Spanish explorers never did find their treasure, but Catholic missionaries and Spanish priests often remained behind to build missions and convert Native Americans to Christianity. San Antonio, Texas, was one of the locations where the mission system flourished in the 1700s. Five missions were built around the winding San Antonio River: Mission Concepcion, Mission San Jose, Mission San Juan, Mission Espada, and Mission San Antonio de Valero.
Local peaceful bands, collectively called the Coahuiltecans, lived throughout southern Texas and even across the Rio Grande into Coa-huila in northeastern Mexico. In the San Antonio area, bands lived in brush huts near the river. They gathered fruits and wild plants and planted gardens with digging sticks. The men hunted with bows and arrows, mainly deer, but occasionally bison, rabbits, and birds. When Needed, they supplemented their diet with lizards and snakes.
The Coahuiltecans also used nets for fishing. The abundant food was often stored in baskets. The large amounts of food and temperate climate made the area an ideal place to live, except for attacks from warring nomadic people, such as the Comanche.
When the Spanish came, the Coahuiltecans aligned with them for protection from the Comanche, but as with other native groups, many died from smallpox. They lived in the missions, which were walled communities where people slept, ate, and learned about Christianity. In return, the Coahuiltecans worked at spinning thread and making soap in workshops within the compound. Other natives worked on the farms outside of the compound or built the aqueducts used for irrigation. Some learned new trades such as blacksmithing, carpentry, masonry, and weaving.
Some native people adjusted to the changes by mixing their traditions with those of the Spanish. Others moved out of the missions when hunting and gathering was plentiful, but moved back in when the food supply dwindled. Still, the warring Comanche remained a fearsome enemy as they tried to drive the Spanish from areas where the Comanche lived and hunted. Comanche and Apache raids successfully destroyed some missions and limited settlement throughout the Southwest.
Other native communities were also faced with Spanish missionaries who wanted to convert them to Catholicism. The last of the missions was Nuestra Senora Del Refugio, founded in 1793 to focus on coastal bands living along the Gulf of Mexico. The Karankawa people assisted in choosing the site of the mission near Matagorda Bay. The Spanish called the mission the “Place of Refuge.” There were only 145 recorded baptisms of Native Americans in more than 30 years, and the mission was finally abandoned in 1830. Twenty years later, the Karan-
(ABOVE) Mission Concepcion, (below) Local native people lived at San Jose Mission in Texas
The Three Sisters Gardem
NOT ALL Native American tribes were hunters and gatherers. Many were farmers who liked to grow starchy vegetables such as corn, beans, and squash. These were called the “three sisters.” Corn is the oldest sister who stands in the center. Squash is the sister who protects the soil with her leaves. The third sister is beans, which grow through the leaves of squash, wrapping themselves around the oldest sister of corn.
A traditional way of growing these vegetables was to plant them together on a small hill of soil. In the spring, prepare a round, flat-topped mound about 3 feet across and io to 12 inches high. Remove any weeds, and cover with mulch to keep the hill moist.
In late spring, plant six to eight corn seeds about an inch deep in the middle of the hill, placing them about six inches apart. Water well, and look for corn to sprout in two weeks.
After the corn has sprouted, loosen the soil around the base of the corn stalks using a hoe.
Sow approximately a dozen pole bean seeds in a circle around the corn. Look for beans to sprout in another two weeks. Wrap the vines from the beans around the corn stalks when they become long enough.
A week after the beans sprout, plant six to eight squash seeds an inch deep in a circle about a foot outside the circle of beans. Water well, and watch for the squash to sprout in a week. As the squash vines grow larger, turn them to the center of the mound.
Kawa band also ceased to exist, mostly likely due to smallpox and other diseases. Native Americans living in missions were particularly at risk of European diseases.
Some Native American nations, such as the Wichita and their allies, the Waco, were able to avoid the dangers of Spanish mission life altogether. Long a fixture on the southern plains, Wichita villages could be found from southern Kansas to northern Texas more than 500 years before the Spanish stepped on North American soil. Accomplished farmers of the “Three Sisters” crops of beans, corn, and squash, the Wichita also left their villages of grass lodges to hunt for bison.
World History
