spain responded by extending its settlements into what is now Texas, thereby creating a buffer 

between the wealth of Mexico and French Louisiana. 

The Spanish established themselves in Texas by using the same system they had established 

in Arizona and New Mexico. Through missions, presidios, and an adjoining civilian community 

(a villa), missionaries and soldiers Christianized and Hispanicized the native population. The 

Spanish hoped that with the help of these now-loyal Indians a relatively small number of men 

would be needed to defend the empire's frontier. Though created to observe and control French 

colonies in the Mississippi Valley and central Gulf coast, these operations later opposed other 

rivals. Between 1763 and 1776, the main challenge came from the English and their Indian 

allies; after 1776, from the United States and the Comanches. 

One base for Spanish missionary and military operations in Texas developed around San 

Antonio. Two missions and a presidio were established in the San Antonio River valley between 

1718 and 1720, and the Spanish added three new missions in the valley in 1731. A single 

presidio protected the five missions, which were closely grouped for two important reasons. 

First, the fields required irrigation and a system could only be set up along the valley's upper ten 

miles. Second, the threat of attack from northern Indians was constant, and the missions 

needed to be near the presidio and each other for mutual protection. 

The missions were important to agricultural production. Each had a ranch for raising the sheep, 

goats, and cattle that supplied necessities like meat, wool, milk, cheese, and leather. The entire 

cattle industry, from ranching to the driving of cattle across long distances to markets, was 

developed in Mexico during the two centuries prior to the establishment of San Antonio. Spanish 

ranching as it was practiced in Texas formed the basis for the American cattle industry, which 

drew many of its original cattle from the mission herds. The Spanish also brought to the San 

Antonio valley a specialized method of farming that used irrigation. This system, which was 
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extended by later settlers, was the foundation of the San Antonio economy for more than a 

century; portions of mission-built irrigation systems are still in use today in San Antonio and 

other parts of Texas. 

The mission contributed to the economy in other ways. It established necessary industries such 

as weaving, iron working, and carpentry; these were important to the maintenance of the entire 

military and political structure of the eastern portion of the Spanish American frontier. Missiontrained artisans and workers provided a principal source of labor and finished goods in a region 

at the far end of a long and expensive supply line reaching up from the south. 

Today the San Antonio missions are among the few relatively intact examples of the colonial 

missions in the Southwest. They contribute to the general architectural record of this era as well 

as offer examples of building styles from every period of the missions' history. A wide range of 

sculptural and painted decoration survives, illustrating how these arts developed on the frontier. 
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San Antonio Missions: Spanish Influence in Texas 

Questions for Reading 1 

1) Why did the Spanish establish missions in Texas? 

2) Why were the missions located so closely together? (Refer to Map 2 and compare your 

earlier suggestions with the reasons given in the reading.) 

3) What agricultural system did the Spanish bring to the San Antonio valley? What other 

products came from the missions? 

4) Why would the architectural design of the missions change over time? 
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Determining the Facts 

Reading 2: The Spaniards and the Indians 

A mission brought together two distinct groups of people. The missionaries came from Spain via 

training schools in Mexico and were Franciscans, an order of priests who had taken a vow of 

poverty in order to devote themselves to learning, brotherhood with all living creatures, and 

spreading the word of God. 

In Texas the Franciscans mainly encountered bands of hunter-gatherers called Coahuiltecos or 

Coahuiltecans (kwa-weel-tekens). These bands ranged through what is now the Mexican state 

of Coahuila into South Texas. They moved from one traditional campsite to another, following 

the seasons and herds of migrating animals. Since the environment in which they lived was 

often difficult, mainly because of a lack of rainfall, the Coahuiltecans lived precariously because 

they rarely had a sure food supply. Though they sometimes warred against one another, all 

faced threats from more formidable adversaries such as the Apache and, later, the Comanche. 

These tribes had become mobile raiders by taking advantage of the herds of wild horses that 

had developed from runaways from Spanish settlements. 

The Coahuiltecans were tattooed and wore a breechcloth or hide skirt, fiber sandals, and, in bad 

weather, a cloak of animal hide. Animal teeth, bones, feathers, stones, and seeds were worn as 

jewelry and sometimes woven into their intricately braided hair. Shelter consisted of small 

temporary huts of brush or grass, sensible structures given their way of life and the climate of 

the area over which they ranged. 

These hunter-gatherers were willing to become part of the mission system for a number of 

reasons. The irrigation system promised a more stable supply of food than they normally 

enjoyed. Diseases brought by Europeans had depleted their numbers, making the 

Coahuiltecans even more vulnerable to their now-mobile enemies. The presidio, however, 

offered much greater protection. 

Though routines did vary, the missions shared a number of practices. The missionaries, along 

with lay helpers and usually no more than two soldiers and their families, instructed the natives 

in the Catholic faith and in the elements of Spanish peasant society. The Indians learned 

various trades, including carpentry, masonry, blacksmithing, and weaving; they also did a great 

deal of agricultural work. 

Since mission society lasted more than 100 years, no single description can cover the entire 

experience. It is possible, though, to depict some of its most important elements. Religion was 

the most important factor in shaping the day. At dawn the church bells rang, calling the people 

to morning prayer, which was followed by religious instruction. At noontime the bells tolled again 

to assemble everyone for more prayer, and in the evening there was another service and more 

instruction. 
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What happened the rest of the day varied from person to person. Many of the men were led to 

the fields or to military drills by a missionary or a soldier, while others remained in the compound 

to work in one of the shops weaving, candle making, woodworking, or engaging in other crafts. 

Women and older girls often made pottery or baskets, though others prepared food or caught 

fish in the nearby river. Children spent their days in a number of ways: helping the adults, 

gathering under a tree for Spanish lessons, playing games with each other. At noontime, 

everyone came together to eat the day's largest meal, which was followed by the rest period 

known as a siesta. They remained inside for the hottest part of the day, then returned to their 

duties until early evening. They would have a light meal before the last service of the day, then 

enjoy some relaxation. Some would spend the evening dancing and singing, while others played 

games. 

The native population reacted to the mission system in a number of ways. Some of them 

participated fully, mixing their traditions with those of Spain to create a new Hispanicized and 

Christianized culture. The Spanish then called them gente de razón, or rational, reasonable 

people, like the Spaniards themselves. Other Indians moved in and out of the missions, 

choosing to return to more familiar surroundings during a season when the natural environment 

was rich with food. Some Indians refused to join at all, continuing to live in their traditional ways. 

In the 1790s, the missions began to change. At that time secularization--turning the settlements 

into civil rather than religious communities--began. The Spanish government withdrew its 

financial support and ordered mission lands and livestock to be divided among the mission 

Indians who had been converted to Christianity. Only one of the San Antonio missions, Mission 

San Antonio de Valero (now known as the Alamo) was fully secularized. The other four, which 

are now part of the San Antonio Missions National Historical Park, were only partially 

secularized. Here the populations elected their community officials, but missionaries remained 

to act as parish priests. In 1824, after Mexico achieved independence from Spain, the remaining 

missions were fully secularized and all missionaries left the area. Though the buildings then fell 

into decline, in the 1930s restoration began. Today the four missions within the park serve as 

parish churches, and all five San Antonio missions are open to the public. 
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Questions for Reading 2 

1) What features of the Coahuiltecans' way of life made them interested in participating in 

mission life? 

2) What is a gente de razón? What does that phrase say about how the Spanish viewed 

the native population? 

3) How would someone of your age spend a typical day at a San Antonio mission? 

4) Do you believe mission Indians retained much of their original culture? Why or why 

not? How could you find out? 
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Visual Evidence 

Drawing 1: Plan of Mission San José. 

(Adapted from Missions Education Committee, San Antonio Missions National Historical Park: A 

Guidebook, San Antonio: Junior League of San Antonio, 1986) 
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Key for Drawing 1 

1. Entrance Station 

2. Indian Quarters (west 

wall) 

3. West Well 

4. Oven 

5. Granary 

6. Spanish Residence/Casa 

Real 

7. Grape Arbor 

8. Archway 

9. Flour Mill 

10. Amphitheater 

11. Church Front Entrance 

12. Sacristy 

13. Convento and Portería 

14. East Well 

15. East Gate 

16. Indian Quarters 

17. Ruins (east wall) 

18. Bastion (southeast) 

19. Southeast Gate 

20. Indian Quarters 

21. South Well 

22. Cemetery Plot 
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Visual Evidence 

Photo 1: Mission San José 

(National Park Service) 
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Questions for Photo 1 & Drawing 1 

1) Locate the different structures on Map 3. Which buildings do you think were most important to 

the operation of the mission? Why? 

2) Do you think that Mission San José was designed to be self-sufficient? Why or why not? 

3) Try to match some of the structures keyed on Map 3 to the photo. 

4) What do the remaining buildings tell us about the technology of the people who lived there? 

How do the buildings indicate the region's climate? 
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Visual Evidence 

Photo 2: Mission San José Church 

(Photo by Beth Boland) 
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Visual Evidence 

Photo 3: Main entrance, Mission San José Church. 

(San Antonio Missions National Historical Park) 

The San José church is a fine example of the baroque style of architecture that was popular in 

Spain and other European countries at the time the Franciscans settled in what is now Texas. 
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Questions for Photos 2 & 3 

1) What does the size of the church indicate about the role religion played in daily life at the 

mission? 

2) Why might the Franciscans have wanted buildings with such decorative detail on the Spanish 

frontier? 

3) What does the entrance indicate about Spanish culture? 
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Visual Evidence 

Photo 4: Convento Garden, Mission San José. 

(National Park Service) 

The convento, also called the friary, was the place where the Franciscan friars lived. 
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Questions for Photo 4 

1) How might the friars have used the garden and a covered walkway called a portería (pourteh-REE-ah)? 

2) What does the portería tell us about Spanish culture? 
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Visual Evidence 

Photo 5: Espada Aqueduct and Acequia 

(San Antonio Missions National Historical Park) 

The dry climate of southwest Texas made irrigation crucial for growing the crops that would 

determine the success of a new mission. Around San Antonio the Spanish used what was 

known as acequias (ah-SAY-key-ahs), a system of ditches that the Moslems had introduced to 

Spain. Missionaries and Indians built seven gravity-flow ditches, five dams, and an aqueduct in 

order to distribute water from the San Antonio River over a 15-mile network that covered 3,500 

acres of land. 
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Questions for Photo 5 

1) Using Map 2, locate the Espada Aqueduct. 

2) Why would the system have been an important part of mission life in San Antonio? 
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Putting It All Together 

The four missions located within the San Antonio Missions National Historical Park had many 

things in common: they brought within their control nearby Indians who, in return for accepting 

religious instruction, were taught modern technological skills and the ways of life necessary for 

meeting the ruling Spaniards on their own terms. They were also protected from other, more 

aggressive tribes in the region. The routine established at the several missions was similar. All 

Indians were expected to work at a variety of tasks such as farming, ranching, and carpentry. 

Each mission traded or sold goods to the nearby villa and presidio, sometimes making great 

profits on foodstuffs and cattle (some 3,000 in a typical herd), which were raised mainly for their 

hides. The following activities explore the impact of Spanish colonization in more depth. 
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Activity 1: Comparing Spanish and English Colonial Policy 

The history of the Spanish colonization of America is fundamentally different from that of the 

original English colonies. Have the students use a U.S. history textbook to compare Spanish 

and English approaches to (1) the treatment and education of native peoples, (2) ways of 

making a living, and (3) enforcement of religious practice. Ask them to present their findings in a 

chart. Then hold a classroom discussion in which the students debate the pros and cons of 

each country's policies. 
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Activity 2: Researching the Columbian Exchange 

Smallpox was only one of the diseases that took the lives of thousands of American Indians. In 

1739 at Mission San José, only 49 of its 300 Indian inhabitants survived a smallpox epidemic. 

Europeans also contracted the disease, but because it had long been a part of their ecosystem, 

many were immune or suffered only mild cases. Considerable literature is now available on the 

"Columbian Exchange" and the "Seeds of Change." Have students choose a disease or food 

product that was exchanged and make a short presentation to the class that explains why the 

product or disease was "exchanged" and how it impacted both the native population and the 

Spanish settlers. A useful bibliography appears in Alfred Crosby's The Columbian Voyages, The 

Columbian Exchange, and Their Historians (Washington, D.C.: American Historical 

Association). See also the middle-school and high-school versions of Sharryl Davis Hawke's 

and James E. Davis's, Seeds of Change (Palo Alto, CA: Addison-Wesley Publishing Co.). 
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Activity 3: Researching the Community 

Each community has a religious history of its own. Have the students conduct research on their 

own community to discover which religious groups were among the first settlers, how powerful 

they were, how long that religion dominated the area, which religious groups followed, which 

remain predominant, and which can no longer be found in the community. The students should 

then compare their community's experience with that of San Antonio. Finally, ask students to 

compare the architectural styles of the local Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox, and Protestant 

churches; synagogues and temples; Islamic mosques, etc., with each other and with the 

photographs in the lesson plan. Hold a classroom discussion based on the results of the 

student's research. 
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References and Endnotes 

Reading 1 

Reading 1 was compiled from James E. Ivey and Marlys Bush Thurber, "San Antonio Missions 

National Historical Park" (Bexar County, Texas) National Register of Historic Places 

Registration Form, Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, 

1983; and the National Park Service visitor's guide for San Antonio Missions National Historical 

Park. 

Reading 2 

Reading 2 was compiled from Missions Education Committee, The San Antonio Missions 

National Historical Park: A Guidebook (San Antonio: Junior League of San Antonio, 1986); and 

the National Park Service visitor's guide for San Antonio Missions National Historical Park.