TABLE OF CONTENTS
How to Use A Lesson
About This Lesson
Setting the Stage:
Historical Context
Locating the Site: Maps
1. Mission sites and rivers
2. Mission Trail
Determining the Facts: Readings
1. San Antonio Missions and
the Spanish Frontier
2. The Spaniards and
the Indians
Visual Evidence: Images
1. Plan of Mission San José
2. Mission San José
3. Mission San José Church
4. Main entrance, Mission
San José Church
5. Convento Garden, Mission
San José
4. Espada Aqueduct
and Acequia
Putting It All Together: Activities
1. Comparing Spanish and
English Colonial Policy
2. Researching the Columbian
Exchange
3. Researching the Community
RELATED INFORMATION
San Antonio Missions NHP
Curriculum Kit Home
TwHP Home
National Register Home
Supplementary Resources
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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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![[Photo] Main entrance, Mission San José Church.](1images/1covercl.jpg "[Photo] Main entrance, Mission San José Church.")
