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Nov 5, 1492
Columbus
Began European expleration to the Americas -
Nov 5, 1519
Pineda
Mapped the texas coast line -
Nov 5, 1528
Cabeza de Vaca
Traveled Texas for 7 years and wrote a book about his travels -
Nov 5, 1540
Coronado
Searched for the 7 cities of gold, but found nothing -
Nov 5, 1542
Moscoso
Found petroleum in East Texas -
Onate
Claimed the Rio Grande Valley for Spain -
Mission Corpus Christi de la Yseta
Shortly after the mission was built, 21 spanish families moved to the area to meat the spiritual needs of the Tigua people. -
La Salle
Built Fort St. Louis on Matagorda Bay. -
Mission San Francisco de los Tejas
Spain had learned that La Salle had been in the area and built Fort St. Louis. They feared that even though La Salle’s settlement had failed, France would send another group of settlers to try again. Mission San Francisco de los Tejas was built among the Atakapan people who were more interested in stealing horses than going to church. -
Mission Santisimo Nombre de Maria
the mission was completely destroyed by flooding from the Neches River. -
Mission Nuestra Senora de la Concepción de Acuna
After a rough beginning and several moves, the mission was permanently moved to San Antonio in 1731, becoming the third in a chain of five missions established along the San Antonio River. From the beginning the priests at Mission Concepcion tried to replace Indian ceremonies with religious festivals that taught the Indians about Christianity. -
Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe de los Nacogdoches
A few years later, when they established the town of Nacogdoches, settlers used the empty buildings. -
Mission San Antonio de Valero
The mission became known as The Alamo, and after the epic battle against Santa Anna in 1836. -
Mission San Jose y San Miguel de Aguayo
The mission had a difficult beginning, but soon the 300 Indians who lived there became successful farmers and ranchers. The Indians helped dig 15 miles of irrigation ditches to bring water to the farms of the five San Antonio missions. Mission San Jose was so successful, it became known as “Queen of the Missions” -
Mission Nuestra Senora del Espíritu Santo de Zuniga
The mission was built to serve the Karankawa indians and to reinforce the Spanish presence in the area to help keep the French out of Texas. -
Mission San Juan Capistrano
Within a few years, San Juan became a successful mission with rich farmland, orchards, and gardens. By 1762, the Indians living in the mission village were raising more than 3,000 head of sheep and cattle. They were growing enough pumpkins, grapes, and peppers to supply other communities with fresh vegetables. -
Mission San Francisco de la Espada
The mission was renamed and move to the San Antonio area in 1731, becoming the fifth mission in the chain of missions along the San Antonio River. Indians at Mission Espada were taught masonry and carpentry by Spanish craftsmen. These skills helped the Indians survive in Texas long after the missions were closed. Mission Espada is located due South of Mission San Juan. -
San Xavier missions
Conflict with the local garrison commander led to relocation of the missions to a site on the San Marcos River in 1755. The missions closed the following year. -
Santa Cruz de San Saba
It was attacked and destroyed in a revolt by Indians less than a year later. -
Nuestra Senora del Refugio
It was abandoned in 1830. Later, Irish immigrants to the area named their settlement after the mission.