Texas Almanac, 1996-1997 Page: 47
672 p. : col. ill., maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this book.
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History
Only the ruins of an attempt to rebuild the old fort in 1936 mark the site of historic Real Presidio de San Sabd. The
Spanish established the presidio in 1757 as protection for a mission whose purpose was to convert the Apaches to
Roman Catholicism. Texas Almanac photo.
Fate of Spanish Mission
Changed Face of West Texas
by Mike KingstonThe town of Menard is today a quiet West Texas
town with an economy that relies on ranching and
oil. But in 1757, four forces converged on the area to
play their distinctive roles in history: the Spanish
and the French from Europe, the Apaches and the
Comanches from the northern regions of what later
became the United States.
The drama played out in the bottoms of the San
Saba River, and a year later on the banks of the Red
River 200 miles away, had its beginnings almost two
centuries before, when Spanish military might began
cutting a swath across the New World, following its
discovery in 1492 by Christopher Columbus. Led by
Cort6s, Pizarro, Quesada, Valdivia, Mendoza,
Cabeza de Vaca and others, Spanish soldiers,
mounted and using firearms, overcame the New
World inhabitants.
The Spanish at first blush were the most formi-
dable of the forces coming together in 1757 in West
Central Texas. Spain's army had once been the best
in Europe. In the New World, the natives could not
effectively oppose the Spanish, and French forces on
the North American continent at this time were no
match, either.
Caribs. Aztec. Inca. Maya. Chichimec. Each
New World civilization fell to the firepower of Span-
ish muskets fired from the backs of Spanish horses.
The Indians of the Valley of Mexico were accus-
tomed to the control of a centralized state and were
relatively easy for the Spaniards to subjugate. Only
occasionally did determined New World Indians,
like the Maya of the Yucatan, who were decentral-
ized and lived in city-states, or the Pueblos of New
Mexico, temporarily defeat Spanish arms.
Except for the Pueblos, however, the Spaniardsenountered Indians with decentralized societies
while moving northward from the Aztec empire.
Plains Indians were the most decentralized of all,
not even having permanent settlements. Against the
Plains Indians of North America, the Spaniards' luck
ran out.
Goals of the Europeans in the New World var-
ied. The French traded goods to the Indians for furs
and gave them firearms so they could both hunt and
defend themselves better. The Spanish goal was to
convert Indians and turn them into exploitable cop-
ies of themselves. Conflict was inevitable.
Plains Indians Migrate into Texas
Neither the Comanches nor the Apaches were
native Texas Indians. At the time of Coronado's
expedition of 1540, neither tribe was in the region of
today's Texas. Wichitas and Tonkawas migrated
south even later. The Caddoes of East Texas, the
Karankawas of the Gulf Coast and the Coahuilte-
cans of the Rio Grande were native.
Apaches, the first great foes of the Spanish in the
early 18th century, were originally Athapaskan
speakers from the Pacific Northwest. A fierce and
warlike people, they migrated into the Rockies and
eastward at an undetermined date.
At its peak, the territory of the eastern Apaches
ranged from the Dismal River in Nebraska to Cen-
tral Texas.
Even afoot, the Apaches were potent warriors
who preyed on whomever they encountered. But
after they acquired the large horse herds left behind
by Spanish settlers fleeing the Pueblo Indian revolt
in New Mexico in 1680, they became formidable. In
a short period, mounted Apaches spread across the
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Ramos, Mary G. Texas Almanac, 1996-1997, book, 1995; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth162514/m1/47/: accessed April 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.