Francisco Hidalgo

Spanish Colonial Texas

McGraw Hill Chapter 6, Lesson 1

​In today's lesson, we will...

• Learn about the San Francisco de los Tejas mission, and its ultimate fate.

• Learn about San Juan Bautista, Father Hidalgo, and interactions with French colonials.

Multiple Choice

Why did the Spanish built missions, presidios, and towns in lands occupied by Native Americans?

• to expel Native Americans from the land

• to be able to convert local people to Catholicism

• as a base for conquest of Native Americans

• to trade with the French colonies

A Tejas Mission

• The first Spanish mission in East Texas was dedicated on June 1, 1690.

• Named San Francisco de los Tejas, the mission was located a few miles west of the Neches River, near the present-day town of Weches.

• Tragically, the missions' crops failed, and disease killed many of the Native Americans and some of the friars.

• Thinking the holy water of the Church was responsible for the sickness, the Tejas rejected the Catholic religion.

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• In 1694 officials in Mexico City decided to abandon the mission.

• Although it was not long in use, San Francisco de los Tejas accomplished two things.

  • It strengthened Spain’s claim to Texas.

  • It made Spain realize that a successful colony needed families to settle the land.

Multiple Choice

What did the San Francisco de los Tejas mission accomplish?

• It converted the Natives to Catholicism.

• It repelled French invasions into East Texas.

• It strengthened Spanish claims to Texas.

• It provided abundant crops to Mexico City.

• The Spanish built San Juan Bautista in 1699.

• It close to a water source, and was also near a series of important crossings that led into Texas.

• For this reason, it was given the name “The Gateway to Spanish Texas.”

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• The French settled at Biloxi Bay in 1699.

  Spanish law prohibited foreigners from trading with their colonies, but the law was mostly ignored.

  Father Francisco Hidalgo, secretly wrote a letter to the French governor in Louisiana

• He asked the French to build a mission among the Tejas.

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Open Ended

Read page 4 of your McGraw Hill, Chapter 6, Lesson 1, and answer the following question:

"What was Spain's response to the French building a mission in San Juan Bautista?"