Southside in San Antonio in Bexar County, Texas — The American South (West South Central)

Community Life at Mission Espada

Photographed by James Hulse, December 27, 2022

1. Community Life at Mission Espada Marker

Inscription.

Community Life at Mission Espada. . Members Of Hunting And Gathering Tribes known collectively as Coahuiltecans found food and protection at Mission Espada in the 1700s. Daily life for those who chose to live here included instruction in language, religion, agriculture, building skills, milling, and weaving. Residents also cared for livestock and raised crops outside the protected compound. Many mission inhabitants eventually adopted the Spanish lifestyle and intermarried with the broader local population. When Espada's buildings and lands were distributed among the residents beginning in the 1790s, some families stayed here to live and farm. A tight-knit community developed around the mission during the 1800s, and while many families later sold their houses and fields, others passed them to successive generations. After Mission Espada was restored beginning in the 1880s, descendants of these early families continued to worship here and educate their children at the mission school. Though the school and small businesses that served the Espada community have now closed, the church remains an active parish and gathering place as it has for almost three hundred years., Captions , Top: Domingo Bustillo petitioned for and was granted land near Mission Espada in 1824. His descendants gathered in 1914 for a reunion at the Bustillo homestead near the mission. , Courtesy: University of Texas at San Antonio Libraries Special Collections., Bottom 1: The Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word operated a school for area children at Mission Espada from 1917 until 1967. Sister Superior Alma conducted this class in 1941. , Courtesy: Light Collection, University of Texas at San Antonio Libraries Special Collections. , Bottom 2: Elizabeth Chavagneaux Hooge and her husband, Peter, lived near Mission Espada from the time they married in 1903 until 1909. They operated a store and assisted Father Francis Bouchu with repairs to the mission buildings. The family is seen here at their store in about 1907. , Courtesy: University of Texas at San Antonio Libraries Special Collections., Bottom 3: Residents of the Mission Espada neighborhood formed a band that played at church and community events. , Courtesy: University of Texas at San Antonio Libraries Special Collections.

Members Of Hunting And Gathering Tribes known collectively as Coahuiltecans found food and protection at Mission Espada in the 1700s. Daily life for those who chose to live here included instruction in language, religion, agriculture, building skills, milling, and weaving. Residents also cared for livestock and raised crops outside the protected compound. Many mission inhabitants eventually adopted the Spanish lifestyle and intermarried with the broader local population. When Espada's buildings and lands were distributed among the residents beginning in the 1790s, some families stayed here to live and farm. A tight-knit community developed around the mission during the 1800s, and while many families later sold their houses and fields, others passed them to successive generations. After Mission Espada was restored beginning in the 1880s, descendants of these early families continued to worship here and educate their children at the mission school. Though the school and small businesses that served the Espada community have now closed, the church remains an active parish and gathering place as it has for almost three hundred years.

Captions
Top: Domingo Bustillo petitioned for and was granted land near Mission Espada in 1824. His descendants gathered in 1914 for a reunion at the Bustillo homestead

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near the mission.
Courtesy: University of Texas at San Antonio Libraries Special Collections.

Bottom 1: The Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word operated a school for area children at Mission Espada from 1917 until 1967. Sister Superior Alma conducted this class in 1941.
Courtesy: Light Collection, University of Texas at San Antonio Libraries Special Collections.

Bottom 2: Elizabeth Chavagneaux Hooge and her husband, Peter, lived near Mission Espada from the time they married in 1903 until 1909. They operated a store and assisted Father Francis Bouchu with repairs to the mission buildings. The family is seen here at their store in about 1907.
Courtesy: University of Texas at San Antonio Libraries Special Collections.

Bottom 3: Residents of the Mission Espada neighborhood formed a band that played at church and community events.
Courtesy: University of Texas at San Antonio Libraries Special Collections.

Erected by San Antonio Missions National Historical Park.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Colonial Era • Hispanic Americans • Indigenous Peoples and Communities • Religion & Religious Structures. A significant historical year for this entry is 1824.

Location.

The Mission Espada Church image. Click for full size.

Photographed by James Hulse, December 27, 2022

2. The Mission Espada Church

29° 19.168′ N, 98° 27.059′ W. Marker is in San Antonio, Texas, in Bexar County. It is in Southside. It can be reached from the intersection of Espada Road and Camino Coahuilteca. The marker is located north of the Mission Espada along the River Walk. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 10040 Espada Road, San Antonio TX 78214, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in South Texas.

It is also in the American South.

Globally, it is in North America,

a Gulf of Mexico state,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Spain,

the Republic of Texas,

and one of the Confederate States of America.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Mission Espada: The Restoration Period (a few steps from this marker); Mission Espada: 1731-1824 (a few steps from this marker); Rancho de las Cabras (within shouting distance of this marker); Spanish Ranching (within shouting distance of this marker); Missions Along the San Antonio River (within shouting distance of this marker); Mission San Francisco de la Espada (within shouting distance of this marker); Defending the Faithful (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); Church Today / La iglesia hoy en día (about 500 feet away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in San Antonio.

Also see . . .
1. Mission Espada. San Antonio Missions - World Heritage

Mission San Francisco de la Espada was the first Spanish Mission in Texas. It was founded in 1690 as San Francisco de los Tejas near present-day Nacogdoches in East Texas. It was renamed as Mission San Francisco de la Espada when it moved
Photographed by James Hulse, December 27, 2022

3. The view of the Community Life at Mission Espada Marker along the River Walk
to San Antonio in 1731. Distinctive Spanish design features can be seen in the church doorway, bell tower, and brick archways. Espada’s ranch, Rancho de las Cabras, is 23 miles south of the Mission and had as many as 1,262 head of cattle and 4,000 sheep. Mission Espada’s acequia is the nation’s oldest in continuous use. It still uses San Antonio River water to irrigate local crops today illustrating the connection the river makes between the past and the present.

(Submitted on January 9, 2023, by James Hulse of Medina, Texas.)

2. Coahuiltecan Indians. Texas State Historical Association

The lowlands of northeastern Mexico and adjacent southern Texas were originally occupied by hundreds of small, autonomous, distinctively named Indian groups that lived by hunting and gathering. During the Spanish colonial period a majority of these natives were displaced from their traditional territories by Spaniards advancing from the south and Apaches retreating from the north. The Spaniards had little interest in describing the natives or classifying them into ethnic units. There was no obvious basis for classification, and major cultural contrasts and tribal organizations went unnoticed, as did similarities and differences in the native languages and dialects. Spaniards referred to an Indian group
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as a nación, and described them according to their association with major terrain features or with Spanish jurisdictional units.

(Submitted on January 9, 2023, by James Hulse of Medina, Texas.)

Credits. This page was last revised on February 2, 2023. It was originally submitted on January 9, 2023, by James Hulse of Medina, Texas. This page has been viewed 953 times since then and 22 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on January 9, 2023, by James Hulse of Medina, Texas.