| What makes it historical? |
Originally built near Weches in 1690, and called Mission San Francisco de los Tejas, this mission followed three others to the San Antonio River Valley, 270 miles away, in 1731! Renamed San Francisco de la Espada (St. Francis of the Sword), this surprisingly wasn’t the military capital of the missions. Instead, it was the center of brick and tile making! This was a noisy mission with blacksmith anvils ringing, looms clacking, and bells clanging.
Most of the work here was done by Native American labor from the Tecame, Pacao, Borrado, and Mariquita tribes, who had come here to find refuge against the Apache and Comanche but instead found smallpox and measles! As the Mission Indians began to desert, the prosperity of the mission began to wane. By 1794, the process of secularization had begun, and it was completed in 1824. Two years later, the Comanche raided the fields and killed the livestock, and a kitchen fire took out all of the buildings except the chapel. Today, though, it’s still a living church! |
