Spanish Missions in Texas
In which part of Texas were most of the Spanish missions located from 1659 to 1795?

What was the difference between a mission and a presidio?

Examine two of missions south of San Antonio:

  • Mission San Jose

  • Mission San Juan

    Think about the layout of the missions, the land uses, their relationship to water supplies, and land grants and field patterns.

    • Answers:
  • along the Rio Grande River and interior rivers of Texas; notice the large concentration of missions along the San Antonio River
  • mission: a Spanish settlement consisting mainly of Indians and some Europeans as priests, soldiers, and craftspeople
  • presidio: a Spanish military post, often a rectangular enclosure 650 feet long on each side with buildings placed along the inside of the fortified walls
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    Created by Ingolf Vogeler on 11 October 1996; last revised on 09 March 2005.